An early snowshoe at La Berra

🗺️ Overview

• Starting point: Parking of La Berra ski resort (≈1040 m)

• Highest point: Chalet La Berra (≈1640 m) — optional summit at 1719 m

• Total elevation gain: ~600 m

• Total distance: ~4.6 km

• Total time: ~2h10

• Technical difficulty: Easy–Moderate (snowshoe)

Download GPS file

---

Somehow I always end up going to La Berra in winter. Located in one of the last French-speaking towns of Fribourg, La Berra is a cute little ski resort with about 20 km of ski slopes and 18 km of snowshoe trails.

The hike I did starts from the very end of the parking lot of the ski resort (1040 m), where a pink start flag marks the entrance.
N.B.: The path didn’t exist in my app, so the GPS file isn’t exact, even though the trail isn’t far off.

From the very beginning, the route dives directly into the forest and is well marked. The least well-marked point is actually near the start, by a small iron bridge with lots of tracks leading to it. The marked path is not there—just go straight uphill to the right and follow the pink panels carefully.

The trail continues in the forest, at times a bit steep. It stays mostly on the left side of the ski slopes, and in a couple of places it briefly exits the forest right on the edge of the pistes.

At around 1350 m, the path turns left. Here a flatter section begins, taking you away from the slopes. A series of little wooden bridges help you cross several small streams. After a while you turn around a small ridge and start going uphill again, but less steep than before. You pass next to a summer alpage and eventually reach a crossroads.

Here you make a U-turn, and the path follows the ridge—first flat, then slightly downhill. One last uphill section brings you to the chairlift and the Chalet La Berra in front of it at 1640 m.

Continuing for another 20 minutes would bring you to the summit of La Berra at 1719 m. But this time it was the first day of the ski season, and I decided to go down by gondola instead (yes, it’s strange: the chairlift has occasional cabins mixed in!). I picked up my skis and did a couple of runs — the magic of the MagicPass.

Overall, the snowshoe hike took 2h10, covered 4.6 km, and climbed about 600 m.