Haldensteiner Calanda

Inspired by Bombo's report, we picked the Haldensteiner Calanda as an unusual hiking summit for mid-December.

We were able to drive all the way up to Vazer Alp, on the steep and mostly unpaved toll road from Untervaz. The toll can be paid by text message, as explained by a sign at the Untervaz village end. The process is easy in principle, but the instructions can be a little confusing, especially for people who are not used to text messaging. I got to help out two other hikers who where stuck trying to put everything in the recipient field... The road was once again passable all the way to Vazer Alp. There's some snow on the road in a couple of places, but even my humble Hyundai i20 managed to get through.

The conditions on the Calanda have hardly changed since Bombo's report from one week earlier. There is a continuous snow cover above ca. 2300m. The snow is mostly well-consolidated and in excellent condition for hiking. It's good to have an ice axe, and my MicroSpikes were also well-suited for the conditions, though not absolutely necessary.

There are two marked paths from Vazer Alp to the Calandahütte: a lower path via Neusäss and a higher path via Cafäraboden. The high path is more scenic, but also requires a little care in the snow on the exposed band on the northern side of Wolfegg / P. 2065.

From the Calandahütte to the Haldensteiner Calanda, we also explore two different routes. On the way up, we roughly take the normal route via the Calandasiten. On the way down, we make a small detour via Tüfels Chilchli and Mittelegg. Here we discover that the ascent from Vättis to the Haldensteiner Calanda is now officially marked white-blue-white, something that is not yet reflected on the Swisstopo maps. On the summit we even met two hikers who have used this route, which involves a solid 1900m of ascent.

We enjoyed perfect visibility and views ranging from Monte Rosa (at 165 km distance!) to Finseraarhorn to Watzespitze to Ortler to Piz Bernina. The Calanda is also an excellent viewpoint onto the soon-to-be-opened Taminabrücke far below in the Taminatal.