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Simmefälle and Siebenbrunnen, Lenk

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🗺️ Overview Starting point: Simmenfälle parking (approx. 1,100 m) Highest point: Siebenbrunnen (approx. 1,400 m) Total elevation gain: ~300 m Total distance: ~8 km round trip Total time: 2–3 hours walking time (5h30 including breaks) Technical difficulty: Easy (some steeper and uneven sections on the path to Simmenfälle) Download GPS file The hike to Simmefalle and then to Siebenbrunnen starts at the end of the valley after Lenk, at about 1,100 m altitude. There is a parking area next to the restaurant, and you can even get there by bus. At the end of the parking lot, a path starts along the river, which already roars at this point. After a short stretch, you can choose whether to climb via the road on the left or the path on the right. I took the path and, to ease the flow of hikers, keep in mind that it is marked as a one-way trail and can only be used uphill. The first part of the path is the most beautiful. It runs right along the river, which has several rapids and small wa...
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Via ferrata Planpraz, Leysin

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🗺️ Overview Starting point: Feydey (1400 m), above Leysin Highest point: Approx. 1550 m Total elevation gain: ~150 m Total distance: ~4 km Total time: ~2 h Technical difficulty: K5 (very athletic via ferrata) Download GPS file The via ferrata Planpraz is probably the closest to a village I’ve ever done. It is located just above Leysin . To get there, we left the car in Feydey (1400 m), which can also be reached by train. From there you continue uphill on the road. Where it bends, you can go both ways: on the left around the church or on the right via a shortcut uphill (see GPS). In about 10 minutes, signs indicate a path on the left side of the road. It is the same path leading to La Berneuse at the beginning, but after a couple of minutes you reach a crossroads where the path to La Berneuse goes left and the via ferrata, clearly marked, continues straight uphill.  Another 5–10 minutes on a rather steep path lead to the start of the via ferrata.  The via r...
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Monte Cimone in Spring

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🗺️ Overview Starting point: Passo del Lupo (1540 m) Highest point: Monte Cimone (2165 m) Total elevation gain: ~625 m Total distance: ~7–8 km (round trip) Total time: ~2h30–3h (including breaks) Technical difficulty: Easy–moderate (more demanding in winter conditions) Download GPS file I was in Bologna for Easter and it was 25 degrees. On the other hand, the week before had been much colder and it had snowed in Italy, so we decided to take advantage of one last snowshoe/ski touring hike. We set off to Monte Cimone , in the province of Modena . At 2165 m, it is one of the highest peaks in Emilia-Romagna. I was with my dad and three of his friends from the Club Alpino Italiano — the youngest was about 30 years older than me 🙂 We started from Passo del Lupo , above Pian del Falco . Compared to my region in Switzerland, you even have to “earn” the starting point in the Apennines — it took almost two hours to get there from Bologna. But my group of pensioners knew how to live: w...
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Location: Monte Cimone, 41029 Sestola, Province of Modena, Italy
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Les Chaux form Gryon

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Download GPS file This hike starts at the Parking Les Frasses above La Babeleuse in Gryon. You can get there via a small road forking up hill in front of the Babeleuse parking. I did this hike as a snowshoe. In fact I wanted to do it as a skitouring hike but I had forgotten my skins at home... The hike is part of the Villars-Gryon randopark, a very well marked and kept set of winter trails. The trail starts uphill in front along the ski slope. I confess that I did not fully follow the path, especially at the lower part, because the slope was closed and the path was not well covered. So I preferred to go straight up on the slope which is a bit steeper. After 20-30 min you'll cross the blue slope and then after another 5 min the trail becomes less steep and then completely flattens going next to a couple of chalets. When it starts to climb again it is the best part of the trail. You go on a ridge abd see the slopes below and mountains all around. You will reach a crossroads where sev...
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Location: Gryon, Switzerland
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Corno alle Scale: An easy ski touring in Italy

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🗺️ Overview Starting point: Corno alle Scale lifts / Rifugio Cavone (1470 m) Highest point: Corno alle Scale summit cross (1945 m) Total elevation gain:  470 m Total distance:  3.8 km Total time:  1.5-2 hours (one way) Technical difficulty: Easy–Moderate (non-technical) Download GPS file Here we are! For the first time, I leave the Alps. This is the first post describing a hike in another ridge: the Apennines in Italy, not far from Bologna , my hometown (not far as the crow flies, but with busy and horrible roads it still takes about 1h50 to get there). This hike starts at the Corno alle Scale lifts, next to Rifugio Cavone (1470 m), and leads to the summit of the Corno. I did it in winter as a ski touring outing.¨ The starting point is a small side road between Rifugio Cavone and the lifts. After passing behind an old abandoned building, you reach the slopes. You can start going uphill along their edge, but soon a road branches left into the w...
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Location: Corno alle Scale, 40042 Lizzano in Belvedere, Metropolitan City of Bologna, Italy
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