Zustieg: die landschaftlich schöne Variante via Pas de Lona und Mittagessen auf der Cabana des Becs de Bosson (sehr freundlich und empfehlenswert).   Gipfelbesteigung Becs de Bosson (T5, II): Erste Schlüsselstelle ist ein senkrechtes Wändchen mit Fixseile. Über ein guter Wegspur weiter bis ein Fels am...

In hindsight, the Alphubel Rotgrat was too ambitious for our group. Being five people was too much as well, because even though we moved in two roped parties, we spent a lot of time waiting for each other. But let's start from the beginning... Day 1 Täschalp - Täschütte 1h15, 500m ascent, T2   The...

It's starting to become a tradition of mine to do a bivouac-tour somewhere far far away from Zürich on the Street Parade weekend. Also this year, the weather was friendly enough. My night under the stars also coincided with the highlight of the Perseids meteor shower, so I was looking forward to seeing lots of "shooting stars"....

Day 1 L'Erié - Grand Chavalard - Six du Doe - Cabane du Fenestral T5 and I, 1200m ascent, 650m descent, 5h15 On weekends in summer, Fully Tourisme organises a shuttle service between the village of Fully and the parking at L'Erié at ca. 1880m. When I call on Friday morning to book the 10am shuttle on Saturday, I'm told that...

For more than four years living in Switzerland, I've managed to avoid visiting Zermatt. But of course this was never going to last forever... Day 1 Zermatt - Klettersteig Schweifinen - Chüeberg - Berggasthaus Trift 1000m ascent, 300m descent, 5h, K4 and T3 The Schweifinen via ferrata in Zermatt has a complex layout, with...

On the final day of my brother's visit to Switzerland, we make use of the "Burgerpass" in Saas-Fee, which gives us free use of the cable cars after staying overnight in the village. We take the "Alpin Express" to the first station at Morenia, where the cable car attendant double-checks that we really intend to get off here,...

If you're only about via ferrata, then the ca. 1500m of ascent involved in doing the Baltschieder Klettersteig is probably too much for you. However, integrate the via ferrata into a two-day adventure with an overnight stay at the Wiwannihütte and you're in for a treat. Day 1 Ausserberg - Suone Niwärch - Baltschieder...

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...

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 -...

Back in June, I hosted fellow Belgian Sarah in Zürich through CouchSurfing. She was on her way into the Oberwallis two work the whole summer as "Zusennerin" at the Alp Furgge in Gregniols. In return, I got an open invitation to come spend a night on the alp. An ideal opportunity to combine this with some peak-bagging in the...

The Leukerbad via ferrata onto the Daubenhorn is the longest and one of the hardest in Switzerland. The via ferrata goes on almost without interruption for a vertical kilometre. In order to make an early start possible and still get a good night's rest, I already travelled to Leukerbad on Thursday evening. ---- It's a...

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...

Day 1: Arolla - Pas de Chèvres - Cabane des Dix(T4, 1050m ascent, 150m descent, 4 hours) The Val d'Hérens is not as peaceful as expected when we travel in by Postauto. There is an overwhelming police presence and we pass through several police checkpoints along the road. Apparently they were on the hunt for two burglars, who...

"Wintereinbruch" and the definite end of the alpine hiking season? I wasn't having any of that. With less snow in the Valais, I even set my sights on an easy three-thousander: Le Toûno (3018m). With a heavy rucksack prepared for all eventualities (ice axe, crampons, emergency shelter...) I arrived in Saint-Luc early on...

The Jegihorn (or Jägihorn) Klettersteig is the highest via ferrata in Switzerland, summiting at 3206 m above sea level. Still, access is relatively easy, thanks to the Hohsaas cable car, or (as we did) with an overnight stay at the SAC Weissmieshütte.   First the bad news: the difficult "Zitterpartie" variation...

For my brother's initiation into via ferrata, we picked the Aletsch via ferrata. The route circles around the Gibidum reservoir (which received its water from the Aletsch glacier) without much ascent. A good thing for my brother, since he was still recovering from the MountainMan half marathon the day before.   ----...

It takes some careful analysis of the weather forecast, plus commitment to travel long distances, if you want to find sunshine in the mountains this summer. This brought Abbi and myself to the Bettmeralp in the Oberwallis. Even then, when we reached the Bettmergrat cable car station, there was fog all around. We lingered about for...

My first via ferrata this year: Via Farinetta in Canton Valais. On Saturday, I attended an "Aktiv Tag" organised by my heath insurance Atupri, that included a very interesting visit to the hypermodern Rega base in Zweisimmen. Little did I know, that wasn't going to be the last I was to see of helicopter rescue for the weekend....