Climbing the Chli Windgällen

A trip with the Basel SAC. Saturday's not a long day, so we start the long trip fairly late. We end up having to wait in line for a while to take the teeny gondola up to Kilcherberg (this is where we came down after the Burg bivac).

teeny gondola up to Kilcherberg

From the top of the gondola we follow a nice path, mostly through the woods, gently climbing with the occasional super view of the Bristen (whose top is, unfortunately, in clouds). At Golzeren we stop for a swim in the lake (ahhhhhh, soooooo nice!) before heading up, up, up to the Windgällenhütte. The clouds are low, so we unfortunately don't have the nice views up to the Chli Windgällen or much of any views once we get to the hut. Once there we check in and then hang out a bit before dinner. Good food, a bit of planning for the next day, and then off to bed.

Swim in Golzeren Lake

Sunday we start at 7 under a clear blue sky with great views. First along the blue-white marked trail up, up, past the llamas, up to the Unteres Furggeli. From here we have a great view of the Chli Windgällen, which seems curiously far away, and our route over to it. 

view of the Chli Windgällen from Unteres Furggeli

Further along the blue-white path to where it starts to get a bit steeper. Here we deposit some stuff we won't need and then start up, up towards the peak. At first we're on a clear use trail and then when things get a bit rockier there are clear cairns to follow. Up, up, with a bit of scrambling to the ridge, then around into the South face, then up, up again until we hit the top. Here a brief bit along the ridge to the Vorgipfel, where we drop our packs and then the 20m to the actual peak. Great views, though the high mountains to the S and SW are mostly covered by clouds. After a break to enjoy the views we head back down the way we came. Another break when we get to the bottom, and then we start the descent along the blue-white marked trail. Down, down, down at times steeply, finally through the woods and we come out back in Golzeren. Quick, quick to the lake for another very refreshing swim and then to the gondola down and the long trip back.

Scrambling to the top

In order to avoid a bunch of train-changing, Andrea and I say goodbye to the group in Erstfeld, have some marginal pizza, and then catch a later train where we can sit all the way back to Basel. The book at the hut had lots of ideas for multipitch alpine routes that looked interesting... definitely worth thinking about going back.

This was a nice tour with great views in a cool area. 

Track:

Stats: 

1. Saturday 10.2km, 1100m up, 220m down. 
2. Sunday 11.8km 11.8km, 1150m up, 1750m down.