Climbing near Interlaken

[slothrop]

I'm going to visit my mom and brother in Germany this June and we're probably going to Interlaken or somewhere else in the Alps for a few days. Any guidebooks I should check out for that area? Anyone been there and want to suggest some routes? Places to meet partners on short notice? I don't have any moral problem hiring a guide, but my budget won't allow it.

 

My brother might be willing to accompany me on some easy, short rock climbs, but he doesn't have the gear or experience for harder stuff. So basically I'm looking for alpine climbs to solo (easy snow or rock) or crag-type stuff (unless I can find a partner...).

[Stefan]

Don't know if you are going up the Zermatt valley....but if you do....vegetablebelay and myself went up that way last year. I could point you in the direction of how to save money if you are into doing some 4000m peak alpine climbing in the Zermatt valley.

[jja]

I've got a little british guide book called Bernese Oberland - Selected Climbs by Les Swindin. You're welcome to borrow it -I'm on the east side.

 

Not too far from Interlaken is the mtn village of Grindelwald which is just below the Eiger, Jungfrau, and Monch. There is a train that runs through the eiger and terminates at the highest elevation of any train station 12k-ish I think. The train stops midway through the mtn at some windows that look out onto the north face, really impressive.

 

Anyway if you're not into doing the nordwand , there are some easier routes up the eiger. The mittileggi ridge is the left skyline. The approach is to buy a train ticket !! and exit the train midway through the eiger, and walk through a tunnel to the eiger glacier, then acsend some scrambly loose rock (to 5.easy) and a ledgey traverse to the ridge. There, on a very narrow ridge is an alpine hut, complete with solar panels, a rain catching cistern, bunks with wool blankets, a propane stove, and the real kicker - a shitter that dumps out onto the nordwand.

 

I didn't get much farther up the ridge than that as the fixed ropes on the tricky bits of the ridge that were supposed to be there according to the guide book weren't, since I was alone I bailed. It's on the tick list if I ever get back to europe. There's also a ton of via-ferrata stuff that might be worth checking out. If you drive through Bavaria on the way to switzerland you could do the Zugspitze which is in Garmich-Partinkirchen (sp?) there is a via-ferrata route to the summit. Buy a ticket on the ski tram for an easy descent.

 

Have fun on your trip.

[miller]

slothrop,

 

ive done a fair amount of climbing in the area and there is definitely no shortage of things to do. the best advice i can give you is to go to the shop "vertical sport" in interlaken and talk to kaspar (im pretty sure thats his name - burly guy with beard...). ive been through the area several times over the years and kaspar has always been there and and has always given me great information. just be honest with him about your ability and what you want to doand he'll point you in the right direction. to find the shop, find the "happy hostel", turn around, walk across the parking lot and youll see the shop.

 

as far as finding partners, interlaken can be tough. in the summer, the hostels are full of frat boy types who are "backpacking through europe". you might try balmer's campground, but dont get your hopes up. youll probably have better luck finding a partner in meiringen, but again, i wouldnt count on it.

 

as far as moderate alpine rock climbs, there is plenty to do, although youll want a car for a lot of them. there is a book that you can buy at the shop called "plaisir west" that covers the interlaken/meiringen area as well as most of western switzerland. these climbs are very different than youre average north american alpine rock climbs. most of them are bolted - its not at all rare to find 14 pitch alpine rock climbs that are completely bolted with equipped rappels. almost all of the climbs in "plaisir west" are relatively moderate as well. but it is wrong to assume that these climbs are mellow because of the grades/bolts. the bolts are usually there because there either are no cracks or because any cracks that do exist are too fractured to take pro. ive been beaned by spontaneous rockfall on very popular, well-travelled routes and therefore id have to think twice about soloing a lot of those routes, even if the climbing is totally straightforward.

 

as far as moderate snow routes, definitely try the monch and the jungfrau. looking up from the valley you may be tempted to think twice about soloing these peaks, but once you take the train to the jungfraujoch theyre right there! the monchsjoch hut is right at the base of the monch and is about a ten minute walk over a generally crevasse-free glacier from the railway terminus. the monch is pretty straightforward - just mind the cornice on the summit ridge. the jungfrau is a bit more risky as a solo because of a few crevasses, but ive done it in june and felt OK. if you stay at the monchsjoch hut and get an early start, its not unreasonable to solo both the monch and the jungfrau in a day. i dont remember exactly when the hut warden comes back, but i dont think he is there in june, so bring some extra food. the hut is still open and there will be blankets, etc. in the bunkroom.

 

there is no end to the things you could solo up there, it all depends on how you feel about being alone on glaciers. for these climbs, the british alpine club books are excellent, but you might consider "alpine 4000m peaks by the normal routes" (or something like that) by richard goedeke (sp?). it describes the normal routes, which are obviously safer choices for a solo climber on his first visit to the alps, and the author describes in detail how to do them all with public transportation.

 

another good, mellow solo day is just outside of montreux and can be done with public transportation and doesnt involve any glacier travel (a lot of people dont like the idea of soloing on glaciers). there is a little arete traverse called "uberschreitung" that is a good solo (but of course youll want a rope for rapping down to notches) and then you can scramble up the "dent du jaman" before catching the train back down. all of this is described in "plaisir west" - however the descriptions in this book are only in german, french, and italian, and the topos are in german only. however, the maps and topos are good will make sense even if you cant translate them.

 

i could go on and on about things to do...if you want more information, fire away.

 

best of luck!

[mtngrrrl]

I'm looking at Plaisir West right now, and I see a Via Ferrata outside of Meiringen that would be a fun thing for you and your brother to do. You can usually rent Via Ferrata gear in local climbing shops. The photo shows some fantastic views from the route. There are also plenty of sport climbs in the area, ranging from single pitch "school walls" to bolted multi-pitch routes 10 a/b and under. I'm also looking at a climb called the Lobhorner. It looks like a scramble with a few pitches of low fifth class, all of which are bolted, though runout. Six pitches, then two rappels, then four more pitches to four rappels down. The description says "For one day of climbing in autumn vis-a-vis the grandiose view of the Eiger-Monch-Jungfrau trio, this is a dreamy place." Maybe Miller is familiar with this and can comment on the route, since I haven't done it. I've climbed in the French speaking area more.

 

The book by Richard Goedeke is titled, "The Alpine 4000m Peaks by the Classic Routes". I agree that this book is invaluable. You can do just about all (if not all) of the 4000m peaks in the Alps in a weekend thanks to the road system and ski lifts. Though many of them are easy technically, these peaks aren't anything to take for granted. The weekend after I did a PD (one notch up from easy) route on an unassuming peak, three climbers fell off the side to the deaths on a glacier long below. Ugh. Nonetheless, there are plenty of soloable routes. I'd also say that the glaciers are different over there. Most of the crevasses in the summer are very visible and much narrower than the gaping wide crevasses I've seen around here. The glaciers really melt out, making them easier to navigate, in my opinion. Maybe Miller can further comment on that, since I wouldn't want to mislead you. June might also be a tad early, as the height of mountain season tends to be in August due to the "Days of Big Sun" as we called it.

 

Sounds like a fun trip to me!

[slothrop]

Thanks for the replies!

 

A few general questions about climbing in Europe:

 

Knowing about barrabes.com, t-p.com, et al., I assume that gear is cheaper than in the US. Any particular kinds of goods that are more expensive?

 

Are hut reservations necessary in June?

 

How does the weather work in the Berner Oberland? What kind of weather patterns and temps should I expect in June?

 

Re: the Moench -- this summit cornice? Looks like an awesome view!

 

I found Vertical Sport's website, that looks like the place to go for sure. They appear to have route topos to copy and all the rentals my brother needs.

[slothrop]

Ah, one more thing: any good moderate crack climbing? With miller's description of the rock and the proliferation of bolts in the area, I'm wondering if I should just leave my cams at home.

[miller]

slothrop,

 

ill try to get to all of your questions and answer them the best i can.

 

as far as gear goes, yes most items are less expensive in europe than the US, however switzerland is probably the exception to this - that country aint cheap. but yeah, most things - even five ten rock shoes (US company) - are less expensive in europe.

 

june is usually pretty nice. soft snow in the afternoon and t-shirts and sunscreen on the glaciers. im not sure what it has been like lately, but i had been living there all year and just got back a few weeks ago, and it was one of the warmest and driest springs anyone can remember. if that trend has continued, conditions in june will be much more solid than they usually are. of course it can still snow up high at anytime in the summer, but that really isnt much different than the cascades. for reference, june is pretty much the same story there as in the cascades - maybe just a bit more wintry (is that a word?).

 

as far as leaving the cams at home, id say yeah you should leave them IF you are only planning to go cragging. however youll need them on mixed/rock routes in the high peaks. since most of the rock in that area is limestone or chossy gneiss, there really isnt much crack climbing. if you want to climb cracks in the alpine, bring your cams and head over to chamonix - excellent alpine granite (you might want to consider just going to chamonix anyway - youll have no problem finding a partner there, no matter what your skill and experience level may be).

 

hut reservations depend entirely on the hut. for example, if you want to try and solo the gouter route on mt blanc, you can pretty much forget about getting a reservation at the gouter hut (but of course this shouldnt stop you - just show up and theyll find somewhere for you to go - lots of no-shows). but at the monchsjoch hut, i dont think it should be a big problem in june - last time i was there in june the hut was still closed and there was nobody else there.

 

to expand on mtngirl's comments, ill agree that i am a bit more relaxed on glaciers in the alps. but it has nothing to do with the glaciers themselves - the glaciers are at least as complex (probably more so) as glaciers in the cascades. the difference is that the standard routes get so much traffic that there is almost always a well beaten path through crevassed areas. that doesnt mean its safe - youll still cross bridges and you can still slip - its just a risk that a lot of people take in the alps that most people here do not. that said, there are probably more people killed in the alps during a single summer day than during the entire year in the cascades - people take risks and do things differently and certain practices that will seem bizarre to a north american climber are widely accepted in the alps, but often people pay for it.

 

and she is right, there is a lot of cragging right outside of meiringen (and interlaken) but i wouldnt go all the way to europe to climb those sorts of routes. sure, the views are nice from the crags - so why not just go to the peaks you would be gawking at, right?

 

im really excited for you and wish you the best of luck - again, if you have any more questions, keep 'em coming.

 

cheers, todd

[slothrop]

Uh, so here's my non-TR. Short version: I didn't climb a damn thing.

 

We were only there for four days, two of which were spent hiking with my mom. On the day I set aside to climb something, I got into an argument with my erstwhile partner and brother Chris, so I just spent the rest of the afternoon pissed off. The easy route on the Moench looked like a good option, but the train ticket is about 100 bucks and I was already dropping big money just on meals.

 

Next time (oh yes, there will be a next time!) I go it'll be just to climb. Trying to squeeze it in on a family vacation is probably not going to work for me.

 

On our hiking days, we got a clear view of the Eiger, Moench, Jungfrau, Lobhoerner, Wetterhorn, Schreckhorn, etc. The Alps are incredible!

 

panorama from the Kleine Scheidegg train station

[Fence_Sitter]

nice pic yo!

[Norsky]

Tough TR. Next time check out Chamonix. Day trips to 12,000 ft via gondolas and get back in time for cheese and wine for dinner.

More importantly, what did you argue over???