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Areas in Switzerland
| Elevation: | 11,466 ft | 3,495 m |
| GPS: |
46.5286, 8.1299 Google Map · Climbing Area Map |
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| Page Views: | 702,965 total · 3,576/month | |
| Shared By: | Bill Flaherty on Sep 28, 2008 · Updates | |
| Admins: | Mark P., James H, Dan Flynn |
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. 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
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
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.
Classic Climbing Routes at Switzerland
| Route Name | Location | Star Rating | Difficulty | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ● Beach easy | Magic Wood > Beach |
|
V2 5+ Boulder | |
| ● Blue Sky of MIne | Magic Wood > Kamel |
|
V3 6A Boulder | |
| ● Grit deluxe | Magic Wood > Beach |
|
V8 7B Boulder | |
| ● Half Traverse | Zermatt area > Breithorn |
|
5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c Mod. Snow Trad, Snow, Alpine 3 pitches | |
| ● Hörnligrat Route | Zermatt area > Matterhorn |
|
5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c V2- 5+ PG13 Trad, Boulder, Alpine | |
| ● Egg | Zermatt area > Riffelhorn |
|
5.5 4b 13 IV+ 11 MS 4a Sport, Alpine 6 pitches | |
| ● Nordkante (North Ridge) | Bergell > Piz Badile, North-E Wall |
|
5.6 4c 14 V 12 S 4b Trad, Alpine 25 pitches | |
| ● Mittellegi Ridge 5b | Eiger |
|
5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b A0 Aid, Alpine | |
| ● NE Grat | Zervreilahorn |
|
5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a Trad, Sport 11 pitches | |
| ● La Fiamma | Albigna Valley > Spazzacaldeira |
|
5.9+ 5c 17 VI 17 E1 5a Sport, Alpine | |
| ● Via Cassin | Bergell > Piz Badile, North-E Wall |
|
5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a Trad, Alpine 22 pitches | |
| ● Motörhead | Grimsel > Eldorado |
|
5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b Trad 14 pitches | |
| ● Conquest of Paradise | Furka Pass > Hanibal |
|
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b Trad, Sport, Alpine 6 pitches | |
| ● Salbit Westridge | Göschenertal > Salbitschijen > Salbitschijen Westridge |
|
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b Trad, Alpine 36 pitches | |
| ● Zeichen der Freundschaft 6b+ | Schöllenen > Tuefelstalwand |
|
5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b Sport 10 pitches |
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