Up by the old route along the SSE ridge, down by the normal route to the SW
I first saw the old route as a barely visible dotted line on the Kompass map I was carrying. I planned to go up the normal route, then descend the old one, but as I was hitch hiking my way to the trailhead, I got a lift from someone who happened to go to a hut high up the slopes, passing the old route at just under 2000 m on a road that is closed for all traffic except for those having hut business.
Starting some 500 m higher than from the normal trailhead made it a whole lot easier, and I was glad for it, because the weather forecast said it might rain in the afternoon, and thunderstorms were a possibility as well, so the sooner I was up there, the better. At first I made good time, but higher up I had to use my hands a few times, and that slowed me down. While descending the normal route, I also used my hands, but not as much. In conclusion, the old route s slightly harder. There are still cairns along the way, and some really old paint marks, but the route is not maintained. Going up, I went off route a few times when I didn't see the next cairn or paint mark and simply went up wherever I thought it made sense.
The new route is a bit more scenic, passing along a few high alpine lakes. All in all, I'm glad I've experienced both routes. In hindsight, I think that going down the old route would be more problematic; high up would be fine, but a bit lower I imagine it would be easy to get off trail. Getting off trail while going up is no big problem; when I did, I just kept scrambling up along the wide ridge towards the summit and it never took long to find another cairn or old paint mark.
Mathias Zehring - Sep 2, 2008 3:25 am Date Climbed: Sep 9, 2004
rgg - Jul 27, 2014 1:02 pm Date Climbed: Jul 27, 2014
Up by the old route along the SSE ridge, down by the normal route to the SWI first saw the old route as a barely visible dotted line on the Kompass map I was carrying. I planned to go up the normal route, then descend the old one, but as I was hitch hiking my way to the trailhead, I got a lift from someone who happened to go to a hut high up the slopes, passing the old route at just under 2000 m on a road that is closed for all traffic except for those having hut business.
Starting some 500 m higher than from the normal trailhead made it a whole lot easier, and I was glad for it, because the weather forecast said it might rain in the afternoon, and thunderstorms were a possibility as well, so the sooner I was up there, the better. At first I made good time, but higher up I had to use my hands a few times, and that slowed me down. While descending the normal route, I also used my hands, but not as much. In conclusion, the old route s slightly harder. There are still cairns along the way, and some really old paint marks, but the route is not maintained. Going up, I went off route a few times when I didn't see the next cairn or paint mark and simply went up wherever I thought it made sense.
The new route is a bit more scenic, passing along a few high alpine lakes. All in all, I'm glad I've experienced both routes. In hindsight, I think that going down the old route would be more problematic; high up would be fine, but a bit lower I imagine it would be easy to get off trail. Getting off trail while going up is no big problem; when I did, I just kept scrambling up along the wide ridge towards the summit and it never took long to find another cairn or old paint mark.
Mathias Zehring - Sep 2, 2008 3:25 am Date Climbed: Sep 9, 2004
traverse sw-ridge / s-ridgewe were lucky on a very fine day with great views