Klettersteig Zingelstöckli

The Zingelstöckli via ferrata in Urnerboden was opened earlier this year. It was already described on Hikr by Hikiashi. The short route is perfect for a half-day trip. As the forecast only predicted half a day of good weather today, it was the perfect time for my own exploration.

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We start on the white-red-white marked hiking path behind the abandoned Hotel Wilhelm Tell ("Zimmer mit fl. Wasser"!). The approach to the via ferrata soon splits off and is marked with wooden signs and orange paint.

The Zingelstöckli Klettersteig is a fairly demanding sports via ferrata. There are a lot of iron pegs and rungs, which I guess is unavoidable given that the rock quality is not that great. Ledges provide a welcome opportunity to rest between the different vertical rock steps. I found the route a little harder than expected. Tourist Office Urnerboden describes it as "medium to difficult", while the Uri website gives it an incomprehensible T2-T3 (sic) rating. For me, the via ferrata fully deserves a K5 grade on the Hüsler scale.

The route can roughly be divided into eight steps. The first step is already fairly challenging. The second step starts with a short overhang. The crux of the whole via ferrata then comes with the third step: a slightly overhanging ladder leads directly into a further 10m of intensive, slightly overhanging climbing. The fourth step is less demanding and tops out at a large cairn.

After passing the emergency exit, the fifth step is my personal highlight of the route. A long dihedral offers some good opportunities for challenging scrambling. When you've reached the sixth step, the most difficult parts are over. The seventh step goes directly along the ridge, with spectacular views over Urnerboden and the Klausenpass. After singing the log book, only the short eighth step separates you from the Alp Zingel.

The log book was originally used for a rock climbing route on the Zingelstöckli. Unsurprisingly, the entries in the book have become a lot more frequent since the via ferrata was opened. Just today, we saw at least six other ferratisti on the route. Not bad for a via ferrata that is not yet featured in any guidebooks.

From Alp Zingel, we descend back to Urnerboden along the normal hiking path.

Before doing the via ferrata, I feared that the noise of motorbikes on the Klausenpass road would be distracting, but any engine noises are in fact downed out by the cow bells of the approximately two million cows grazing (and eagerly participating in the road traffic) at Urnerboden.
The route itself will never be counted amongst the most beautiful vie ferrate in Switzerland, but as a challenging, easily reachable sports via ferrata with good views, it does its job pretty well.