The sports climbing area at Gornerflüe at 2,500 m has become a little forgotten recently. And this is unjust: The area was established by the Zermatt mountain guides and climbing cracks Kurt Lauber and Robi Andenmatten in the early 1980s, which was a time when sport climbing was not very widespread.
Close Hook Distances
Now a group around Kurt Lauber and Robi Andenmatten got down to work again. The team also included Helmut Lerjen, Michi Lauber and Johann Williner. They re-outfitted eight routes. 300 hooks are newly anchored over a total of 24 rope lengths, and the standing places each is fitted with two bolts and chains.
Previously, the bolts and hooks had to be painstakingly driven into the rock by hand with a hand chisel. For that reason, one was hesitant to waste any of these hooks. This also meant that the distance between two hooks was far greater than present practice allows. This problem has now been solved.
Information
- 8 routes: Easy Going, Supertramp, Geier Sturzflug, Think Pink, Hooters, Hexentric, Road Runner, Steinbeisser
- climbing grade: 5a to 6a (Franch grade), 5+ (international grade)
- Access: With the Gornergrat Bahn to Riffelberg. From there, walk towards Trockener Steg to Gagenhaupt. Then continue towards the Gorner Glacier to the rappelling spot.
- About 20 minutes distant from Riffelberg.
