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PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION
Approaching the Eldorado slabs on the way to the Lauteraar Hut (Route 6)
The Eiger floats on a sea of mist as dusk settles over the Grindelwald basin – the view from First (Route 14)
Although the previous three editions of this guide were published as The Bernese Alps, I have been persuaded to change the title to ‘The Bernese Oberland’, since this is how the mountains of Switzerland’s canton Bern are better known by the general public. The outline borders of the region whose valleys and routes are described within these pages, have not changed. Nor has the dramatic beauty of its mountains. But some of their individual features have. Thanks to climate change, since this book first appeared, many of the glaciers and snowfields have been substantially reduced or even vanished completely, moraines have collapsed after being undercut, and massive chunks of rock have broken away from the main block of mountain of which they were previously a part. Anyone who makes frequent visits to the European Alps will be aware of such dramatic changes; yet the appeal of the Bernese Oberland as one of the Continent’s most exciting destinations for the discerning mountain walker, remains as powerful as ever.
Gathering material for new editions of this guide is always rewarding, for it draws me back to a region I first knew in the 1960s and whose magic never fades. It also deepens friendships among many who live there, and provides opportunities to revisit the huts, pensions and remote mountain inns that add to its appeal. But as the previous paragraph makes clear, nothing remains static – not the mountains, not the trails, nor the facilities on offer at the places where we spend a night. In preparing this edition I have done my best to provide updated information, although it’s been impossible to re-walk every route or stay in every hut and hotel listed. As a result I’ve had to delete one valley completely and five routes that appeared in previous editions, but there are still nine other valleys and no less than 110 walks described, which should be enough to satisfy the ambitions of most active walkers. However, should you discover a path that has been re-routed, or the features of a valley or mountain have been altered to such an extent that some of the descriptions are no longer valid, I’d appreciate a note giving details in order that I can check them out and make amendments to the next edition or updated reprint. Information can be sent by email to [email protected] and any future updates will appear on the Bernese Oberland updates section of the Cicerone website at www.cicerone.co.uk/796/updates.
On my latest visit to the region I benefitted from the company of my wife (the best of all companions), and our good friends Alan and Morna Whitlock, as well as from the recommendations of Marc Jones and Diane Sifis at the ever-welcoming Alpenhof in Stechelberg, Troy Haines of Alpinehikers, and Silvia Linder in Mürren – each of whom has a way of expressing their enthusiasm for the Lauterbrunnen Valley in particular that is truly contagious. Hut wardens and the proprietors of countless berghausen across the region often unwittingly provided invaluable information, while the staff at Switzerland Tourism in London were extremely generous in providing assistance with travel.
Jonathan Williams and his team at Cicerone in Milnthorpe, once again gave me the benefit of their skills and talents (and their much-valued friendship) by creating the book you hold in your hands; their support and encouragement is a real bonus to our long-standing partnership. To them and all the above, my gratitude is more than I can adequately express.
Kev Reynolds
INTRODUCTION
With the classic trio of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau as its most iconic symbol, the Bernese Oberland hosts some of the best-known mountains in the Alps. Rising out of lush green meadows they tower above chalets bright with geraniums and petunias; a stark contrast of snow, ice and rock against a kaleidoscope of flower, shrub and pasture; an awesome backdrop to an Alpine wonderland.
Neatly shaved meadows at Mürren in the Lauterbrunnental
Flanking the north slope of the Rhône Valley the chain of the Bernese Alps is aligned roughly east to west, stretching from the Grimsel Pass above the Haslital in the east, to the Col du Pillon below Les Diablerets in the west, thus forming the longest continuous range of mountains in the Alps that does not comprise part of the continental divide. In truth, their more familiar title, the Bernese Oberland, refers to the northern side of the range only; the highlands of canton Bern, but of the Bernese Alps proper, among their numerous summits almost 40 reach above 3600m, while the huge glacial basin on the south side of the Jungfrau gives birth to the Grosser Aletschgletscher, the largest icefield not only in Switzerland, but of all the Alpine regions. Elsewhere lofty waterfalls cascade into gorge-like valleys carved from the mountains by glaciers long since departed, and lakes fill the lower valleys like small inland seas, while more modest tarns lie trapped here and there in hillside scoops to throw the mountains on their heads as a mirror-like bonus to those who wander their trails.
Perhaps it is no surprise that the most visually diverse and dramatic part of the range has been declared a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site – the first in the Alps. The Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn site covers an area of 540sq km (208 sq miles), and a number of its footpaths are included in this guide. (See www.jungfraualetsch.ch.)
But the whole of the Oberland region is a paradise for walkers. Footpaths – thousands of kilometres of them – lead enticingly through the valleys, over hillsides and across high passes. Waymarked with the thoroughness and efficiency for which Switzerland is noted they offer sufficient scope and variety to satisfy the dreams of most mountain walkers for a decade or more of holidays, while the resorts of Grindelwald, Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, Mürren, Kandersteg and Adelboden – to name but a few – have their own unique atmosphere and appeal. They are, of course, among the most popular in all Switzerland.
The heart of the region is an arctic wasteland. In a huge basin behind the walls of rock that glower over Grindelwald’s pastures there lies a vast tract of snowfield and glacier jelled into a mass of permanent winter, like some displaced polar ice-cap. It’s a monochrome landscape of stark, yet resounding beauty; a wonderland of white from which stiletto peaks and abrupt massifs emerge as islands of stone in a great ice sea.
Glaciers hang suspended on north-facing slopes too, but by comparison these are just modest streams, the last remaining vestige of those tremendous icefields that once carved and fretted some of the loveliest valleys in all of Europe.
But by far the greater part of the Oberland is covered with flower-rich grasslands; meadows and pastures steeply tilted below broad crests from which you gaze with a sense of wonder at a backdrop of towering mountains, at their snowy crowns with blue-tinged glaciers snaking between them. This visual contrast is one of its major attractions, and the reward for those who take to the footpaths; the winding highways that explore an alpine wonderland.
The Bernese Oberland
Every corner of the range has its own touch of magic. There are the rock climbers’ slabs of the Engelhörner above Rosenlaui, and the multi- summited Wetterhorn which peers down on Grindelwald and stands as a cornerstone, not only of the Oberland, but of mountaineering history. Grindelwald boasts so much of appeal; its glaciers, its tremendous scope for walkers, climbers and skiers, its magnetic views and, of course, the Eiger. But in truth the Eiger is only one of many great peaks here. More attractive still
