East Ridge | Alpinism | Swiss Alpine Club SAC

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East Ridge Gletscherhorn (GL) 2804 m

Difficulty

AD, 4a
Ascent

4–5 h, 800 m
Descent

1:45–2:30 h, 800 m

Pleasant and enjoyable climbing on nice limestone. The highest point, P. 2805, is the predominantly scree-covered hill that tops the Vorab north ridge

Gletscherhorn East Ridge with the descent (left) (2012) © Rhyner Hansueli

Gletscherhorn East Ridge (2012) © Rhyner Hansueli

Gletscherhorn East Ridge (2013) © Rhyner Hansueli

Overview: Gletscherhorn with the Zwölfihörnern "twelve-horns" right and Vorab in the background, bottom right: Martinsmad. (2014) © Rhyner Hansueli

Route description

Martinsmadhütte - Schwarzwändli

From Martinsmadhütte (2004 m) follow the blue-white marked footpath up through a large cliff band (the Schwarzwändli) to the hollow below the Vorabgletscher. The Schwarzwändli is secured with chains.

Schwarzwändli - start of the East Ridge

From the top of the Schwarzwändli, head west over scree and moraines to the east ridge, where its light-coloured limestone sticks out above the dark surrounding rock strata.

Start of the east ridge - P. 2717

Overcome two rocky peaks and arrive at P. 2458. Now follow the sharp 'cutting edge', first down, then up over several rock spikes, and thus reach the foot of the steep summit structure. Dodge to the right of the ridge through a set of chimneys and up a few rock steps (pitons) onto a horizontal ridge below a distinctive rock tower. Bypassed on the south side. Follow a crack to reach the main ridge again. Continue over scree to the foot of the next tower. Bypass on the north side, to find a another scree field leading to the foot of the summit rocks. The last steep section is tackled by climbing a vertical step into a chimney and ascending the steep open corner above to reach the ridge around P. 2717.

P. 2717 - Gletscherhorn

From P. 2717 over a couple of east steps to the summit.

Descent

For the descent, reverse the flat ridge back to the last step and turn south. Follow the eastern edge of the Vorab glacier until you reach the blue-white mark of the route "Martinsmad-Piz Grisch". Follow this marked path back round to the north, then east, past P. 2604, towards Schwarzwändli and the Martinsmadhütte.