Wildhuser Schafberg

With extremely mild and sunny mountain weather for the weekend, I immediately went looking for regions with little snow. The Alpstein seemed to offer best conditions for an unusual late-November alpine hike.

The only thing worrying me about the weather forecast: it was just too warm. I was hoping for hard snow in the morning, but with the freezing level staying above 2500m even during the night, this was not going to happen. I just had to hope that there wasn't too much deep snow for me to wade through.

Unfortunately I don't know many people with the necessary experience for mountain hikes with snow. As I wasn't going to let an opportunity like this pass, I ended up doing a solo hike. (Hikrs who are interested in doing similar hikes in future, are always welcome to drop me a message.)

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I set off from the car park in Wildhaus at 6:40. The car park is still empty, but there's a lot of activity at the adjacent building. Cars come and go, but I can't quite figure out what's going on exactly. I'm guessing it has something to do with delivering fresh milk from farms to shops, but I might be way off.

I hike up to Gamplüt where I take the hiking path towards the Schafberg. The path is briefly more adventuous as it climbs through a breach in an escarpment. Just below the Schäferhütte, I have a nice view of the sun rising above the mountains in the east.

The ascent from the Schäferhütte to P. 1852 is rather tedious. The path goes up a wide, grassy gully. As the path becomes muddy from melting snow, I move out into the northern side of the gully, which has less snow. At P. 1852, a spectacular view of the sharp peak of the Zehespitz brings a reward for the effort.

The ascent is far from over and now takes to south face of the Schafberg. The slopes are seemingly endless without any sign of the summit. Up to about 2100m altitude, it's possible to pick a route that avoids most of the snow. After that, some larger snow fields have to be dealt with, but fortunately this doesn't prove to be a big problem. I ascend in a direct line from the south, avoiding the detour to P. 2197 which the official hiking path makes. As such, the terrain is steeper (T4), but has considerably less snow.

Out of nowhere, the south summit of the Wildhuser Schafberg suddenly appears, and puts an end to the relentless ascent. Up to now, there has been less snow than I had expected. The ridge between the south and main summit look a lot more white, though. Will it go? My ice axe has been a luxury item so far, but certainly proves its value now. The scrambling descent from the south summit down into the Ostwandrinne (east face gully) isn't a problem thanks to the fixed cable. I carefully check the stability of the snow on the ridge, as I don't particularly want to end up uncontrollable sliding down the gully. The snow is soft, but luckily sticks well together.

On the main summit, the bizarre cross made from a pair of skis has thankfully disappeared. I take out my binoculars to look for any other hikers. Apart from the always busy Säntis summit, I cannot find a single person. Quite a privilege, to have the Alpstein mountains all to myself. I take a long break enjoying the views from the main summit, before concentrating once again for the return to the south summit. Though its a distance of only about 50m between the two summits, it feels like it's a completely different tour from the rest of the hike.

Now back on easier terrain, rather than avoiding the snow, I now make full use of it to run down and make my descent easier and quicker. I had the idea of continuing towards Moor, but seeing all the soft snow on steep ground on that route, I don't even try and instead return the way I came. At P. 1852, I'm almost surprised to meet another solo hiker. He tells me that he wants to try to climb the Zehespitz if conditions are ok. However, he would soon after abandon that plan because of the snow.

On the descent towards Gamplüt, there's time for a long break to enjoy the sunshine and summer temperatures. Then it's time to leave the solitude and join the crowds that have gathered at the Gamplüt restaurant, to enjoy a well-deserved Bratwurst and Pommes.

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T-shirt weather and a hike to 2373m at the end of November. If anybody still had any doubts that summer and autumn have changed identities this year: there's your final proof.

The soft snow was less of a problem than I feared. Only the ridge to the main summit of the Wildhuser Schafberg was considerably more challenging, requiring confidence on snow and use of an ice axe.