After the long (and full!) train and bus ride to Saas Grund, we grabbed the gondola up to Kreuzboden and then hiked the rest of the way up to the hut. This whole process actually ends up taking a lot less time that it seemed like it should: we were at the hut by around 10. Once there we check in, have hot beverages on the terrace while enjoying the views, drop off some stuff we don't need during the day and hear from the Roberto (the Huttenwart) that it's definitely not too late to do one of the multi-pitch routes up to the Jegihorn. Yay! We'd been thinking we needed to do something short and/or cragging today. Some quick looking at topos to pick a route, and then we set off towards the base of the Jegihorn.
The well-marked route leads us along and up, up, up. At some point we turn off and traverse to the foot of the route Panorama (easy to find because of the broad crack it follows). On with the gear and then we start the climbing. This is nice climbing on great rock (what a contrast to the Ortstock tour!) with excellent views and good protection. Pure fun in the sun! The 10 pitches, mostly 4b or 4c but with a couple of 5as tossed in, take us about 3.5 hours (including a food break in the middle). Once up top we take up the rope, change shoes and walk the last bit along the ridge to the peak. We take another break to enjoy the views and then set off down the blue-white marked descent route back to the hut. At the hut we enjoy a cool beverage in the sun and then head in to do some planning for the next day and dinner. After a nice meal we talk about plans for the next day with Roberto, who shows us an updated topo for the route we're planning and talks us through the route. Well prepared for the next day, we head off to bed.
We're surprised to see another group already in the route; they're already a couple of pitches ahead, so it's not like it's going to be crowded, but it had seemed likely that we'd have the mountain to ourselves. Ah well. On with the gear and we start the climbing. The route is super varied: starting on a slabby ridge, then getting more vertical and 3D. It's also very sparingly protected, so we end up supplementing the few bolts and pitons that are there with friends as we go (the belays are all bolted though). The climbing isn't particularly hard (mostly 4s) but it is at times quite exposed (including a particularly "entertaining" traverse), .
...and the lack of bolts means that we need to pay attention to route finding... it's great that we have a picture of the newer topo and Roberto's beta about the route! All in all very fun climbing throughout on good rock (though the sun spends most of the time behind clouds, so it's a bit chilly for a lot of the climb)... and we're up top before we know it. Climbing time: 3 hours with breaks. At the top there's room for the two of us to sit (straddling the ridge) but not for much else, so we have a very short break before abseiling down the other side. We'd thought about continuing along the ridge towards the Fletschhorn for a bit, but decide that looks a bit more technical than we currently want to do, so we opt for the newly re-bolted abseil route instead. The abseiling goes well (and reasonably quickly) and we continue the rest of the way down on foot after packing the gear away and having another quick food break. Down down we go, following the obvious trail, until we get back to the bottom of the ridge where we started climbing. From here it's a more efficient trip through the talus back to the moraine and then back to the hut. After a break with cool beverages, pie, and strudel (!), we head down to the gondola and the bus back home to Basel.
This was two very good days of multi-pitch climbing on great rock. A great weekend!
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