From Grimsel Pass to the Sidelhorn

The Rhone Valley stretches to the heart of the Alps, where historic Alpine passes long connected Northern and Southern Europe. Today, transit traffic goes through tunnels, but the historic villages remain witnesses to the past trade routes.

The ascent to the Grimsel Pass at 2164 m above sea level is already an adventure on the winding road from Oberwald via Gletsch. The road with its hairpin turns was a key route between Central Switzerland and Lombardy. Swiss cheese and livestock traveled southward, while mules transported wine, grain, rice, and olive oil northward.

From the pass, the path leads westwards along the ridge. The view is fantastic: to the north lie the reservoirs of the Grimsel power plants and the glaciers of the Bernese Oberland. If it rains on this side of the path, the water is transported via the Aare to the North Sea. On the left side of the ridge, the water flows with the Rhone into the Mediterranean. It passes the Rhone Valley surrounded by the Valais 4000-meter peaks, flows along the vineyards of the Valais to Lake Geneva, where it leaves Switzerland.

The ridge ends at the highest point of the route, the Sidelhorn (2764 m above sea level). Shortly after, the route leaves the ridge and descends towards the Rhone Valley, past Lake Jost, before returning northeast to the Grimsel Pass.

Tour highlights