Switzerland  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Lat, Long:  46.8602, 8.4375 Map Page Views:  111,911. Good page?    Administrators:  Dan Flynn, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Bill Flaherty on Sep 28, 2008 Make this area a Favorite What's New Guidebooks (8)  Printer View Add Area  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

The granite walls of Salbit - from the approach.

Description 

Quite possibly the best country in the world for a climber to visit. Take your pick: granite, limestone, or gneiss - all of it splitter, and most of it bolted. Walls tend to be big, and if you're coming from North America, the vertical relief will take some getting used to. The hut system is great, providing quick access to climbs and hearty fare at a reasonable price.

If you're a fan of granite, check out Salbit (www.salbit.ch). There are many routes in the 500-700 foot range - along with a few marathon routes over 2,000 feet. You supplement the almost-adequate bolts with cams. Rock quality is superb. The hutkeeper, Hans Berger, whips up killer food and has one heck of an alpine resume.

For limestone, Melchsee-Frutt is a gorgeous mountain getaway that serves as a popular ski area in winter. In summer, you can enjoy the most pristine limestone walls I've ever seen. Varying in height, with many sections nearly 1,000 feet tall, they are supremely well-bolted.

For gneiss, there is a mongo slab just below the famous granite area of Grimsel Pass. Get your slab-climbing mojo on, as the bolts are very sparse, and some are rather old.

Of course you can get scared and cold at the same time climbing famous alpine walls like the Eiger North Face, but someone else will need to log on to explain why that's fun.

Beyond the climbing, Switzerland offers a unique opportunity to sample Italian, French, and German language, cuisine, and culture in its various regions. Well worth a visit!

Goals of these pages 

There is so much rock in Switzerland. Too much for one website to describe comprehensively! The goal of these pages is to document many of the most worthwhile climbing areas (sport, trad; alpine and single pitch, and a bit of bouldering) and with useful details for some of the best routes. Hopefully this will be useful for visitors in getting oriented.

That said, if you want to add routes for your ticklist, please go ahead!

A note on geographic organization:

Here the areas are listed alphabetically, but other information can be found about areas organized:
- by canton (topodb.ch, rockclimbing.com/routes/Europe/Switzerland/)
- by region (www.scalamalade-areas.com/en/ )
- by north, east, south, west (the Filidor guidebooks, and chmoser.ch)

Guidebooks 

There are a ton of books you could get. For visiting climbers interested in alpine multipitch tours and single pitch sport climbing, the most useful books are the Filidor series, which divides the country into four broad regions (east, west, Jura, and south).

The series is divided into 'Plaisir' and 'Extrem' volumes, with the former covering areas emphasizing up to 6b (5.10b) climbing, and the latter covering areas dominated by the harder climbs. But plaisir areas still include topos for climbs up to 7a (5.11d) and even harder, while extrem areas may still have some 5c climbs in there.

Plaisir West and Plaisir Ost might be the two most useful books to start with. Newer and forthcoming versions have English, otherwise you can more or less figure it out.

The Swiss Alpine Club has its own series of guidebooks, which are massive, detailed, and pricy. These are generally more localized by canton, but great references if you know exactly where you want to go.

And then there are specialized books for areas like Gastlosen in Bern, Valsertal in Grabünden, or the canton of Glarus.

The Classics

Featured Route For Switzerland

Die Maenner von Memmental 5.11d  International : Europe : ... : Cheselenflue

A stellar route, defined by its wildly exposed, crux third pitch. Pitch 1: 6b, up a steep slab on reasonably good holds.Pitch 2: 6c+, continues up the slab to its end and then into steeper terrain above on good holds. There is a distinct crux move just above the end of the slabby section. Pitch 3: 7a, from a comfortable ledge (anchor shared with the Blauer Kaefer), the route traverses right, onto an overhanging slab of rock that juts out into space. On the slab, the line continues up and to t...[more]   Browse More Classics in International

Photos of Switzerland Slideshow

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A giant wedge-o-slab beneath Grimsel Pass. About ...	Jeff Buhl easing his way up a Swiss slab. Gneiss!	Nothing says "Switzerland" better than this.
Jeff Buhl cranking up the steep limestone of Melch...	The important stuff!	The rock-solid Salbit hut. Don't try that shutter...
It was nice to stop and have a beer while on my hi...	View from Zermat after hiking down.	The Eiger
Cold Eiger	Coming up to the Mittellegi hut from the Eismeer g...	Engelhorner hut. One of many great Swiss huts rig...
Englehorner climbing area. Great trad routes with...	The Eiger	Grindelwald Locals still need more cow bell?
1950's Sunrise on the Matterhorn from town	Matterhorn Summit 1950's ascent	Enterprice 7a (V5) - Magic Wood
Happened upon this boulder while on a day hike in ...	Cragging in hell (seriously, that's the name of th...	Maikel vS, near Steingletscher on the Sustenpass
Tehya B cranking near Steingletscher on the Susten...	Ossian B, cragging in hell on the east side of the...	Crag at Ibergeregg, overlooking Lake Lucerne
Central Switzerland after a fresh dusting of snow....	Salbit west ridge, from the Voralp valley near Gös...	BETA PHOTO: Brunnital, a side valley in the Schaechental, cent...
Hooved company at the base of the Pfriendler climb...	The slabs of Schoellenen	Jeff Buhl on the Gotthard pass in early June
BETA PHOTO: Salbit, with a good view of the west, south and ea...	Damma glacier, taken from above Goescheneralp	Wicked roof climbing in Arcegno, Ticino
Salbit bridge from the Voralp valley	Schrattenflue in canton Lucerne