"A Dutchman, a Chilean, two Irishmen and a Belgian went to climb a mountain." It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but this was actually the composition of our team for a two-day hike with the objective of Clariden (3267m) in the Glarner Alpen.   On Saturday we took the Klausenpass Postbus up to the Klus/Chlus bus...

Last month I published the report of day one of my weekend in Italy, but part two (and arguably the best part!) was still missing. So here we go... My CouchSurfing hosts works at the Ispra Joint Research Centre, a huge European Commission institution which even has its own section of the Italian Alpine Club! This section had...

With the SBB "Vier Seen Wanderung Sommer-Hit" special offer, you get a train to Engelberg, cable car/ski lift to Jochpass, cable car down from Melchsee-Frutt, Postauto from Stöckalp to Sarnen and a train back home, all at 50% off. That means only 28.80 CHF from Zürich HB (with Halbtax) for the whole shebang. Pretty good...

I must admit I hadn't heard of the Alpstein Massif before coming to Switzerland. Looking at the Swiss Alps as a foreigner, you automatically focus on the higher summits and the mountaineering history of Matterhorn, Eiger and the likes. But for more regular hiking, the higher mountains are often limited in options. You certainly...

A beautiful weather forecast for the first weekend of autumn; a perfect opportunity to tick of some more via ferratas, I thought. However, finding companions turned out to be rather difficult. My existing contacts all had something else on already, and the channels of Kletterportal.ch and CouchSurfing didn't seem to generate any...

Eliot, one of my friends from the Leeds University Union Hiking Club, is visiting me in Zürich for the weekend. The weather looks good for Saturday, but not for Sunday. The idea of doing a via ferrata suggests itself and is accepted without any hesitation. I decide on the one in Braunwald. I was there already in June, but decided...

What a beautiful day. And to think that I almost couldn't be bothered to get out of bed! Sadly, it was to be the last trip of my beloved camera, but still I don't regret going out.   My weekends have been pretty packed lately, so I was looking forward to a more relaxed weekend this time. Also the recent snowfall made me a...

I was back in my beloved Lake District this weekend with the Leeds University Union Hiking Club. The Lake District is such an unwritten page on Hikr, what a shame. I'll definitely try to add some of my past hikes in the Lakeland on Hikr as well.   I've often been lucky with the weather in the Lake District. Not this...

(Continued from the previous day.)   A spell of sunshine is nicest when you least expect it. Look at us, smiling at the camera with squinted eyes because nobody though that sunglasses would be remotely useful on our hike. Heavy showers, with possible thunderstorms, and an almost nil change of cloud-free summits was the...

Many thanks to the warm Föhn winds for chasing away the snow to higher altitudes again. It meant that lots of options were still open for this sunny late October Saturday. I decided to do the Fürenwand Klettersteig in Engelberg. With five via ferratas, Engelberg is the self-proclaimed "Klettersteig Eldorado" of Switzerland....

It wasn't easy to select the location of this hike. Two CouchSurfing guests of mine were coming along, so it had to be relatively easy and non-technical, with not too much snow. The weather was also an issue. With gray clouds, rain, snow and slush perpetually enveloping the entire Deutschschweiz, going south into Ticino seemed to...

Snowshoeing is almost unknown in the UK, even though some showshoes certainly would have been useful a couple of times doing some Scottish winter routes. In Switzerland it is however the number one winter activity for those who love the outdoors but can't ski. (That includes me, though hopefully not for long.) So I was quite eager...

I almost forgot, winter is that season where it gets cold. Particularly at 2614 meters above sea level on a mostly cloudy day. And, to be honest, it wasn't even that cold yet. It's just that I'm not used to it any more, apparently.   A snow shoe ascent of Piz Cavradi near the Oberalppass was the objective of the day. Like...

Going by the number of entries on Hikr, mostly in Italian, Föisc must be one of the most popular snow shoe hikes in Ticino. With decent amounts of snow, but low avalanche risks south of the Gotthard, it seemed as good a destination as any. I sent around quite a few messages trying to get other people to join in, but in the end...

The Axenstrasse is the section of the road between Zürich and the Gotthard the goes along the Vierwaldstättersee, from Brunnen to Flüelen. It provides some stunning views across the lake whenever the road pops out of one of its many tunnels. On every trip south, this scenery is a strong temptation not to drive any further, but...

The Schnebelhorn is with 1292 meters the highest point of canton Zürich. Tom and me reached it with a hike that was ironically almost entirely within the canton of St. Gallen. Tom had contacted me spontaneously through Hikr the week before, thanking me for my supposedly nicely written reports and suggesting that we do a snow shoe...

I travelled back to the UK for five days last weekend. Three days with my favourite Leeds Uni Hiking Club in Glencoe in Scotland, and a day in the Lake District on either end. After landing in Manchester Airport on Wednesday evening, I made my way to Ambleside where I spent the night at the Walmar B&B.   A full...

After one day in the Lakes and three days with the Leeds Uni Hiking Club in Scotland, this was to be the final day of my return to the UK. I had one more day of hiking planned in the Lake District, within a two hour drive from Manchester Airport, where I would take a plane back to Zürich in the evening. Eliot was joining me...

Last Saturday was the annual "snow day" with my colleagues from work. It started on Friday afternoon already, as we made our way to the Engadin village of Pontresina, where we put on the cross-country skis and made our way to our remote hotel in Val Roseg. On Saturday we went on the pistes, after which most people went back to...

Through the website Spontacts, I ran across some other hikers who are planning to do the Rigimarch in May as well. They had planned a training/reconnaissance hike on Rigi last Sunday, along the final part of the Rigimarch route. What better way to spend a sunny Sunday? A large group (eleven of us, though not everybody training...