Switzerland climbing suggestions

I'm having trouble finding info on the logistics of climbing for a few days on our trip to the Kandersteg area june 6-15 2014. Can anyone help with some info?

For instance:
- Does anybody have info on climbing routes (sport, multipitch, via ferrata or easy alpine) accessible from Kandersteg without a car (public transport only)? Generally looking for routes under 5.9/5c for multipitch/alpine stuff.

- Can gear be rented in town or nearby? My wife and I have our own gear but are hoping to not travel with it. We don't feel that we need to hire a guide, but if someone wants to meet up and climb we're up for that.

- While we'll be based mostly out of Kandersteg, we have flexibility to travel around Switzerland for a few days by rail, so is there someplace in particular we should look into going to find some easily accessible multipitch or alpine routes if Kandersteg is not the place to be (where we can also rent gear)?

MountainProject pages for Switzerland have not been particularly easy to browse, so if there are better resources or if anyone can give suggestions on what/where we should climb, I appreciate it.

Colin

Try camptocamp.org

It helps if you know French or Greman, but many routes have info in English.

Contact Glen Charnoski, he is on this site and is climbing in Switzerland every summer. His wife is Swiss.

The stuff we have on this site is the tip of the iceberg. There is rock literally everywhere in that country.

Lots of options, but your best bet is to find a copy of Plaisir West when you get there. The guidebook series is excellent, and I can't do it justice here.

Kandersteg itself is mostly known for hard mixed and drytooling, nearby are some good (and some super hard) sport areas. There is hard sport multipitch on the Oeschinsee (lake) nearby.

For moderate alpine, consider spending a few days in Gastlosen. Easy to camp there, with water and nice sites, and tons of options. No need for a trad rack, even. Not simple by public transit, but possible.

There are places in Canton Wallis (Valais) which would also not be far
eg
topodb.ch/index.php?functio…

Google knowns all about the swiss transit system, down to the minute.

Also check out scalamalade-areas.com/en/ for more ideas of places to go. Server seems down now...

Great info, I'll peruse the resources you posted. The "scalamalade" website doesn't seem to work for me at the moment- it wants a password. At least I have a few more leads than I did before!

Colin

Dan Flynn wrote:The stuff we have on this site is the tip of the iceberg. There is rock literally everywhere in that country. Lots of options, but your best bet is to find a copy of Plaisir West when you get there. The guidebook series is excellent, and I can't do it justice here. Kandersteg itself is mostly known for hard mixed and drytooling, nearby are some good (and some super hard) sport areas. There is hard sport multipitch on the Oeschinsee (lake) nearby. For moderate alpine, consider spending a few days in Gastlosen. Easy to camp there, with water and nice sites, and tons of options. No need for a trad rack, even. Not simple by public transit, but possible. There are places in Canton Wallis (Valais) which would also not be far eg topodb.ch/index.php?functio… Google knowns all about the swiss transit system, down to the minute. Also check out scalamalade-areas.com/en/ for more ideas of places to go. Server seems down now...

+1 for the Plaisir series, they cover a good bit of ground in a small volume. ClimbEurope could be an online source for those if you're having trouble finding them.

I think this is more south than west, but I ran across this site that has some interesting stuff recently
chablais-grimpe.com/index_f…

Grimsel is a gorgeous place if you're there in the right season...I think we were there in July and the place was still pouring with snowmelt.

Lastly, a very handy piece of gear for Switzerland that you might want to bring: a very large suitcase full of MONEY...so beautiful and so much to climb, but damn, that place is effin' expensive! Have fun!

David

I have the Plaisir guidebook and it is pretty well made. There are public transportation around Kandersteg that will take you to the trails for the sport multipitch routes at Ueschenen. You can also travel between towns using the bus, train and gondola lifts from Kandersteg.

This site has a good selection of topo for Ueschenen, about 8km by road west of Kandersteg. (1.38 air miles) juusohamalainen.blogspot.co… After a lift to Allmenalp, you hike for about an hour and reach the base of several sport multipitch routes.

I got some better topo I can email you if you want better resolutions.

Also, as far as money goes, Switzerland can definitely be done on a small budget...

Good call on Ueschenen. Diagonale is in the Plaisir Select book, as one of the top 100 climbs in the country.

Bring your rope and draws (in addition to the buckets of cash). I don't know anywhere where you can get ropes without paying for a guide as well.

UKC also a good resource occasionally:
ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag…

Not sure where you are headed specifically, but last year I climbed around the Salbit Hut which is quick close to Andermat. The area has a high concentration of good quality rock routes up to around 20 pitches.

Lots of good info rolling in. Do any of you think Ueschenen will be snow free enough in the 2nd week of June to have good access?

Also, I came across a particularly good website about via ferratas: myswitzerland.com/en-us/via…