Schwarz Grat + Bälmeten

For the second day in a row, I'm venturing into the Uri Alps. And for the second day running, though by total coincidence, I'm going in parinacota's footsteps... This time, our common goal is the Bälmeten. Yesterday we were surprised by the incredible amounts of snow on the Chaiserstock. Today, it's equally astonishing how little snow there is still left on the Bälmeten. The route is almost completely dry again already.

From Haldi, we follow the asphalted road past the picturesque Sodberg chapel. At Süssberg, we finally find a proper hiking path that climbs through the forest to the alp of Gampelen. The path continues to climb steadily higher and higher above Gampelen. Some great views of the Vierwaldstättersee open up, but otherwise the ascent is rather monotonous until the saddle at Schwarz Grat.

The Schwarz Grat is a worthwhile detour. The most obvious path stays in the north face between P. 2030 and Griggeler, but in hindsight, it might have been more worthwhile to follow the ridge here. The ridge ends in a grassy platform, a perfect panorama balcony, 1500m directly above the Gotthard motorway. On the map, the name Griggeler seems to refer to P. 1969, but the viewpoint is in fact higher up at P. 2020.

We go back to the saddle into the northern slopes of the Bälmeten. From afar, or on the map, the terrain here looks daunting, but apart from a few short scrambles (secured by chains), the white-blue-white marked route on the north ridge (T4+, I) is relatively uncomplicated. I had expected a lot more scrambling. For a little more climbing, you can take a via ferrata set, because surprisingly, there is an actual via ferrata along the route, the Bälmetentor Klettersteig. I don't see much sense in constructing a 100m via ferrata that requires a 1100m ascent on the approach, but I will have to come back and try it out before giving a final judgement.

The Bälmeten summit is a wide grassy plateau ("large enough to play football, as long as you don't make any bad passes," writes the Gratwandern Schweiz Rother Selection guidebook), another perfect panorama balcony, this time with the bonus of spectacular views onto the rock and ice giant of Gross Windgällen. We descend on a spectacular and varied hiking path over the Bälmeter Grätli and down to the Stafelalp. The friendly Alpwirtschaft is actually located at P. 1788, not lower down (as marked on the map). The remaining descent to the Haldi cable car is less interesting and a little long-winded.