More Wallis or Valais or ? You’re surrounded by big mountains regardless of the dialect spoken. The next leg of our trip took us to the Aletscharena; a region in the heart of german-speaking Wallis NE of its more well-known cousin Zermatt. We'd heard about this area anchored by the three resorts of Riederalp - Bettmeralp - Fiesch from brochures when we visited Zermatt last year. It turns out that the Swiss, Dutch and German speakers know about this area but it's not that well known in the English-speaking part of the world.
And what a loss that is. More than any other part of Switzerland, we would come back to the Aletscharena in a heartbeat for their unmatched combination of trail quality, trail variety and unique views (even by Swiss standards). ________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fiesch Eggishorn Tourism met us at the station and put us up at the Sport Ferien Resort This would be a great place to stay if you’re trying to save some cash or into Soviet-era architecture. The rooms are spacious, the reception people were really helpful and it has a coin laundry as well. The drawbacks are the food is cafeteria style, the breakfast was very basic and you could hear the people upstairs if they were noisy (but generally they were quiet in the evenings). This place is popular with school groups which lends to the chaotic teen ambience at the cafeteria. Read into these comments what you will ... ________________________________________________________________________________________________
Not typisch Schweiz buildings at Sport Center Ferien
Call us tourists - we don't mind! This is more what we associate with Switzerland. Fiescherhof hotel where we had dinner, and some other local restaurants for beer and lunch. on the main street through Fiesch
We opted to eat at some of the local restaurants of which there are many that serve typically good Wallis fare. Notable mention is the Hotel Fiescherhof. The Fiesch Tourism page lists other accommodation and food options but there seems to be a lack of bike hotels.
Perhaps that is the difference between here and say someplace like Zermatt. The Aletscharena area still seems to be in the infancy as far as bike-related accommodations infrastructure as compared to other towns like Grindelwald, Zermatt or many other Graubunden towns. This is not a criticism but more an observation.
The important thing in our opinion was that the trail-riding experiences we had in our three days here were among the best we've had anywhere in the world The area is basically a valley at 1000m with surrounding peaks between 2600m to 3200m on the N side and most peaks at 2800m on the S side. The gondolas and the landmark Great Aletsch Glacier (Grosseraletschgletscher) is on the N side as are the most popular trails. However, there are lots of trails on the S side that we never got a chance to also ride. To the immediate S of this region are the towns of Brig and Visp also with large trail systems in their own right. More noteworthy is that just NE of the Aletscharena area is the Obergoms area which also has kms and kms of trails all served by public transit including bus and rail and terminating in the well known Furkapass. Argh.... its almost frustrating; you see one area like the Aletsch which is magnificent then you see other regions so close and so accessible. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
Views of the valley! Views extend all the way to the Matterhorn of Zermatt in the distance.
General map to show the lay of the land. Bring it up in Large to show full details
Our first day's ride we were accompanied by Kurt Schweitzer of the Bike Store Schweitzer Fiesch. Kurt speaks a bit of English and a bit of French. We speak a bit of German and a bit of French. But both of us sprechen velo and we got along famously well. Kurt loves bikes and he loves riding. We told him he wanted to see the cool singletrack with great views but we also wanted to see the "typisch Schweiz" experience of alpenrestaurants and lift-assisted riding. Kurt delivered again and again.
The first leg of our first day started with a tour of enchanting Swiss villages between the towns of Fiesch to Morel . You can bypass this by riding road (or taking the train) 10kms from Fiesch SW to Morel. But what would the fun be in that? For the record we rode paved road, doubletrack and singletrack from the valley floor at Fiesch - Lax - Martisberg - Oberreich - Grieg - Reid/Morel. This ride trends slightly downhill (the Riederalp gondola base is 200m lower on the valley floor than our start point at Fiesch on the valley) and was the warmup for the rest of the day playing in the alpine.
What really stuck in the mind were little villages like Martisberg (50 people!) with specific roads built for them and other larger villages like Grieg (80 people oooohhhh) with huge gondolas running through them and people going on about their business. It's a fascinating cultural experience which to us, is part of the entire Swiss experience.
The next leg of our first day's ride was very gondola-based with a myriad of possibilities. We took the Riederalp gondola from the valley floor then traversed over to Bettmersee and then down to the Bettmeralp gondola and up to the Bettmerhorn; basically traversing the ski areas along a road at treeline. We then took the Bettmerhorn gondola and, of course, had glace and lunch at the restaurant. Then we rode down the Bettmerhorn down some pretty tech trails (which was unfortunately pretty short) before traversing over to the Fiescheralp ski area on doubletrack and ski lift service roads.
At the Eggishorn gondola base in the Fiescheralp ski area we had more glace at yet another charming restaurant. Then we rode an ascending traverse on the Herrenweg then takes us via a road and tunnel to the Märjalensee to the first views of the Grosser Aletschglacier.
So basically we rode SW from Fiesch on the valley floor. We then used gondolas to get to treeline and rode NE retracing our steps but about 1000m above where we started. Then we took another gondola to the alpine to gain another 600m then worked our way back NE again. Confused yet? See the map at the end of the story ________________________________________________________________________________________________
Where we went to the top for lunch at the top of the Bettmerhorn
From the Bettmerhorn we rode a short path to see the Aletsch Glacier for the first time. This is the Roti Chumme trailhead
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Then we rode down to Eggishorn via a short section of singletrack then scenic doubletrack
Before climbing back up the Herrenweg and through to the Marjalensee for another view of the Aletsch Glacier
Speaking of possibilities, we liked the high alpine of that area and were so fascinated by the Aletsch Glacier that on the next day we did a variation that continues along the same glacier perch along the Roti Chumme trail ending finally at the Marjalensee. This is a technical alpine traverse at about 2400m paralleling the glacier with astounding views and high quality trail.
This is how we did it. From the valley floor at Fiesch we rode 5 minutes from the hotel to the Eggishorn gondola. From the mid-station of the gondola we rode over to the Bettmerhorn on a descending traverse. There's pretty good singletrack above the Bettmersee as you get closer to the Bettmerhorn gondola so keep an eye for that on looker's right You can cut off this singletrack to the Bettmerhorn gondola pretty easily and take the gondola up to the glacier lookout and Roti Chumme trailhead.
We then rode from Rotichumme and then to the Märjelensee on one of the most unearthly beautiful trails I've ever had the privilege of riding with the views of the Aletsch Glacier ever present (7kms of glacier views). We felt extraordinarily grateful to be on this planet that day
One warning is that this is one of the most popular trails in the area and for good reason. You'll see young people, old people, families hiking on this area. The trail doesn't lend itself to high-speed so all of us get along but we still paid careful attention to giving right of way; although invariably the hikers would wave us forward and cheer us on as we rode the tech. Even in September which is a low month this trail got busy towards the afternoon so we bailed out early and continued on to the Märjelensee NE instead of doubling up the glacier views and riding the lower trail back to Riederfurka to the SW. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
This is the Roti Chumme trail that traverses the Aletsch Glacier
We're little
Views of the Grand Aletsch Glacier
There is some hike a bike but with the exception of a notable 1/2 hour section, this section of the Roti Chumme is all rideable if you have decent tech skills and have the Euro hop turns dialed.
Roti Chumme connects to the Marjalensee where the trail ends and ducks back inland. It's a little rougher in those spots and had some pretty tricky exposed sections. This section where this photo is taken is close to the Glacier view hutte (Gletscherstubbehutte) just outside the tunnel on the doubletrack connecting the middle of the Eggishorn gondola with the Marjalensee. From this point we're dropping doooown to valley floor
(Writers note: This was already long. Some notable downhills in the Aletsch area will be covered in the next installment ....)
For more pictures of the area see the entire photo album set here - includes photos of landmarks and notable features
Online bike maps cannot readily be found. They'll pop occasionally on the Fiesch Tourismus site but the links keep moving around so you'll have to do a search or email them. The Tourism people will sell the paper mountain bike maps but, as usual for Europe ride the hiking/wanderweg trails and don't be afraid to explore. Keep an eye closely on the topo lines when you do so.
Kurt Schweizer is an excellent guide but that's not his primary job. Do feel free to stop by the Bike Store Schweizer to ask questions though. He likes red wine!. We also ran into our friend Dave who runs Swiss Alpine Adventure there. He knows the trails and the routes exceptionally well and has run trips to the N (including the Riederfurka variation we didn't get a chance to do) and S side of the valley. Although we haven't been on one of his trips to the Aletsch his area knowledge is also impressive. If anyone knows of other guiding outfits particular to the area please chime in on the comments as it will help readers!
Here are our suggestions for some rides in the area.
(Click on the links to bring the maps up full-page. You can download GPS also if you want to replicate the loops)
Aletsch - Up the FIesch gondola - unload at mid-station at Eggishorn - traverse to Bettmerhorn gondola - up the gondola then over to Roti Chumme - glacier view traverse trail Roti Chumme to Marjalesee and the Fiesch downhill
Statistics Length: 30 km Duration: 6 hours, 1 minute, 50 seconds Vertical up: 2092.3 m Vertical down: 2048.5 m Average Speed: 5.0 km/h
Aletsch - included the Tour of Charming Swiss villages - to Reid-Morel then the Riederalp gondola - over to the Eggishorn to the start of the Roti Chumme but down back to Eggishorn via single/doubletrack then climbing up to Marjalensee via doubletrack and the tunnel then down the Fiesch downhill
Statistics Length: 49 km Duration: 7 hours, 49 minutes, 32 seconds Vertical up: 2861.8 m Vertical down: 2832 m Average Speed: 6.3 km/h
The glacier is really quite a sight. Two Dh tracks around Fiesch, Bellwald is almost 3000m high. Fiesch and Bellwald are just plain gorgeous. Also the local vineyards make some amazing reds. Cheesevariety and quality is great, raw summermilk is best.
Also great for boarding, halfpipes, parks, offslope. On a good day - 2mls of continous and steep moguls for skiers. Also lots of paragliders, nearby BASE jumpsites.
Freesports got to the point where organized sport like swiss ski wc team cannot get talents anymore. Good thing - got out of hand - crippling kids has to end.
its great to see stories like this with awesome trails and places knowing that anyone can get our there and ride them without being a sponsored pro rider on a big brand backed publicity tour
WOW+OMFG, reminded me so much of Les Deux Alpes on our visit in 2010. Although the weather was awful the place was breathtakingly beautiful. Would love to rag my Nomad down those trails!!!
Great article and awesome pic's!
I went to Zermatt in 2012 and got to ride the GGB trails - epic!
These articles make me want to visit again and explore more.
Worth noting that if Swiss Alpine Adventures (Dave O'Riordan) is a german/english speaker who runs trips to this area too. Check out his site at www.swissalpineadventure.com
O
WOW
did it the other way around, was well worth it because the real flowy trails are on the descend on the ohter side