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TouringTip | Sustenhorn

Long, less difficult high alpine ski tour that is often still doable in early summer

by Tobias Kurzeder • 04/10/2016
The ski tour on the Sustenhorn is a beautiful mix of freeride tour and ski mountaineering, spiced up with a little bit of alpine touring flair. Neither difficult in the ascent nor in the descent, the Sustenhorn tour impresses above all with its magnificent glacier landscape, the long descent and the fact that the tour can often still be undertaken in (very) late spring. And if you still haven't had enough of winter, you can stay at the highly recommended Tierbergli hut (2,795 m) for one or more days. Premature spring fever is unlikely at this altitude.

Ascent

We have a comfortable time. Although the road is not yet open until the hotel, we can still cover a few kilometers by car from Gadmen. It doesn't matter where you park your car - just follow the pass road to the Hotel Steigletscher. After the Hotel Steigletscher, you soon turn right and head into the valley towards Steisee. Here, however, you do not head towards the lake, but along the ridge to the west (right) of the lake in the direction of Chuüöbärgli. At this point at the latest, it becomes clear that the orientation is nice and easy.

At around 2,200 m, you will find yourself below a small steep slope on the Steigletscher (which has probably largely melted away here). Finding the route on the glacier is also easy: simply follow the terrain as closely as possible and always look for the flattest line on the glacier. At approx. 2,400 m, turn right and climb up a somewhat steeper and more crevassed slope, which becomes more comfortable again at approx. 2,600 m. Then head either towards the Tierbergli hut or directly to the north-western flank of the Gwächtenhorn (3,420 m). From here, the route does not ascent the flank, but continues below through a moderately steep hollow and less steep firn slopes in the direction of Sustenlimi (3,089 m). From there, climb towards the NNW and Sustenhorn. The last few meters along the Sustenhorn south ridge can be so bare that it is worth taking off your skis for a short time. Otherwise, you can reach the summit on skis without any major difficulties.

The descent is largely the same as the ascent.

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If the tour is too strenuous for one day, you can also spend a night in the newly renovated and recommendable Tierbergli hut. From there, you can reach the Sustenhorn in around three hours. Many winter sports enthusiasts therefore take the 3,420 m high Gwächtenhorn with them on the way back, almost as an "encore". To do this, you ski from the Sustenlimi over the flat glacier, as long as you can still ski, and then climb over the mostly flat firn and glacier slopes to the elongated summit plateau of the Gwächtenhorn.

Another tip: due to the high altitude and the many glaciers, the area offers a large number of attractive ski and snowboard tours even in late spring.

Beware: the tour runs mainly through glaciated terrain. The equipment required for crevasse rescue must therefore be carried in the touring backpack and put on when needed.

Information

Difficulty (5-level scale): **
Special dangers: Danger of crevasses on the glaciers
Maximum gradient: approx. 35°
Exposure: N-W
Altitude difference start and finish: Hotel Steisee, 1865 m | Sustenhorn 3.503 m
Altitude difference uphill and downhill: approx. 1,650 m
Duration: 6-7 hours

How to get there: From Bern via Meiringen to Gadmen and from there continue in the direction of Sustenpass to Hotel Seisee or until the road is closed. From the north, from Lucerne / Zurich, you usually drive over the 1,000 m high BrĂĽnig Pass to Meiringen.

Map: Swisstopo ski touring map Sustenpass 255 pp. Gauli - Titlis - Andermatt, 1:50,000
Guidebook: SAC Guide Central Switzerland - Ticino. By Willy Auf der Maur

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