Enjoying the Monday off for Knabenschiessen, I was free to do my first solo hike in quite a while. Usually I get tempted to cover fairly epic distances on such solo hikes, when I don't have to take anybody else into account. This time however, I was still tired from a two day tour in the Göschenertal over the weekend, so I...

Thank god for September, trying to do its best to make up for a lost summer. Another fine weekend brought the opportunity to complete a two day tour in the Göschenertal that has been on my tick list for a long time.   ---   When David and I get off the train atGöschenen, our goal for the day is already on the...

The Tälli Klettersteig was, when it opened in 1993, the first real via ferrata in Switzerland. Through kletterportal.ch, I met up with Steffi to do this route, her first via ferrata, together. ---- The Tälli cable car starts immediately next to the Sustenpass road near Gadmen. Since you can see directly from the bottom...

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...

With the Gotthard being the nearest location to Zürich where sunshine could be expected, it was a good opportunity to try out one of the routes in the recently published SAC guidebook "Alpinwandern/Gipfelziele Gotthard": Monte Prosa (along its south ridge) and Pizzo Fortünei. ---- It's a scary sight travelling through the...

The beautiful Cormet de Roselend pass is home to one of the most scenic via ferratas in France. There is a CAF hut, the Refuge du Plan de la Lai, conveniently located along the road at the start of the approach to the route. We spend the night there, and at 8am we set off for the Roc du Vent via ferrata. ---- The well...

Above the massive ski resort of Courchevel, lies (according to the Cicerone guidebook "Via ferratas of the French Alps") "one of only a few proper mountain via ferrata's in France, and also the highest route of the country": the via ferrata de la Croix de Verdon. It is conveniently accessed with the Saulire cable car, though this...

Right next to the most touristic of all passes - the Great St. Bernard - there's a very scenic alpine route. It is described in the SAC guidebook "Die Klettersteige der Schweiz", with the disclaimer "more of a alpine hike than a proper via ferrata, but in return: panorama, panorama!" That's a pretty accurate summary. From the...

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.   ----...

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...

The little Madrisa Land amusement park is still deserted as we start our walk from the Madrisa cable car. The first target of the day is the Geisshorn. The summit is marked with a wooden post, a little to the west of the marked path. A nice view rewards those who make the small detour to reach it (T3-T4 depending on the exact...

With the Leite via ferrata done and the sun, against all expectations, still shining brightly, we headed to Imst for another short via ferrata. Imst also has the longest 'alpine coaster' in the world. So we thought: let's give the inner child in us a treat, and combine the via ferrata with a ride on the coaster.  ...

After two via ferrata epics on Friday and Saturday, the weather forecast for Sunday was must less stable. We decided to try one or two short via ferratas nonetheless. Driving to 'rock climbing village' Nassereith in the morning, there was no sign of bad weather yet. Instead the sun was shining brightly. There is a large car...

The AlpinVerlag's "Klettersteigführer Österreich" describes the combination of Seeben, Tajakante and Coburger via ferrata as one of the toughest via ferrata routes to do in a single day. The total ascent adds up to 1600m and each of the three via ferrata's is graded D/E, i.e. very to extremely difficult. To have a chance to...

David and I had planned for a long time to spend the 1st of August bank holiday weekend (Swiss national holiday) doing via ferratas somewhere in the Alps. After studying the weather forecast, we decided on Tirol. On Friday morning we drove to St. Anton near the Arlbergpass, with the objective of completing the Arlberger...

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...

Monday to Friday last week, I attended an mountaineering course at the Spannorthütte. The course was organized for SAC section Uto by mountain guide Tom Rohrer. I learned a lot during the five days (and also leaned that there is still so much more to learn). The highlight of the course, which is organised several times each...

The Via Ferrata del Diavolo in Andermatt is a rather short route without much interesting possibilities to extend it with a longer hike. Hence it is a perfect Feierabendtour, even coming from as far as Zürich. Pascal had responded to a message I posted on kletterportal.ch, and we met up at 6.30 pm at the Teufelsbrücke on the...

After two via ferratas on Saturday (Cascade du Dar and Tête aux Chamois) and a night at the Diablerets SAC hut, our SAC Uto group prepared for an easy glacier hike onto the eponymoussummit of the Diablerets massif. At 3210m, it is also the highest point of canton Vaud. --- We are blessed with a well-timed spell of good...