Schafnase NW ridge + Rossflue

The northwest ridge on the Schafnase summit of the Giswilerstock is a popular route on Hikr, and rightfully so. The nearby Glaubenbielen pass means that you can complete a worthwhile and challenging scrambling route in less than 3 hours. Including the traverse of the Rossflue gives you even more fun, while the total time stays under 5 hours.

The route of the Schafnase NW ridge is obvious: a straight line from the saddle at P. 1734 to the Schafnase summit, always along the ridge line. There's some 150m of pleasant grade II limestone climbing, at times exposed. Though variations are sometimes possible, it is generally best to stay directly along the ridge. The T6 from the SAC Alpinwandern/Gipfelziele guidebook seems exaggerated, I agree with T5+ which seems to be the consensus here on Hikr.

We descend from the Schafnase summit to the Furgge saddle along the unmarked hiking path. Apparently it is also possible to follow the ridge here.

We cross the official hiking path and follow a vaguer path onto the Vordere Rossflue. Between the Vordere and Hintere Rossflue, we stay close to the ridge, scrambling along numerous bolts. The bolts are probably rarely used, since the difficulties don't exceed T5, but admittedly the exposure towards the south-west is quite severe.

We descend from the Hintere Rossflue along the east ridge, sometimes just south (unpleasantly steep and brittle in places), sometimes just north of the ridge line, to an altitude of ca. 1970m. Here, it is possible to traverse through the Rossflue south face towards the Chringe saddle (with the electricity pylons). Several trails can be spotted through the steep and brittle slope, all of them requiring concentration. The best route is helpfully marked with blue dots. Due to the bad rock, I found this path at least as demanding as the Schafnase NW ridge, hence T5+ also here. Note that there is a significant danger of falling rocks if there are people on the Rossflue east ridge above.

There is a cheese vendor at the Glaubenbielen car park, but no restaurant. Therefore, we change shoes and walk on the other side of the pass to the nearby Alpwirtschaft Glaubenbielen for a well-deserved drink. The terrace offers a nice view of the whole Schafnase-Rossflue traverse. The weather has been perfect all day, warm and uniformly blue skies. Almost boring conditions, you could say, but thankfully the scrambling was exciting enough :).