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Elevation: 11,466 ft
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 ( scalamalade-areas.com/en/ )

- 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.

743 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
 12
South Face
Snow, Alpine
V3 6A
 8
Blue Sky of MIne
Boulder
V8 7B
 6
Grit deluxe
Boulder
5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c PG13
 43
Hörnligrat Route
Trad, Alpine
5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c Mod. Snow
 6
Half Traverse
Trad, Snow, Alpine 3 pitches
5.5 4b 13 IV+ 11 MS 4a
 7
Egg
Sport, Alpine 6 pitches
5.6 4c 14 V 12 S 4b
 9
Nordkante (North Ridge)
Trad, Alpine 25 pitches
5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b A0
 14
Mittellegi Ridge 5b
Aid, Alpine
5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
 6
NE Grat
Trad, Sport 11 pitches
5.9+ 5c 17 VI 17 E1 5a
 13
La Fiamma
Sport, Alpine
5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
 10
Via Cassin
Trad, Alpine 22 pitches
5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b
 13
Motörhead
Trad 14 pitches
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b
 9
Conquest of Paradise
Trad, Sport, Alpine 6 pitches
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b
 11
Salbit Westridge
Trad, Alpine 36 pitches
5.10b/c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b
 7
Sagittarius
Sport 13 pitches
Route Name Location Star Rating Difficulty Date
South Face Zermatt area > Breithorn
 12
Easy Snow Snow, Alpine
Blue Sky of MIne Magic Wood > Kamel
 8
V3 6A Boulder
Grit deluxe Magic Wood > Beach
 6
V8 7B Boulder
Hörnligrat Route Zermatt area > Matterhorn
 43
5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c PG13 Trad, Alpine
Half Traverse Zermatt area > Breithorn
 6
5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c Mod. Snow Trad, Snow, Alpine 3 pitches
Egg Zermatt area > Riffelhorn
 7
5.5 4b 13 IV+ 11 MS 4a Sport, Alpine 6 pitches
Nordkante (North Ridge) Bergell > Piz Badile, North-E Wall
 9
5.6 4c 14 V 12 S 4b Trad, Alpine 25 pitches
Mittellegi Ridge 5b Eiger
 14
5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b A0 Aid, Alpine
NE Grat Zervreilahorn
 6
5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a Trad, Sport 11 pitches
La Fiamma Albigna Valley > Spazzacaldeira
 13
5.9+ 5c 17 VI 17 E1 5a Sport, Alpine
Via Cassin Bergell > Piz Badile, North-E Wall
 10
5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a Trad, Alpine 22 pitches
Motörhead Grimsel > Eldorado
 13
5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b Trad 14 pitches
Conquest of Paradise Furka Pass > Hanibal
 9
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b Trad, Sport, Alpine 6 pitches
Salbit Westridge Göschenertal > Salbitschijen > Salbitschijen Westridge
 11
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b Trad, Alpine 36 pitches
Sagittarius Grimsel > Gelmerfluh
 7
5.10b/c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b Sport 13 pitches
More Classic Climbs in Switzerland »

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