Blog Posts in Category: Switzerland

Marmots above Saas Fee

Alastair BegleySwitzerland, Wildlife Short Link

After our four days in the Bernese Oberland, we were in need of a rest day which was thankfully forced on us by the weather anyway. To make the most of the day, we decided to head up to Spielboden to see the Marmots in a brief window without any rain towards the end of the day. We didn’t quite know what to expect, but went armed with some nuts which were bought from the tourist office and were very surprised. To say the Marmots were tame would be an understatement, as they quite aggressively came up to us demanding more food which was certainly a surprise. This wasn’t so good for the photography from my point of view, but the others have some entertaining photos of humans and marmots together. I aimed for some marmots which were in the landscape, which seemed more natural, even if it was still very staged. After an hour of fun it started raining and we had to get back to the lift before it shut, so we made a hasty retreat back to Saas Fee for the evening.

Wyssnollen and a tour through the Bernese Oberland

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Switzerland Short Link

With a perfect weather window, or so we thought, we decided to head into the Bernese Oberland for a 5 day tour from the Oberaar reservoir into the Finsteraarhornhütte for some peaks before heading back out. There was an unusual amount of snow in the area and the hut had advised us to bring snow shoes, something which is normally not the case at this time of year. We found a local shop to hire the snow shoes from, who were very confused when I rang up asking to hire show shoes! Oberaar to Oberaarjochhütte – 7.5km, 977hm Our first day was a relatively short day, which allowed us to faff in the morning to hire the snow shoes and drive from Täsch to the top of the Grimselpass, before swapping into one vehicle and heading up to the Oberaar reservoir. This was a very unusual road as there is only a 10 minute window for starting to drive up the pass, and another 10 minute window to drive down the pass 30 mins later. We set off in good spirts with good weather, but very heavy bags. The walk. Read the full article…

Verbier Paragliding

Alastair BegleyParagliding, Switzerland Short Link

We spend a week in Verbier while Becky was doing a paragliding course to get more experience in longer flights and improve her confidence. Unfortunately we were not blessed with great weather, with an entire day lost to rain and on the other days the conditions were not great with windy conditions up high and a very low base. This meant my plans for lots of XC went quickly out of the window, however I did enjoy a week with a reasonable amount of flying, and it was certainly scenic around Verbier.

Saas Grund Klettersteig

Alastair BegleySwitzerland, Via Ferrata Short Link

After traversing the Zinalrothorn we headed to Saas Fee where we met up with Rich, Ben, James and Lucy. As James and Lucy had just arrived we decided to start with the Jegihorn via ferrata as it is a great day out and it gets you fairly high. I have previously climbed the via ferrata, however when I last climbed it the exposed bridge near the end was in the gully rather than attached to the rock so we were not able to climb it. Becky, Lucy and I caught the first lift up from the valley and enjoyed a cool walk to the base due to some mist. Thankfully by the time we arrived at the base of the route as the mist had cleared. The via ferrata gets interesting quickly with excellent scrambling on mostly good rock, it is really enjoyable as it mostly a protected scramble up a mountain, rather than just pulling on lots of metal. We soon got our first view of the bridge with someone on it, and it certainly looked fairly impressive. After a series of ladders and some down climbing it was. Read the full article…

Zinalrothorn Traverse (North Ridge)

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Switzerland Short Link

Having discovered that the hut for the Dent Blanche was full we developed a new plan, to traverse the Zinalrothorn from Zinal to Zermatt via the north ridge. To get to Zinal we had to get a number of buses, and due to the timetables we ended up in Zinal very early in the morning. This enabled us to have a leisurely stroll up to the hut before spending the afternoon relaxing. The start of the walk was in the mist which we both appreciated as it kept us cool during the majority of the ascent. Eventually the sun started burning off the morning mist and we were greeted with a stunning view of the Grand Cornier, the Dent Blanche and the Ober Gabelhorn. Due to the ever changing views the walk in was one of the most enjoyable I have experienced to date, this combined with relaxing all afternoon at the hut made for a very enjoyable day. All too early the next morning ours alarms woke us up and we both struggled to eat anything for breakfast as our bodies definitely wanted to still be asleep at 2:45.. Read the full article…

Walking above Les Haudères

Alastair BegleySwitzerland, Walking Short Link

After being evacuated from the campsite in Arolla due to landslides we headed down to Les Haudères. Due to an unsettled forecast we spent a few days doing day walks rather than heading up to the big mountains. The first walk was the ridge directly above the campsite, we walked up to the Col de Torrent and then aimed to walk along the ridge over the Pointe du Prélet and along to the Pointe du Tsate. The walk up to the Col de Torrent had lovely views up the valley towards the Pigne d’Arolla and down the valley towards some mountains north of the Rhone valley. As we were leaving the col we were treated to a close flypast by a bearded vulture which was stunning. The ridge was fantastic, with great views in every direction, some good scrambling and plenty more wildlife. Unfortunately we got to within 100m of the Pointe du Tsate and had to turn back due to a climb and some loose rocks which we weren’t willing to do without ropes. Thankfully the forecast thunderstorm did not arrive! The next day we planned on climbing the Pic d’Artsinol but decided to turn. Read the full article…

Pigne d’Arolla

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Switzerland Short Link

After arriving in Arolla we decided to make the most of a weather window by heading straight up to the Cabane des Vignettes with the aim of climbing the Pigne d’Arolla on the next day. The weather on the walk up was stunning but it was very hot, and with the combination of the excessive heat and altitude I really struggled on the ascent. Thanks to some encouragement from our friends we continued, and thankfully as we got onto the glacier it clouded over which provided some respite from the heat. After an excellent evening in the hut, followed by the best hut breakfast I have experienced (bacon, scrambled egg and pancakes) we started the climb up the Pigne d’Arolla the next morning. The route is meant to be an easy snow plod, but due to the very hot summer there was a short section which was steep, bare glacial ice. As we were four on a rope we pitched the ice on the way up and down to ensure that we were safe. After the icy section the rest of the route was straightforward snow where we were able to. Read the full article…

Salbitschijen Rock Climbing

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Switzerland Short Link

Prior to my trip out to the alps I started doing some research into alternative plans due to the poor alpine conditions. During this research I stumbled across the Salbit, a peak in central Switzerland which has three major ridges which all provide excellent climbs of varying difficultly. In addition to the major ridges, there are numerous other multi pitch routes. Due to a week of poor weather dumping a considerable amount of snow on the high alpine peaks, we decided to stay low and do some multi-pitch rock climbing instead. The obvious destination was to head to the Salbit and attempt the classic Sudgrat, a 600m long granite ridge, and top out on the summit needle. Due to the weather window we had we decided to walk up to the Salbit hut early in the morning before heading out to climb a 13 pitch ridge which is above the hut, called the Hüttengrat. Hüttengrat, Gemsplanggenstock We competed the walk in very quickly, shaving an hour off the 2h30 book time. While we were walking in there were fantastic atmospheric views, unfortunately the atmospheric views did not continue and shortly. Read the full article…