Swiss Canyon Trail 110

 G ran this, A crewed.

Sigriswiler Rothorn hike/run

placeholder

Swiss Iron Trail 2025

G did the 78km variant.

Long weekend in Unterwasser

The plan was to spend the long weekend doing some multi-pitch climbing in the Alpstein. It didn't quite work out that way, but it was a great weekend anyway.

Thursday 

We took the train to Unterwasser on Thursday morning, dropped our bags at the hotel (which happened to have our room ready... such a bonus!), and then split up and did some trail running/hiking in the Churfirsten for the rest of the day. It had rained like hell the previous day and overnight and remained overcast, so climbing wasn't a great idea. Still, we both had good days in the mountains and met back at the hotel for a rest and then dinner.

Friday

Friday was a beautiful, blue sky day. In the morning we hiked up to the Schattenwand and got set up to start with the three-pitch route Schlüsselblümli. Unfortunately it became clear pretty quickly as G was leading the first pitch that there was a ton of grass in the route. This wasn't any kind of problem for the climbing, but G didn't want to end up with ook on his hands again. So he came back down. A then led the pitch so we didn't have to leave anything behind and we packed everything up and did the very nice hike over to the Klettergarten Stoss. The rock here looked super nice, but is fully exposed to the sun and it was pretty crowded in the section of the wall where the easier routes were. A tried Heinz (5b+), but that was a bit too much for the first climbing here. G was already mentally done, so we packed the stuff up again and hiked back to town. Not much of a climbing day, but we had beautiful weather, great views, and some good hiking.

Saturday

Saturday was another perfect weather day. We left the climbing stuff at the hotel (rather than risk another day with no real climbing) and did an alpine hike instead. We took the bus to Wildhaus and headed from there along easy paths to Gamplüt. Then it was red-white steeply uphill along a nice grassy ridge to the back of the Wildhuser Schofberg. Here we took a food break, enjoyed the views, and scoped out the route ahead of us while we discussed what to do next. There was a considerable amount of steep snow in the next stage of the blue-white trail in front of us. There were clear tracks in the snow and other people underway, but G was still really nervous about the snow. In the end, G gathered himself, we changed into the approach shoes (we'd been wearing trail-running shoes to that point and carrying the approach shoes in a backpack), and we started off. G didn't enjoy the traverse across the snow or the descent into the bowl, but the snow was soft enough that it was no problem. The hike/scramble back up the other side to the saddle next to the Jöchli was fun (a bit of snow at the top, but ascending is always easier than traversing or descending). From the saddle we went up the Jöchli  itself to enjoy the crazy views and then continued along the trail under the Nädlingergrat. This would have been even more fun if there were no snow in it, but it was still pretty good. At the end of the ridge we hit the red-white hiking path crossing from the Rotsteinpass to the Zwinglipass and followed this (a couple before us had take the very quick way down by descending a steep snow field... this was too much for us). After sliding down the last bit of snow of the initial descent, we follow this very well trampled path to the Zwinglipasshütte. A cool beverage and snack while enjoying the views, then on with the trail running shoes and a mostly very nice hike/run back to Unterwasser. This was a great day hiking, despite the snow. :-)

Gruyere Hike and Run Day 3

 

Track:

Stats:

Gruyere Hike and Run Day 2

 

Track:

Stats:

Gruyere Hike and Run Day 1

 

Track:

Stats:

Trailrunning from Kandern->Basel

A came up with the idea of going trail running in the Black Forest. The public transportation to Kandern is actually pretty easy (we still screwed it up by getting off the train one stop too early; fortunately we could fix this by taking two busses instead of one).

Instead of sticking to the Kandern->Basel leg of Westweg, we added a bit more vertical by starting out over the Munzerberg and Gugelhut before rejoining the Westweg and heading the rest of the way back to Basel.

It's all extremely green (though not terribly muddy) and pretty though the clouds are a bit low to really get good view. The trails are generally pretty good, mostly flowy, and pretty easy to follow (though we get off trail at one point and have to do a bit of improv to get back on track).

Nice lunch break in a Hochsitz (never done that before!) to get out of the breeze and warm up a bit (it was generally quite cool).

A tops at Riehen and G continues the rest of the way back home.

Stats:

G: 35.3km, 715m up, 4:40 total time, 4:05 moving.

Trailrunning Reigoldswil/Passwang to Grellingen

G started in Reigoldswil and went up to Vogelberg via the Jaegerwegli, then down to Passwang. A took the bus to Passwang and we met there.

We continued together along to Hohe Winde (very different today than last time we were there), then down to Beinwil, eventually through the Chaltbrunnental to Grellingen.

The part we did together was almost all runnable and very flowy, super fun and nice views.

Good day out!

Track and stats to come.

Climbing vacation in Finale Ligure

Sunday

Morning:

Trail run together

Afternoon climbing

Crag: Avancorpo Di Boragni

g starts

• Quinta Elementare 5a
• Primi Passi 5b
• A Naso 5b+
• Passera 5c
• Via Senza Nome 1 5c

Monday

First we tried Casa del Vacche, but it was too wet

Crag: Falesia dello Scoiattolo

A starts

• Nuvole 5a
• Corridoio 5c (A on TR)
• Struzzo (6a+, g TR, A TR with an alternate beta for the overhanging bottom)

hike back through the woods

Tuesday

Crag: Falesia della Coccinella

g  starts

• 14 5a
• 15 5a
• 10 5b
• 9 5c (this one was tricky between the 1st and 2nd bolt. We both did it lead with some hanging, then top roped it to refine the movement)
• 16 5c (no problem)
• 17 6a+ (g lead, A toprope; a start that looked athletic, but wasn’t that bad, then a tricky bit of slab before an easy finish)

Wednesday

Crag: Falesia della Coccinella

A starts

There were some things that looked good left to climb, so we came back.

• 20 5a
• 21 5b (very physical at a couple of points. A did TR)
• 18 6a 
• 23 5c+ Fun climb; harder in some ways that the 6a
• 22 6a (A did TR with a bit of help over the physical crux). Super nice after the physical crux

Thursday

Crag: Falesia del Gorilla

g starts

Alone in the morning, then more people showing up in the afternoon. Really nice, long routes.

• 9 5a
• 10 5b
• 14 5c (35m, lovely!) (g with a fall going over one overhang)
• 12 5c+ (34m, lovely!)
• 1 6a fun!
• 8 6a (31m, soooo nice after the weird start)

Friday

Crag: Falesia del Condor

A starts

Really nicely situated crag walkable from our flat; we were alone all day.

• 1 5b
• 2 5c (start looks super physical but is actually pretty easy)
• 7 5c
• 8 5c+
• 9 6a
• 10 6b (A in TR) This was g's first 6b onsight
• 5 6a

Saturday: 

Some rain in the morning, so we went trail running. After the first loop together (with three different sets of people asking us how to find a famous cave with easy climbing routes), g repeated the loop from the first day on his own, A went for a stroll down to Finalborgo.

Other stuff: 

• we rented a car in Basel and drove down. The drive, less than 6 hours since we didn't have traffic, wasn't bad at all.
• the flat worked well and the location up on the hill above town was great.

This was a great trip and we definitely need to go back. :-)

Moutier trail running: Tour du Moron.

 We wanted to do some trailrunning above the fog, so we took the train to Moutier and did a loop to the Tour de Moron (last here back in 2012).

We start in the fog and follow the road out of town to Perrefitte. From here we switch to trail/forest roads and head gently up through a nice (though short) gorge before starting to climb more seriously, past Combioz and then up onto the ridge and breaking into the sun at the hut at Le Remeule. We do a nice lunch break in the sun there and then continue the last bit up to the Tour de Moron. 

The staircase has, unfortunately, partially collapsed on the tower, so we can't climb up, but the sun and the views are still very nice. We continue along the ridge gently descending, before heading more steeply down to Champoz (very nice, for G. at least, descent through the woods here), Taking a short snack break before getting to down we notice the intriguing looking Lac Vert on the map, so after hiting down we head up a bit again and follow the trail to the lake. This looks super cool, but unfortunately it's all fenced off with big "do not enter, you will be fined" signs... ah well.

After that dissapointment we continue down, down, bid the sun farewell, and enjoy the run down through the Gorges de Court to Moutier. Fortunately the sun is shining in Moutier, so we can enjoy our recovery drinks and snacks while waiting for the train in the sun. :-)

Track:

Stats: 27.7km, 1100m up and down, 4:46 total time.

Fiesch to Münster (1/2)

We've got another stable and hot weekend, so it's off for a weekend of trail running.

We take the train to Fiesch, where we fill up the water bottles and see some signs that there might be some kind of race going on (though the people we see have paraglider backpacks, so it's not quite clear what that is).

......

Trailruning Davos day 2: Davos to Klosters via the Weissfluhjoch

We set off in the morning with the plan of ending in Klosters Platz. A has planned three different routes that we can decide upon along the way.

The trail starts directly outside our hotel and leads us up, up, up (no warm-up today!) mostly in forest until we get to Schatzalp. We head through Schatzalp and continue our way up, up to Strelapass, where we start to see other people (mainly mountain bikers on their way down). We fill water bottles, make our first route decision, and continue along the really nice trail (first running of the day!) towards the Weissfluhjoch. 

The last bit of this is kind of ugly ski area, and that continues for the first part of the descent down the other side. Down, down we go, later on nicely runnable single track, until we hit the Grüensee (we walked past this on a bivac tour a couple years ago). Here we do a food break and enjoy the sun and nice temperatures before continuing on our way down, down. Instead of taking a more direct route to Schifer, we do an extended zig-zag through the woods and moor down to the stream at Moosboden, where we fill our bottles and cool down a bit, before continuing through the woods (sometimes runnable, sometimes not) before emerging onto forest roads at Conterser Schwendi (closed!) and then continuing along to Schifer. A bit of climbing on the forest road under the trees (with a short snack break along the way) takes us to Serneuser Schwendi, and then we start the long, relatively fast (for us) descent to Klosters Platz. In town, we have plenty of time to get food and drink at the Coop and to cool down at the fountain before starting the trip back home.

This was another very nice day of running!

Track to come

Stats: ~26km, 5:15, ~1300m up, ~1700m down

Trailrunning Davos day 1: the Jakobshorn loop

Inspired by a  route in "Flow trails für Geniesser", but we extended it on both ends to make a loop from Davos Platz.

The "warm up" from Davos to Teufi is a really nice and flowy bit of running, then we pick up the route from the book and climb up, up, up to Bramabüel, where we do a sandwich break before continuing along the ridge to the Jakobshorn. We were mostly alone for the first bit (just a couple groups of mountain bikers heading down), but we start seeing more people now. At the Jakobshorn (full-on busy now) we fill the water bottles and then continue along the ridge to the Jatzhorn. The descent along the ridge is nice, but not super runnable, but once we turn off at the Taellifurgga it gets a bit better. We do a second food break before joining the larger panorama trail (with a, thankfully separate, very busy mountain biking trail), which leads us, mostly running, down to Sertig Doerfli. Here we stop at the restaurant and have drinks and cake before finishing the way down to Davos Platz. The first bit of this is very nice and flowy through the woods, then there's an asphalt bit down to Clavadel, then another nice bit through the woods before we arrive in Davos Platz near the Jakobshorn gondola station.

Quick trip the Coop to get drinks and food, then back to the hotel for a shower and a nap. Later we do a stroll through town, dinner, another "walk around the block" and then we hit the bed... there's more running to do tomorrow.

This was quite a good run; the parts we added to make the suggested route a loop were definitely work the extra km. 

Track to come

Stats: ~31km, 6:30, ~1530 up and down

Leukerbad to Kandersteg (2/2)

Today starts (fairly late, the hotel didn't start breakfast until 7:45) under a cloudless blue sky. We head out of town the same way we came in yesterday and then start heading up, up the trail to the Gemmi pass. This is a nicely maintained and surprisingly popular route. It also gets morning sun, which was a bit surprising. Fortunately it's not super hot yet and there is occasional shade from trees. Up, up we go, passing hikers, getting passed by one trail runner, until we get to the pass itself. Into the madness towards the gondola station to enjoy the views (oh the views!), and then we say goodbye to the Walliser mountains and turn towards the Berner Oberland. Down the trail through the crowd, a very very nice flowy bit of running along the lake, on the improvised trail around the end of the lake (the water is super high and the normal trail is under water), our first food break with views back towards the lake, and then onwards. Pretty shortly thereafter we opt to stop for coffee and tea (and to refill our water bottles) at the Hotel Schwarenbach before starting up, up on the trail to the Schwarzgraetli (we've were here more than 10 years ago). 

We're mostly alone on this piece of trail, but at the ridge we start seeing people again. After enjoying the views down to the Innere Ueschene and then continue along the trail towards Engstligenalp. Nice bit of trail under a big cliff. At a crossing point we run into a Swiss guy coming the other way who says something about a cave that neither of us understands, but that sounds interesting, so we decide to continue along to see what that looks like. Here the marked path is between the snow and the cliff. The snow gets higher and higher and the space gets narrower and narrower, but there are still markings, so we keep going. There's a bit of scrambling and some squeezing and then we hit a dead end (well, not a dead end, we probably could do some scrambling and continue, but it would be really tricky to come back), so we turn around and head back to a spot G had noticed where the snow wall was low enough to scramble over and there's a use trail. This shortly joins the marked trail, which we continue to follow, contouring under the snow field this time, across a bit more snow and then then up a bit to a trail junction (from here it's obvious that there was no good way out if we had continued between the snow and the cliff), where we turn and start heading down into the valley. This is steep at first, but steadily more and more runnable as we continue. Once things flatten out we stop to fill a water bottle (with the filters), continue a bit farther, do another food break, and then finish the last stretch down, down to Kandersteg.

Track:

Stats: 23.7km, 5:57, 1490m up, 1690m down

Crans-Montana to Leukerbad (1/2)

 We finally got a weekend with two good weather forecasts, so we decided to try something new: a multi-day trail run. The route for this first day is from Flowtrails fuer Geniesser. 

We get an early start from Basel and do train, train, funicular to get to Crans Montana. We start running in a cloud, so it's nice and cool as we head up and out of town.

The route mainly follows a stream/suone (the Bisse de Tsittoret) and is a nice mix of open and forest. We would have fantastic views of the Walliser 4000ers if it weren't for the clouds, but the running/hiking is still really good. We stop and do our first food break at Le Relais de Columbire after about an hour of running (those sandwiches aren't getting any better in the trail-running pack!) Continuing on, we start to encounter more people who are out enjoying the nice day, including a fair number of trail runners who, of course, pass us. We're generally among the fastest hikers, but we are also the slowest runners. ;-)

Onwards and around the corner at the Cave du Sex. We miss a planned diversion to follow the suone into the valley and instead follow the main trail and do a bit of extra up and down (ah well...). Onward and upward, along the nice trail. Another food break at Nueschelet, past the hut at Varneralp (our high point for the day), and then down, down and around the corner. Leukerbad is now in view. Instead of continuing along the marked path for Leukerbad, we continue with the recommendation from the book and stay up high for a bit longer, climbing a bit more and following a clear, but unmarked path that leads to the back of the valley. This bit would probably be pretty good running if it were dry, but it required some care after all the rain we've had in the past weeks. At the end we come out onto the trail that leads up to the Gemmi pass (that's for tomorrow) and follow that down into town.

In town we grab snacks and protein drinks at the Migros, check into our hotel, brief nap, a very relaxing visit to the spa, dinner at a pizzeria (lucky to get a table... town is quite busy!), then some stretching and bed.

This was a really good day. It would have been super nice to actually have the amazing views, but the running was still good and the peeks we got of the peaks were fun. 

More running to come tomorrow.

Track:

Stats: 24km, 4:50, 1140m up, 1220m down

Maschgenkamm to Mels

The forecast for Saturday called for eastern Switzerland to be rain-free the longest, so we planned a run near Sargans. The idea is to do something fun where it's ok if it starts raining at 2 or 3.

We take the gondolas up to Maschgenkamm and start running under lovely blue skies along the trail to the Spitzmeilenühtte (been a while since we were here!). This ends up being a really nice and flowy trail that's runnable most of the way... super enjoyable. We stop at the hut and have coffee/tea and cake, top off our water bottles, and then continue. From the hut we climb gradually up to the Schönegg ridge and then contour around to the Schönbüelfurggel. This could also be nicely flowy, but there are still a bunch of snow patches that kind of require walking. More traversing around to the Fansfurggla, where we take another short food break. A bit more climbing and then along the ridge, some of it even runnable, down to the Siezfurggla. 

The trail here takes us across a good sized, and rather steep snow field (which is a bit nervewracking with trail shoes and no poles), and then further along, mostly maintaining the same height, to the Madchopf. It's still early in the year for this stretch, which hasn't been out from under the snow for long, so there are parts where finding/staying on the trail isn't super easy. More walking than planned. A bit below the Madfurggl on the other side we stop for a quick food break before starting the long descent. A look at the weather radar causes us to cut this a bit short and finish our sandwiches while walking. From this point on it's more or less entirely downhill for 2000m of vertical. The descent route is mostly runnable (we picked well!) except for a stretch above Vermol where the farmers have brought the cows up along the hiking path in the rain. One final food break after getting out of the cow chaos and then we're down in Mels. Here we only have to wait 10 minutes for the bus, so we opt for that instead of continuing a few more km along the road to Sargans.

This was a really nice run (though the descent at the end was long!), and we managed to do it without getting rained on. Good planning! ;-)

Track:

Stats: 31.9km, ~900m up, ~2400m down, 5:57

Gurnigelbad to Riffenmatt

Saturday was supposed to have at least halfway decent weather, so we went running in the Gantrisch.

We directly start climbing from the bus stop at Gurnigel and head up, up, mostly hiking, at times on forest roads, at times on trail, at times in the open, at times in the woods, until we come out onto the Zigerhubel and have our first views. Great views of the Gantrisch from here, but unfortunately the Alp views aren't there due to a combination of clouds and Sahara dust in the air. Onwards we go, past Gurnigelpass and then up some more to Selibüel. Here we do a food break and enjoy the views before continuing, now running more frequently, along the ridge. Past the high point for the day at Schüpfeflue, then slowly down along the ridge until we start the climb up to the Gägger. This has a fun bit along a really impressive wood boardwalk construction with cool wood sculptures hiding in the greenery below. Onwards past the Pfyffe, then gently down, with a food break, until we turn off the ridge at Obere Hellstaett. From here it's down, generally flowy until we get to Riffenmatt.

There's a very convenient fountain in the parking lot, and we have lots of time since G mis-read the bus schedule, so we drink loads of water, refill our bottles, rinse our legs and feet, eat, and relax until the next bus.

Despite the missing Alp views, this was a really enjoyable day out.

This is the first run that we've tried from a trailrunning book we just bought. It's full of great-sounding runs, with an emphasis on flow.

The track:

Stats: 24.9km, ~1000m up, ~1100m down, 4:45

Climbing trip to Sicily

 

The climbing

• Friday 22 March, morning. Sector Central bunker
• Vai a Sinistra 5a
• Via Kuchenclub 5b
• Il Ritorno 5c
• Arrivederci Ingrid 6a (both lead with one fall)
• Il Nonno 5c
• Friday 22 March, afternoon. Sector South amphitheatre
• Burning fat 5a (felt harder than 5a)
• El Bahira 5b (A only)
• Just for fun 4c (A only)
• Saturday 23 March, morning. Sector North Campo Base
• Maria 5a
• Eliza 5c (this was our project back on the first visit 12 years ago)
• Chiara O 5c
• No Drill No Party 5b
• Mannara 6a
• Scorpione In Letargo 6a (G top-rope first 1/2, then down, A top-rope first 1/2, then lead, G lead the whole way, “accidentally” since the planned setup to allow him to top-rope the first 1/2 didn’t work)
• Calze Nere 6a+, both top-rope the first 3/4 to the head wall (from the stand of Scorpione), which looked easy and uninteresting
• Saturday 23 March, afternoon. Sector Central For Snails
• For snails 5a
• Autonella 5c
• Stay straight 5c
• Fay is the boss 6a (top rope, very nice climbing)
• Sunday 24 March. Sector North Orange Wall
• Gracie Josef 5c (A kicked loose a big rock on this one and that changed the character of the day for her)
• Gracie Maria 5c (A to 2nd to last bolt)
• Pray al Vento 5c (G only)
• Sunday 24 March. Sector North Campo Base
• Cimitero della Lumache 6a (A in top rope)
• Mezzo Crucchi 6a+ (A in top rope)
• Dolores 6b (G in top rope, A attempts)
• Monday 25 March. Sector Center Bunker
• Colazione Piu 5b
• Pilastrino 5c
• Strapiombino 5c
• New Years Greetings 6a
• Classic Delux 6a+ (A top-rope with some pulling through the very physical crux)
• Silvester 6a (A top-rope, but it was easy for her)
• Tuesday 26 March, morning: we tried, but it was super windy, so we went home
• Tuesday 26 March, afternoon: Sector Far South Cocodrillo
• King for a day 5b
• Tuesday 26 March, afternoon: Sector Far South Isulidda tower (we changed sectors because it seemed like the entire German speaking world wanted to climb the four routes we were interested in in Cocodrillo)
• Tower pillar 6a
• Luigi 6a
• Skywalk 6b
• Anton aus Tirol 6a+ (G only)
• Wednesday 27 March, morning, Sector Central, Il Paese Piccolo. We ended up leaving early because it was raining
• Via Giuliano 5b
• Tibi 5c
• Don Pedro 6a
• Wednesday 27 March, afternoon, Sector Central, Il Paese Piccolo
• A Passatempto 6a
• Espresso 6a (A 3/4 lead, then top rope over the bulge, but the final beta for this was doable in lead)
• Sono In Fuga 6a (A couldn’t get over the bulge, which was super physical)
• Eselparty 6a+ (G only, again super physical over the bulge)
• Thursday 28 March. Sector South Scomparto Rifiuti
  • Happy Birthday 5b
  • Tre Fratelli 5c
  • Diedro Giallo 6a (A toprope because she wasn’t sure about the physical last bit, but she found a good solution to it and it would have been no problem)
  • Chris 6a (A did 85% of it and then took a bad fall. Finished the route later in toprope)
• Saturday 30 March. Sector Central, Bunker. Today was super windy, so the climbing was a bit challenging at times and the rope handling required care.
  • La Femmina 5b
  • Fur Christian 5c (A toprope to get her head back in it)
  • Lavoro di Domenica 6a
  • Per Giorgio il mio Amico 6a
  • Happy Otzis 6a
  • Due Giganti sulla Roccia 6a+ (G only, pretty good fall in the crux on the first try)
• Sunday 31 March. Sector North, Campo Base. A's head wasn't in it for the last half
  • Nini 5c
  • Chiara O 5c
  • Via Della Zanzare 6a+ (A halfway, G the second half but with a PA, A toprope, G toprope)
  • Molloblocco 6b (G in toprope with a couple of rests, this felt like the absolute limit of what was doable. A did some good tries, but couldn’t get through the very thin crux)
  • Mezzi Cruchi 6a+ (G, this was a repeat from last Sunday)
  • Calze Neri 6a+ (G, last week he just top roped the first 80% or so)
• Monday 1 April. Sector Central, Fakiros Wall. By the end, it was hot and both of us were feeling a bit tired in the head (but A wants to be clear that she felt better today than yesterday)
  • Flic 5b
  • Nives Rosa Tiss 5b
  • Ildefonso 5c
  • Swiss Friends 6a+ (toprope, G did it two times)
  • Il Mano di Fadri 6a
  • La Formica 5b (A only)

Other stuff:

• Hiking in the Zingaro nature reserve on Friday the 29th and then a trail run/hike up to the Monte Monaco to watch the sun-set

Kleinluetzel trail run