Alpine tour: Arpelistock to Geltenhorn
It’s July 2023 and with two more experienced friends we planned this alpine tour. As we only have done 2 mountaineering courses with the Swiss Alpine Club, we opted for something easy. This tour combines a ridge (with some light climbing) and crossing a small glacier. While Kevin climbs regularly both in the climbing hall and outside, Julia has zero experience. So that means this tour is really suitable for beginners, or WS (wenig schwierig) on the SAC scale.
On a Friday afternoon we traveled by car to the Louwenesee (30 min south from Gstaad), where there is a large enough parking lot. It’s also possible to get here by public transport; from Gstaad there is a connection by Postbus. In 1.5 hours we hiked up 600 highmeters to the Geltenhütte, where we spent the night. The hike towards the hut (we recommend the Western route) is easy and the view on the waterfalls is amazing. Just before we started, it was pouring down, and this ment that the alpine salamanders came out in droves. We had to be careful not to squash them with every step!
During dinner we discussed our plans with the proprietor of the hut. Originally we wanted to go up the Geltenhorn first, and traverse from there to the Geltenhorn. The hosts told us that in that case we need to climb down on the ridge, and recommended us to go the opposite way; climbing up is easier.
So on Saturday we had an early breakfast and started our tour at 6.30 am. Directly in front of the hut a sign directed us to the Arpelistock (blue white), with a estimated hiking time of 3 hours and 20 min. The valley was misty, but slowly the sun came out. A bit faster than planned (about 2.5 hours) we hiked the 1000 hm up. At the Arpelistock (3036 m) we prepared ourselves for the ridge and got all the gear out. The first part of the ridge is easy going, with some light climbing after the second half. Loose stones made it a bit tricky! The entire ridge is slate, so it easily breaks off and every step or grips you’ll need to double check. As beginners it took us around 3 hours to cross to our second top of the day; the Geltenhorn (3062 m). From here we walked down to the edge of the Geltenglacier, which was a combination of wet snow and ice. We crossed the glacier in a S-shape, first due west and then turned to the north east, where we ended up on the rocks to hike back down to the hut. After drinks we hiked back to the car; the entire trip this day took us 12 hours, with plenty of breaks.
Be aware that in the summer the hut is often fully booked; we got the last free spots and we reserved 3 weeks in advance. This goes for most SAC huts, especially the ones that can be reached by foot easily, like the Geltenhütte!
