The Nadelhorn: not a bad goal for my first 4000m peak :). Day 1 Gasenried - Bordierhütte 4h15, 1250m ascent, 50m descent, T4 The ascent from Gasenried to the Bordierhütte("Bordier" pronounced in a French way)is relatively long but pleasantly varied. The path first goes up through the forrest, then through a fascinating...

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...

The Fruttstägä via ferrata is two years old but is yet to see it's first Hikr ascent. It's a short route that can be done in half a day, or it can be the start of a longer tour in the Chaiserstock massif. We go for the second option. From Biel/Kinzig, signposts show the way to the start of the Fruttstägä via ferrata (K4-)....

Finally I have managed to do another after-work sunset hike. They never disappoint! The mix of clouds and the setting sun created some amazing light. On Hikr, the Lauiberg is often visited as part of a longer and more challenging Sihltal round, but the mountain is also a very worthwhile objective on its own. ---- I park...

The Raaberg, the easternmost summit of the Mattstock massiv, is only rarely climbed. When it is visited, then usually by either 360 or carpintero, it seems. The Raaberg has an east summit (P. 1723) and a west summit (P. 1779). Only the east summit is named on the map and described in the SAC Clubführer. Strange, because the west...

With the weather forecast predicting dry weather only in north-eastern Switzerland, the Gonzen seemed like a good option. Initially, I had the Leiterliweg ("ladder path") in mind, but checking the SAC Alpinwandern/Gipfelziele guidebook the night before, I discovered the Follaplatten route as a more challenging alternative. We...

A two day hike in a remote location was required in order to escape the Swiss national holiday festivities. The inspiration came from the Nollenhorn and Joderhorn descriptions in the SAC Alpinwandern/Gipfelziele Oberwallis guidebook, though in the end we didn't visit either summit. With bad weather on Saturday, we decided to limit...

I've been meaning to discover more of the Freiburg Alps for quite a while. The exhaustive SAC Alpinwandern/Gipfelziele Freiburg guide book offers many great and often challenging ideas. Ironically, the choice fell on a route that's pretty much entire just across the border in canton Vaud. As seems to be the case with many...

While winter has at least made a brief visit to the north of Switzerland, the south still looks like summer. It's mid December, but alpine hiking is still possible in Tessin to altitudes well above 2000m. Our goal had a slightly more modest altitude, but an all-the-more rewarding route to the top: the via della variante onto the...

There is a well-marked hiking route around the Lac the Mourycalled the "2500m tour", because most of the walk stays around that altitude. Following that example, I'll have to call my route the "Lac de Moury 3000m tour". ---- Day 1 Sorebois - Pointe de Tsirouc - Corne de Sorebois - Arête de Sorebois - Garde de Bordon -...

I first heard about the Fallätsche (alternatively spelled Falletsche) from a colleague at work, who recommended it to me as "a patch of Alpine hiking within the city of Zürich". The route of the "Fallätsche traverse" has been described on Hikr many times, including a six years old report in English by 360. Update...

On pages 92-93 in the SAC Alpinwandern/Gipfelziele Gotthard guide book, there is a collage titled"I (heart) Gotthard" with 16 pretty photos of different sights around the Gotthard pass in different seasons. When I first browsed trough the book, one of the small photos in particular immediately drew my attention. At there very...

Crossing the entire Pilatus range from east to west, from Stansstad to Gfellen, has been a project lingering in my mind for quite a while. I'd call it "Pilatus extreme and ultra long", except for the fact that Tobi already coined this term for a hike that's even twice as long as mine! Respect! Still, my 2600m of ascent and ca....

For once, I left the organisation of a hike to someone else. I joined Konrad's suggestion of climbing the Mittetaghorn (or simply Mittaghorn), a mountain in canton Glarus that I hadn't even heard about before. With seven persons in total, we met up in Elm for this hike in the "Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona" UNESCO World Heritage...

While waiting for my brother Mats to finish his MountainMan half marathon, I have a couple of hours to spare on Pilatus. A great opportunity to check out an interesting route from the SAC guidebook "Alpinwandern/Gipfelziele Zentralschweiz Vierwaldstättersee". The Nordwestpassage traverses from Pilatus Kulm to the Tomlishorn on a...

With daylight until late in the evening, I was hoping to get in some after-work hikes this season. Proper hikes I mean, not just a stroll on the Uetliberg. Until now however, either the weather wasn't right, or I had other commitments such as work or watching football games... Last Thursday, everything finally came together, and I...

When I'm on my own, I often like to push myself on a rather long hike. That was also the idea this Sunday: first climb the Widderfeldstock and the continue north along the ridge for as long as I feel like.   Wanting to be well-rested, I don't start particularly early. The 08:04 train from Zürich brings me via Luzern...

"A long hike up Säntis for early risers. Let's start walking at 4am in order to get an Alpstein sunrise and to avoid the worst of the tourist in flip-flops coming up with the cable car. Who wants to join?" How I love kletterportal.ch already! Where else do people propose such great ideas (thanks Melanie!), without being dismissed...

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...

A new via ferrata in the Glarus valley? It was a well-kept secret to me until tricky and Alpin Risepublished their reports. Time for an exploration... ---- The "Indianerkopf" rock, on which the via ferrata is built, is clearly visible from Netstal railway station. From the station, we cross the river and head towards the...