Aletsch Glacier UNESCO High Altitude Ridge Hike

Ridge Hike High Altitude Aletsch Glacier

This is the “Best-of-the-Best” hike that I have ever done. Along the trail there are plenty of stunning views of the Aletsch Glacier and all the Valais 4000m+ mountains.

The path along the ridge is absolutely thrilling. Its like walking on a “needle path” along the submit of a mountain range for 3 km. It is suitable only for sure-footed hikers without fear of heights!

How to get here

The trail start at the Bettmeralp Submit Station. To get here from Zurich, you can drive or take a train to Betten which will take around 3 hours. From the Betten Valley Station take the Bettmeralp cable car to go up to Bettmeralp Submit Station.

Trail Description

The hike starts at the Bettmeralp submit station. From the station there a signposted path to Bettmerhorn. Follow this trail for 30 mins which will take you to the summit of the Bettmerhorn (2,647m) via a fixed rope route. From there you follow the partly exposed but well-secured ridge trail for about 1.5km, until you reach the steep descent down to Elselicka. From Elselicka, the route follows a well-maintained hiking trail down to the middle mountain station of the Eggishorn cable car (2,869m).

Betten to Bettmerhorn

From Betten, take the 10 minutes cable car to Bettmeralp. Then at Bettmeralp you have to walk through the village for about 15mins to reach the cable car that goes up to the Bettmerhorn

The Climb to Bettmerhorn

The hike starts at the Bettmeralp cable-car mountain station. It takes about half an hour to reach the summit of the Bettmerhorn (2,647m) via a fixed rope route.

Thrilling Ridge Walk

This section around 1.5 km is really not for those have fear of heights. Care needs to taken at both side of the ridge as any slip or fall would be terrible. Along many sections there are ropes and steels bars to assist with the hike and one must not venture out of the white-blue trail marker. In Via Ferrata, there are some sections of the climb which are really scary. Here, the churning feeling in your stomach and wobbly legs continue for almost 2 hours. In fact, my other family members said that this hike is more scary than climbing vertical wall. To have a feel of our experience, take a look at the 2 videos below.

Awesome scenery throughout…but no time to enjoy as there are stretches that required full concentration.

Endless submit with sea of rocks. Wonder how all these ends up at the top of the submit

Thrilling Submit Hike

Can you count how many submits and climbers are there in the above image? We were quite intimidated by the steepness and the sharpness of the trail. There are actually 4 submits and 5 little climbers.

Dangerous section here

We are climbing up and down between the submits.

Group of guys on the opposite mountain. We will get there soon.

Having a short break at one of the submit. The view is truly awesome.

Taking a breather. Admiring the surrounding.

Vincent waiting patiently for us

What would happen if one of those rock becomes unstable!

Alestch Glacier is always visible throughout the hike.

The Last “Needle” Submit

High Altitude Ridge Hike Aletsch Glacier

This is the section of the hike which I did not turn on my action cam. Need to focus of getting my steps correct.

Saw a couple moving extremely slow. His girlfriend is really scare. Dont think she should hike this trail.

A sense of relief after passing the needle submit.

Steep descent down to Elselicka

At the final section, we faced a little dilemma. The original plan was to walk up to Eggishorn station, then descend with cable car. But most of us were very exhausted already, so we choose to walk down to the mid level cable car station instead. Despite the short distance, this hike could be quite exhausting. It is definitely not a “sight-seeing” hike as we have to be very focus at every single step. Still, I would really recommend this trail for anyone who enjoy occasional thrilling moments on their travel.