Col de Riedmatten - Haute Route

This weekend finally I gathered the courage to tackle one of the challenging portions of Haute Route over Pas de Chevres (formerly Col de Riedmatten). There used to be a long 50 foot or so ladder to cross this pass, and now next year they split it into 3 and angled it well to make this easier. So here we go.

This can be done as a day hike from Barrage de la Dixence to Arollo. We arrived at the Barrage by bus from Gare de Sion (requires additional 5 CHF supplement over GA) and started the hike around 9:45. There is a cable car that one can take from Barrage to top of the Dam (for 7 CHF), saves about 20 min. We decided against it and walked up to the dam. At the top turned towards the lake. Then there is a long stretch of flat walking along the lake, made exciting initially by many tunnels. After crossing the tunnels, you soon reach La Barma where hike from Cabana de Prafleuri meets. It takes about 1hr to get here. From here the trail is a bit boring till you reach end of the lake. Ours was made somewhat interesting by few cows with horns who seemed somewhat aggressive. Towards end of the lake a surprise view of glacier awaits, and after that the real hike begins from Pas du Chat. The train now climbs steeply. This is common route for Col de Reidmatten and Cabana Dix. After some nice climb and a short glacier moraine you reach junction of Cabana Dix and Col de Riedmatten trails.

We follow Col de Riedmatten (which also leads to Pas de Chevres). Now the trail goes down a bit till you reach a flat which is end of the glacier. There is a small glacier lake here. This was good place to sit down and each lunch. So far the trail has been steep, but easy terrain, fun will begin soon. From here first there are some rocky sections to cross which do not present much difficulty. But soon we are on a steep scramble through loose rocks and scree. In this part there are some red signs, but you pretty much have to climb on all fours like a lizard and make sure you have good footing. Thankfully this section is not too long and then you reach the fork of Col de Riedmatten and Pas de Chevres. Riedmatten was looking quite doable from here, especially after the scramble we just did. But we headed over to the ladders of Chevres as planned. The way to ladders is flatter and secured with chains which were not really needed at this time. The ladders are surprisingly easy now. We did a little celebration and a snack on top. The tough part was over, and I it was not that scary. From here down to Arolla is easy gentle downhill. We were met with some surprise rain though and I was happy it did not hit us close to the pass. We stayed at a small dormitorio in Arolla.

Les Hauderes - Bricola

After tackling one of the most difficult sections of Haute Route we stayed at Arolla for a valley hike next day. We chose Les Hauderes valley since we had already seen Arolla from far. Being remote area, the bus service is not very regular, and the first bus to leave Arolla is at 8:30am, and then to Fereche at 9:30, which means we can start hike only at 10:00am. This was somewhat disappointing given that we had stayed overnight hoping we can start early.

Fereche looked like quite a remote place, even the road to get there was narrow single lane road. The start is on a tar road till you reach a parking lot where people with cars start. The first part of hike is among trees, gentle climb. You already start seeing some glaciers and the glacier delta below. Then there is a fork, one that leads to glacier and other than climbs up to Bricola. The trail is steeper now, but still wide and easy terrine. It stays that way all the way to hut. Once out of the trees, both glaciers are visible in their full might (or we think). There are good places to take pictures.

After short 2hr since start we reach the wonderful Bricola. The views are breathtaking! This has been the best of view so far. The end of valley is full of glaciers, just amazing. I was surprised at how easy the hike was to get here. We climbed a bit more and wished we had time to go further to next hut or just camp there. This would have made a perfect camping spot. After spending about 30min and a small lunch we ran back in order to catch 15:30 bus back to Sion. Once down to the parking lot, the scene was very different. The are was full of local people just hanging out, cars everywhere. No remoteness. This also make it easier for us to get a ride back to Les Hauderes well in time to catch the bus for return journey home.

Simplonpass - Bistinepass - Sirwoltesattel - Engiloch

On this summer weekend, I wanted to do something simple and stress free. No more traversing the scree sections or ladders, a simple hike with views is all I wanted. Simplonpass fitted the bill. Some had described it as T2, and some T3 - so that's perfect. We took the day pass and headed out with the 6:39 train, even the train route is simple Zurich - Brig - Simplonpass. No need to make 20 connections just to get past Arth Goldau.

We started the hike promptly at 10:00am from Simplon Hospiz (currently closed), though later discovered that hotel Monte-Leone would be better start. Follow the sign for Alpenpassenweg (#6). The trail first takes you down to Bielti, somewhat annoying, and then starts the gradual uphill which gains about 300m till you turn and are on a plateauish area. Some nice views from here, and rest of the 250m are gained slowly and easily up to Bistinepass. The pass is very generic, nothing exciting. You have to walk a little further or higher to see any views, and then the long mountain range on other side of the Brig valley comes into view. This view will remain for most of the further traverse, though behind us. We did a short photo shoot here and then started towards next destination, still following #6. The train is easy, and we meet some bikers on the way too.


After crossing Magelicke the glacier at end of the valley comes into view. Unfortunately the view is partially hidden by smaller ranges on the side. We manage to click few pictures and then reach the junction of #6 and trail towards Sirwoltesattel. Decision point - do we want to go down #6 to get better view of the glacier or march on to our destination. At this point we are somewhat tired and the prospect of going down and up just to see a glacier is not very appealing. So we carry on towards Sirwoltesattel and take a lunch break.

The way to sattel is easy, gentle 200m climb to reach the highest point of trail at 2621m. The view from here is somewhat disappointing. Before starting the uphill traverse to sattel, there is a short detour to take you to the edge from where the glacier at end of valley should be clearly visible. We had decided not to take it, but it would have been nice to make that short 30min detour. 

From the sattle it is easy trail down to Engiloch. The trail does get steep at few places, and there is a short section with 4 iron rods to go down a big rock, nothing stressful. On the way there is a nice waterfall and we decided to take few minutes there to cool off in the water. As usual once we got close to Engiloch, we realized that we will barely make the 3:40 bus back (though we had planned to take 4:40 anyway). At this point we quicken the pace, almost running towards the end to make it to bus stop in time for the 3:40 bus. I hate this running towards the end, but can't beat reaching home 1hr early.