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Elevation: 11,466 ft 3,495 m
GPS: 46.5286, 8.1299
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Shared By: Bill Flaherty on Sep 28, 2008 · Updates
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Description Suggest change

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. There are big walls, high peaks, and fun crags. The hut system is great, providing quick access to climbs and hearty fare at a reasonable price.  The alpine approaches can include some impressive vertical.  Be sure your legs are as fit as your fingers.

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 Suggest change

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)

- by region and type of climbing 

- by north, east, south, west (the Filidor guidebooks, and chmoser.ch/ )

More reference websites:

Swiss Alpine Club guidebooks - Climbing and alpinism guidebooks by the Swiss Alpine Club. Not all are in English but many are.

UKClimbing - look at logbook for crags (e.g., Salbit climbs )

Gipfelbuch - Great for conditions on alpine routes

Chmoser - Excellent personal logbook of a dedicated climber, with detailed descriptions of some routes (in German)

Scalamalade-areas - Overview of some areas, no detailed route information, but good for getting ideas of where to go

Topodb.ch - List of climbing routes by canton, region, area, sometimes with topos

hikr.org - Some alpine routes / many peaks detailed here, with condition reports

summitpost.org  - Some mountains / crags detailed here

kletterportal.ch - for finding partners

camptocamp.org - Alpine focused site, good for finding climbing near a specific point

Guidebooks

Suggest change

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.

1,119 Total Climbs

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Classic Climbing Routes at Switzerland

Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.
Easy Snow
 13
South Face
Snow, Alpine
V2 5+
 10
Beach easy
Boulder
V3 6A
 15
Blue Sky of MIne
Boulder
V7-8 7B
 9
Grit deluxe
Boulder
5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c Mod. Snow
 10
Half Traverse
Trad, Snow, Alpine 3 pitches
5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c V2- 5+ PG13
 61
Hörnligrat Route
Trad, Boulder, Alpine
5.6 4c 14 V 12 S 4b
 10
Nordkante (North Ridge)
Trad, Alpine 25 pitches
5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c A0
 16
Mittellegi Ridge 5b
Aid, Alpine
5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
 10
Thermometeregg
Sport, Alpine 8 pitches
5.9+ 5c 17 VI 17 E1 5a
 15
La Fiamma
Sport, Alpine
5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
 11
Via Cassin
Trad, Alpine 22 pitches
5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b R
 16
Motörhead
Trad 14 pitches
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b
 11
Conquest of Paradise
Trad, Sport, Alpine 6 pitches
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b
 13
Salbit Westridge
Trad, Alpine 36 pitches
5.10b/c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b
 8
Sagittarius
Sport 13 pitches
Route Name Location Star Rating Difficulty Date
South Face Oberwallis (Upp… > Zermatt area > Breithorn
 13
Easy Snow Snow, Alpine
Beach easy Graubünden > Magic Wood > Beach
 10
V2 5+ Boulder
Blue Sky of MIne Graubünden > Magic Wood > Kamel
 15
V3 6A Boulder
Grit deluxe Graubünden > Magic Wood > Beach
 9
V7-8 7B Boulder
Half Traverse Oberwallis (Upp… > Zermatt area > Breithorn
 10
5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c Mod. Snow Trad, Snow, Alpine 3 pitches
Hörnligrat Route Oberwallis (Upp… > Zermatt area > Matterhorn
 61
5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c V2- 5+ PG13 Trad, Boulder, Alpine
Nordkante (North Ridge) Graubünden > Bergell > Piz Badile, North-E Wall
 10
5.6 4c 14 V 12 S 4b Trad, Alpine 25 pitches
Mittellegi Ridge 5b Berner Oberland > Eiger
 16
5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c A0 Aid, Alpine
Thermometeregg Oberwallis (Upp… > Zermatt area > Riffelhorn
 10
5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a Sport, Alpine 8 pitches
La Fiamma Graubünden > Albigna Valley > Spazzacaldeira
 15
5.9+ 5c 17 VI 17 E1 5a Sport, Alpine
Via Cassin Graubünden > Bergell > Piz Badile, North-E Wall
 11
5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a Trad, Alpine 22 pitches
Motörhead Berner Oberland > Grimsel > Eldorado
 16
5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b R Trad 14 pitches
Conquest of Paradise Central Switzer… > Furka Pass > Hanibal
 11
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b Trad, Sport, Alpine 6 pitches
Salbit Westridge Central Switzer… > … > Salbitschijen > Salbitschijen Westridge
 13
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b Trad, Alpine 36 pitches
Sagittarius Berner Oberland > Grimsel > Gelmerfluh
 8
5.10b/c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b Sport 13 pitches
More Classic Climbs in Switzerland »

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