Bernese Oberland Day 4

Welcome to my personal diary of the trip to the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland in September 2003

Day 1 .. Travel to Switzerland
Day 2 .. Meiringen to Grindelwald .. the Grosse Scheidegg
Day 3 .. Grindelwald to Mürren .. the Jungfraujoch
Day 4 .. Mürren to Griesalp .. the Sefinenfurgge
Day 5 .. Griesalp to Kandersteg .. the Hohturli
Day 6 .. Kandersteg to Gemmipass .. Leukerbad
Day 7 .. Gemmipass to Engstligenalp .. the Chindbettipass
Day 8 .. Engstligenalp to Lenk .. the Ammertenspitze
Day 9 .. Travel to Zurich
Day 10 .. Travel home

Today we've decided to split into two groups. One will be taking the cable car up to the summit of the Schilthorn at 2970m, then making a 1500m descent to the Spiggegrund valley, followed by a 500m ascent and a further 500m descent to the Berghaus Golderli .. an experimental route not clearly marked on the map. The second group will ascend to the Sefinenfurgge pass at 2612m and descend directly to Golderli .. a well-trodden route.

The Schilthorn team of Andy, Bob, Miriam, Diane, Kenny, John and Liz left around 9 to pick up some lunch items at the local Spar before catching the 0940 cable car for the summit .. no handy hüttes on this route! After buying our tickets, even with the half-price discount, I felt that the value was not as good as on previous days. The realisation dawned that we had bought return tickets, and should have explained that we weren't returning by mechanical means. The tolerant ticket lady sorted it out just in time .. but still at SFr19.30 (about £9) it's not as good value as other routes.

The cable docked at Birg, where we changed cars for the traverse to the Schilthorn summit. There's a small gap between cable car and docking station .. just about the width of a Swiss Card .. which you have to step across when boarding. And guess who's Swiss Card disappeared through the gap to the blue yonder below? (Answer below). But all is not lost! The cable car attendant says it's no problem to recover it from the netting underneath, and he'll convey it to the summit on the next run. Phew!

Apart from being a fairly accessible non-glaciated peak, the Schilthorn is famous for its revolving restaurant on the summit .. and for the filming that was done there a number of years ago for the only Bond film that starred George Lazenby. Well .. the restaurant still revolves, and the Bond theme is milked thoroughly dry throughout the tourist attractions. No more than 15 minutes were needed to have a look round and make a few purchases, and we enjoyed a cuppa in the Bond Cafe while we awaited the arrival of the next car bearing Miriam's Card. We then kitted up for the changeable showery weather before starting the descent at 1030.

The first section is quite rocky and steep, with fixed ropes and ladders in place to give some assistance, but this soon gives way to more gentle barren slopes with a well-worn path. Diane experienced some difficulty with the exposure and took plenty of time, where others enjoyed the real Alpine feel of the descent. As we reached lower pastures, the group had split into two, with Kenny, Miriam and I fairly well ahead. We took a break at a farmhouse where we discovered that they make their own cheese. We viewed the cheese house and bought a couple of delicious wedges, and ate one right away for lunch. We continued to the valley, and began the purgatorial ascent to cross to Griesalp. With the height gain, we could see back to our descent route and saw the others following a herd of cows. There's always time to learn new skills!

At the top of the pass at 2000m, the rain suddenly became torrential, and we arrived at Golderli at 1630 thoroughly wet, to find that the Sefinenfurgge team had also been soaked just a few minutes from arrival. We also found that due to the recent heatwave, the Golderli water supply was minimal, and no hot showers were available .. and this was our first real berghaus matratzenlager (sleeping on a shelf).

The other group had made their first stop at the Rotstock Hütte where the delivery helicopter had arrived causing much activity while the fresh supplies were unloaded. The ascent to the Sefinenfurgge, and the higher part of the descent, was much like our initial descent on small scree and barren earth.

The berghaus keeper, George Jost, has e-mailed me earlier to say that this Friday was the final night of a music course which had been in progress all week, and that it might be a noisy evening! And as the musicians took their places to entertain the haus, it became apparent that audience participation was actively required. Never a group to shrink from such responsibilities, the SP Alpine Club ably demonstrated the ceilidh skills of Dashing White Sergeant and Strip the Willow to the delight of the locals. And we've got our biggest walking day tomorrow!