Gotthardpass in Winter

On pages 92-93 in the SAC Alpinwandern/Gipfelziele Gotthard guide book, there is a collage titled "I (heart) Gotthard" with 16 pretty photos of different sights around the Gotthard pass in different seasons. When I first browsed trough the book, one of the small photos in particular immediately drew my attention. At there very bottom-right, a snow shoe hiker is pictured walking underneath a massive blue "Milano/Bellinzona" overhead road sign, with otherwise just white nothingness all around.

The picture stuck in my mind and the idea of exploring the Gotthard pass in similar conditions ended up high on my list for this winter. When Sven proposed to do exactly this, I eagerly signed up. Sven regularly sets up hiking events trough Spontacts and through the "Junge Wanderfreunde Schweiz" Facebook group, but this was my first trip with him. As a group of five in total, we set off from Hospental with the idea of crossing the pass and ending up in Airolo.

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From the roundabout in Hospental, we cut across the hairpins of the old road, which merges with the new road at the small tunnel at P. 1559. A little further, at Gamssteg, pink snow shoe hiking signposts lead us across a footbridge to the east bank of the river. Unfortunately, this signposted route turns back on itself just before the Guspisbach ventilation works (ventilation for the Gotthard road tunnel). We have some minor trouble getting safely back across the river in order to join the road again.

We stick to the main road for the remainder of the ascent. A long gallery provides some welcome shelter from the icy wind. The approach to the Gotthard pass from the north has a gentle slope, but the distance is long. The wild winter atmosphere on the pass itself provides ample rewards when we finally get to the top. Some blue spots are appearing in the sky above, but the wind is blowing so much snow around that the visibility isn't getting any better at all. The strong wind has carved not just raised footprints in the snow, but it has even cut out the snow from underneath to create hanging footprints. I've never seen something like that before. The highly anticipated "Milano/Bellinzona" overhead road sign is there as well. The snow is lying even higher than on the guide book picture, and it seems like one can almost touch the sign. Unfortunately, the snow makes a drop just underneath the sign, so we still need our hiking poles to touch it.

The planned descent towards Airolo soon becomes problematic. We keep following the new road, but even before the first gallery, where the road cuts through a steep south face, the strong northerly wind has blown so much snow across, that just a single steep slope remains with snow of unreliable quality. (Moreover, the entrance of the gallery ahead appears to be closed off to pedestrians, though we don't get near enough to actually read the sign.) The alternative of following the old road isn't likely to offer much better conditions. Therefore we decide that turning back to Hospental is the safest option, in spite of the distance and the freezing wind which will now be blowing directly into our faces. The gale is blowing so fiercely that our snow shoe prints from just an hour before have already completely disappeared in many places.

Thanks to my experience hiking in the notoriously stormy Scottish winters, I'm quite well prepared to face the conditions. Unfortunately the same can't be said for all the others, some of whom are rather insufficiently protected from the wind. Things threaten to get out of hand when one of the hikers claims to be so exhausted that he's unable to get back, and wants to call for mountain rescue. After handing out some pep talk, chocolate and tea, we luckily get going again. It's amazing what a difference these little things can make, because soon the morale has completely picked up again. We walk back to Hospental at a moderate pace, but in a good mood and without further incident.

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There are a few lessons I'll take away from this hike. Such as, when you show up for a hike considerably better dressed than the others, don't just assume that you must be overdressed yourself, but actively question the others' gear. And while on a stormy hike, don't assume that everybody is just as comfortable as you, especially when they don't have the same protective clothing. But everybody pulled through and we all arrived back save and sound, having gained a wild and rememberable winter experience.