Jegihorn – south face (Kreuzboden / Weissmieshütte) · Saas Valley · Switzerland
Bail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
Fourteen pitches of steady 4b and 4c on good gneiss that finish at the summit cross of a 3206 m peak, reached from a gondola. It is the best-known plaisir route on the Jegihorn, closely bolted with chained belays, and often climbed in mountain boots as a first long alpine rock route. Expect company: it is very busy in high summer.
The route
Alpendurst takes the middle of the south face of the Jegihorn, the rock peak above the Weissmieshütte, and tops out directly below the summit cross at 3206 m. It was opened in 2000 as a plaisir route and has become the classic of the face: 14 pitches of 25 to 40 m, none harder than 4c and none much easier than 4b. The face steepens from half height and the last seven pitches are the best. Bolts are close and every belay is chained, so the difficulty is the length and the altitude, not the protection. Many parties climb it in approach shoes or mountain boots, which makes the 4c moves feel harder than the grade.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | 4b | Starts beside the painted name, against a small spur. No source describes the pitches one by one: they are 25 to 40 m long (camptocamp) and you simply follow the obvious line of bolts from belay to belay. |
| P2 | 4c | Lower part of the face, which is less steep than the upper half. |
| P3 | 4b | To the belay level with a ledge that runs off left; you can leave or join the route here. |
| P4 | 4b | Lower part of the face. |
| P5 | 4c | Parties describe the whole route as very even in difficulty. |
| P6 | 4c | About here a 2022 family party turned round for lack of time. |
| P7 | 4c | The face begins to steepen around half height. |
| P8 | 4c | First of the upper pitches, which parties rate the best of the route. Somewhere on the route the crux is marked with a painted V on the rock (Summitpost); the sources do not say on which pitch. |
| P9 | 4b | Upper face. |
| P10 | 4c | Upper face; take care with flakes in the upper third (2022 report). |
| P11 | 4c | Links easily with pitch 12 on a 50 m rope, without drag. |
| P12 | 4b | Usually run together with pitch 11. |
| P13 | 4c | Links easily with pitch 14 on a 50 m rope. |
| P14 | 4b | Finishes directly below the summit cross. |
Getting there
Saas-Grund is in the Saas Valley above Visp (Valais); postbuses run from Visp station. Take the Hohsaas gondola from Saas-Grund to its middle station, Kreuzboden (2397 m). The lift is included in the SaastalCard that overnight guests in the valley receive (the valley campsite counts), and parking at the valley station was 12 CHF a day in 2022. Parties report the first cabin at about 7:30 in high summer. The alternative is to sleep at the Weissmieshütte (2726 m), about 30 minutes above Kreuzboden.
From Kreuzboden follow the ski piste to the left, then the path signposted Jegihorn, which leaves on the left and climbs the valley between the moraine of the Fletschhorn glacier and the Jegihorn. Ignore the first arrow to the right at about 2750 m (marked KS, for the via ferrata) and keep following the JH arrows and blue-and-white marks. At about 2900 m, where the path enters rocky ground, a white arrow on a boulder points right: traverse right across grass and scree to the foot of the face. Allow 1 h 15 from Kreuzboden, or about 30 to 45 minutes from the Weissmieshütte, whose path joins at point 2730. The route name is painted small at the base, beside the first chained belay, against a small distinctive spur.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Kreuzboden gondola station, 2397 m (camptocamp waypoint 465854): the top of the lift from Saas-Grund, where the walk starts. Cars stay at the valley station in Saas-Grund.
Point from camptocamp waypoint 43177 (Jegihorn summit; the routes climb the south face directly below and finish at the summit cross). Summitpost gives 46.1513, 7.9712 for the same point.
Contains the route point and parking. Opens in most mapping apps and GPS watches.
Points are compiled from published sources, with the precision stated above. They were not surveyed on the ground: check them against a current topo.
Coordinates: 46.15146, 7.97017 (crag) · Parking: 46.13903, 7.96333
Getting down
On foot. From the summit follow the blue-and-white marked normal route down the south flank, first through big blocks and then on an earthy path, back to the approach path and on to Kreuzboden or the Weissmieshütte. A 2023 party calls it gentle, well-marked T4 that is fine in approach shoes. Camptocamp allows 2 hours to Kreuzboden; fit parties take about 1 hour. The path passes close to the approach, so a rucksack can be left where you turn off, but not at the foot of the route itself.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
Every belay is chained, and camptocamp says abseils are possible; you can also walk off left along a ledge at the top of pitch 3. Higher up the sources disagree: the SAC portal lists abseiling as not possible and Summitpost advises against it because the low-angled face snags ropes and sheds stones onto parties below. A party in 2022 turned back after pitch 6 for lack of time, so retreat from the lower half does happen.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South-facing, from about 2900 m to 3206 m, and in the sun most of the day. The season is roughly July to September. A late-June 2024 party on the neighbouring Südkante still found a small snow patch at the foot of the face, and an October 2021 party found 50 cm of fresh snow at the summit. Late September can be barely warm enough to climb without gloves. The gondola from Saas-Grund is what makes this a day route, and it runs to a seasonal timetable.
Sun on the wall · S-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
Estimated from the wall's aspect only. Ignores surrounding terrain, gullies and the wall's exact shape. Clock times are local to the wall (Central European time), for the 15th of each month.
Climate figures for Saas Valley are not available yet
What to carry
12 quickdraws, a single rope of 40 m minimum (50 m lets you link pitches 11 and 12, and 13 and 14) and a helmet. No cams or nuts. Take two 50 m ropes only if you want the option of abseiling off in doubtful weather. Approach shoes or boots are enough for many; rock shoes make the 4c pitches more comfortable. Warm and waterproof layers: the finish is above 3200 m.
Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo
From climbers
Reader reports are not being collected yet. Until they are, check a current topo and the local club or guidebook publisher for recent changes to Alpendurst.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
Switzerland · Saas Valley
The left edge of the Jegihorn's south face: a 1922 ridge climb turned into a bolted outing of many short pitches, mostly grade 3 and 4. The one real step is the red gendarme, a well-bolted pitch of 5a. More varied than Alpendurst, with slabs, a short steep wall and narrow sections of crest, and a summit finish at 3206 m.
5a18 pitches300 m
Switzerland · Saas Valley
The right-hand of the Jegihorn's three easy bolted routes and the quietest. Ten long pitches up low-angled slabs and then a steeper, airy central section on sharp flakes and edges, finishing along a short crest to the 3206 m summit. Bolts are further apart than on Alpendurst and the belays are unlinked, so it suits a leader who is steady at 4c.
5a10 pitches360 m
Read the cautionsCommitting
Switzerland · Saas Valley
The 'digestion route': four 20 m pitches of grade 3 and 4 on solid gneiss, fifteen minutes above the Almagellerhütte at 2900 m. Very closely bolted, with iron rods to stand on at the two steepest steps, and well suited to practising in mountain boots or to a first multipitch after the walk up to the hut.
4b4 pitches80 m
Switzerland · Saas Valley
Ten short pitches of grade 4 on superb red-brown gneiss at 2900 m, ten minutes from the Almagellerhütte. Steep little slabs with good holds, closely bolted, and often climbed in mountain boots. An ideal first high-mountain multipitch or an afternoon route after the walk up to the hut.
4c10 pitches150 m
Around 4c · about 14 pitches
France · Verdon
The easiest way to climb out of the Verdon gorge: a long, wandering ridge of short pitches at grade 3 and 4 that starts close to the river and finishes near the rim road. The climbing is modest but the setting is the full Verdon. You walk down a steep path with fixed ropes to reach the start, so the route is your way back up.
4c9 pitches180 m
Read the cautions
France · Aravis
Sixteen pitches of easy slabs and water-worn runnels above the Col de la Colombière, on the border between scrambling, climbing and mountaineering. Nothing is harder than 4b and most of it is grade 3, on sculpted, grippy limestone among ibex and edelweiss. Many parties carry on up the Arête des Bouquetins to the summit for a very long day.
4b16 pitches400 m
Italy · Val d'Ossola
A long, sunny friction-slab route of about 35 m pitches on excellent rock, ideal for learning footwork. The hardest move is a short crack-and-chimney finish on the last pitch. Allow about 3 h up and 1 h down.
5b13 pitches430 m
Italy · Bolzano & South Tyrol
The easy classic of the Noafer Bichl: slabs, a neat corner and two pitches up a pocketed pillar edge, with Bolzano below and the Dolomites on the horizon. Grade 4 climbing throughout, but with some long gaps between bolts on the easy ground.
4c7 pitches280 m
Read the cautions
Compiled from published sources and last verified October 2026. Bolts, anchors and access change. Climbing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own decisions: check a current topo and read the disclaimer.