Sichelchamm south ridge (Chnorren)

The Sichelchamm is one of the most eye-catching peaks along the Walensee, thanks to the eponymous sickle-shaped west face. It's also one of the only mountains in the Churfirsten-Alvier range that can be ascended directly from the south, though by no means along an easy route!

After last weekend's taste of winter, this weekend almost felt like summer again. The sound of cow bells was conspicuously absent, but otherwise we had glorious sunshine, t-shirt temperatures and the south faces were once again snow-free to well above 2000m.

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After buying a 5 CHF ticket at the ticket machine at Forggels, we drive up to the car park at Rotherdplangg P. 1077. The hike from here to the Kurhaus Sennis drags on a little. Some stunning views through the trees of the Walensee create welcome diversions. A first glimpse of the Sichelchamm and its towering neighbour Gamsberg promises much more interesting terrain higher up.

At the signpost some 200m west of Büchel, we leave the marked hiking path. On a sometimes vague trail through as mix of grass, woodlands, heather and small pines, we climb steeply towards P. 2043. The challenging part of the route starts at some dark-coloured plates just below P. 2043. From here to the Sichelchamm summit, the difficulty is rarely below T5.

The dark plates themselves aren't too bad yet; they are grippy and you can relatively easily hike over and/or between them. Towards the top of the plates, there are two options: following the ridge over P. 2043 itself, or traversing in the east face.
We follow ridge over P. 2043, which offers a few moments of very exposed scrambling. In one place, the ridge becomes properly knife-edge, and while the scrambling is easy, you really need some good nerves to deal with the severe exposure (T5+, I). Solid nerves also come in handy on the final short down-climb, just before joining the path through the east face again (T5, II).
The east face traverse, which we take in descent, stays some 10-20m below the ridge itself. It is not as technical, but the steep grass slope here is no joke either (T5). There's one particularly awkward spot just before the path passes behind a single pine tree.

The worst is over now, but don't expect things to get significantly easier either. All the way to the Sichelchamm summit at 2269m, there's a steep and narrow grass/Schrofen ridge, with a few spots of easy scrambling (T5). Concentration is continuously required. You need to be confident on this sort of terrain, but if that's the case, then it's a really nice ridge with fabulous views all around. The Chnorren ridge is certainly one of the best viewpoints over the Walensee. On the other side, the Gamsberg, though impressive from any angle, is undoubtedly seen from its most stunning perspective here.

After a long rest enjoying the summit views, it's time to head down along the same route. This once again requires concentration and isn't any faster than the ascent until we get below P. 2043, where the challenging part of the ridge is behind us.

The Kurhaus at Alp Sennis is closed for the season already, but the small restaurant opposite still opens during weekends when the weather is good.

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The steepness and exposure on the Chnorren ridge is not to be underestimated and definitely requires dry conditions. The terrain might not be everybody's cup of tea, there's a relatively long approach until things get exciting and the signature sickle shape can't be seen from the ridge. In spite of all that, I thoroughly enjoyed the hike. The views onto Walensee and Gamsberg are second to none and the Chnorren ridge is simply beautiful!