Hasenflüeli + Jägglisch Horn

Sankt Antonien is a quiet place right now. Last week's fresh snow has disappeared surprisingly quickly. A few stubborn ski mountaineers are still venturing into the north slopes of the Geisstschuggen and the Hasenflüeli. The valley of the Aschariner Alp, however, is completely deserted, and gives possibilities for a very quiet snow shoe hike at this time of year.

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There is less snow than expected in St. Antonien. The road is even clear up to the small car park above P. 1572 in Ascharina. (The signage is a bit lacking, but if your read the small print, you know that you already have to buy a parking ticket from the ticket machine in St. Antonien village.)

Thanks to our early start, the snow on the south-west slopes of the Eggberg is hard enough to support our weight, so that this first summit at 2202m can be reached without show shoes.

The Geisstschuggengrat (the ridge towards the Hasenflüeli) is rather narrow in places and there are some small cornices which require attention (WT4). All-in-all though, it's an interesting and beautiful ridge, which can be recommended when the snow conditions are good.

The Hasenflüeli ahead is the highest point of the day and also offers the most technical ascent. The crag, whose vertical rock walls look completely inaccessible when approaching from the north-west, can be climbed using a steep couloir from the south. We switch to crampon's and ice axe for this couloir, which I've graded here as T4, though a mountaineering grade of F (facile / leicht) might be more appropriate in current conditions. From the top of the couloir, an easy short ridge (careful for cornices!) leads to the narrow summit.

We retrace our steps to the large cairns at the foot of the Hasenflüeli and descend to the Berghütte at P. 2203. The traverse below the impressive walls of the Rätschenhorn towards the Nollen is undulating and slightly tiring.

The ridge from Nollen towards the Jägglisch Horn is out next challenge (at least WT4). The ridge is pretty sharp in places, with very steep slopes towards the north and some minor cornices towards the south. Since the temperatures are rising and the snow is getting rather slushy as well, we avoid larger sections of the ridge, finding safer alternatives in the south face.

From the great viewpoint of the Jägglisch Horn, our initial plan had been to walk down over the north ridge. However, the deteriorating snow quality makes us abandon that plan. Instead, we go back down to the Fürggli and descend into the north-east face. After a short steep section (to be avoided in case of avalanche risk) the remainder of the descent is straight-forward, with a continuous snow-cover reaching down to about P. 1804.

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Finally! It had been too long since I've climbed some proper mountains and the weather over the past weeks had been rather frustrating. This tour was a great way to make up for that.

As a bonus, check out the spherical photos made by my new gadget, the Ricoh Theta S. (Follow the links in the photo descriptions to view them properly.)