Chli Bielenhorn

Overview

Chli Bielenhorn 2940 m

Chli Bielenhorn is a beautiful though small mountain located near the Furkapass in Switzerland and belonging to the Uri Alps Group. It's the smaller brother of Gross Bielenhorn. Both these granite peaks, separated by a saddle named Untere Bielenlücke, are interesting and offer fine granite climbing.  The small spires Gross and Chli Kamel are also present on this page, they are located between the Gross and Chli Bielenhorn. 

Chli Bielenhorn is sometimes spelled Chly Bielenhorn, chli/chly means little. Climbing can be done on the beautiful and rough granite with difficulties in grades ranging from UIAA II up to VIII. The classic West ridge is a fine traditional climb, while some difficult modern routes are located on the South face. A ski ascent is possible from the N-side along the easy Normal route in winter.

Getting There

Road access

From Andermatt, a little town at St.Gotthard tunnel northern exit, follow the road to Furkapass (m.2429), reaching Hospental and Realp. Stop about 2,5 km. after the small settlement of Tiefenbach along the route to Furka Pass, in a pull-out near a little river before the road is turning left (m. 2279).

Walking access to the South face routes

- From the pull out along the Furkapass road it starts a good trail, leading to the Sidelen Hut; to rise directly to the wall without reaching the hut, at a terrace after half an hour of walking, leave the main trail to the hut on the left-hand side and rise along a steep trail heading toward the obvious wall, crossing the Nepali Highway Trail. Follow it for a few meters, then rise along a steep blocks’ slope, leading to the bottom of the wall. (1 hour from the pull-out). - Approach is possible also from the Albert-Heim hütte (1 h from Tiefenbach town on the Furkapass) or from the Sidelenhütte (1 h from Hotel Belvedere on the Furkapass).

The West ridge and the routes on Kamels are best approached from the Sidelenhütte 

Routes

Normal Route EB, 15 min. from the Untere Bielenlücke. Used for descent.

W-Grat or Schildkrötengrat Very nice alpine rock tour for beginners. Difficulties don't exceed III but for a few meters A1. Start in the scharte/divide between the ridge and the first ridgetower as seen frow W. Famous for the rock in the form of a turtle balancing on a ridgetower, hence the name.

S-Wand, variante Bächli V, 4h. First ascent: H. Bächli, R. Hugentobler & D. Kienast, 1966. The route follows a double dihedral. Entry is 20m left of the dihedral.

S-Wand, Perrenoud route

TD, F6a+ (or F6a with one A0 move), 220 m  4h. First ascent: Mottet & Perrenoud, 1957. Entry on the crack that leads to a chimney. Few artificial passages.

Visit the Albert-Heim hütte (2542m) website for topos. Follow 'Sommer' and 'Klettern' links.

Descent from Chli Bielenhorn: from the summit head toward NW, reaching the Untere Bielenlucke, the a rocky saddle between Chli Bielenhorn and the characteristic monolith named Kamel. From here scramble on a scree gully heading toward the well visible Sidelen Hut.  

Gross Kamel This is the E tower. V+, A2, 3 pitches. Descent: 40m abseil on N-side

Chli Kamel This is the W tower. IV-V-, 4 pitches Entry: S-side Descent: 20m abseil 

Red Tape

None at the moment, the Furkapass however is closed from November to May.

Huts

Sidelenhütte (2708m) Open from mid-june till mid-october. Reachable from the Furkapass in 1h.

Albert-Heim hütte (2542m) Open from mid-june till mid-october. Reachable from the Furkapass in 1,5h. Winterroom is available.

Camping 

Realp Camping (1510m): Open in from june till september.

When To Climb

Best time: July, August, September and if the weather permits, October. If the snow has melted early june is also possible. Ascent on skis in the regular ski-touring season.

Meteo

MeteoSwitzerland

Guidebooks and maps

Guidebooks

Schweiz Plaisir West, J. von Känel, ISBN 3906087069 Clubführer Urner Alpen 2, T. Fullin & A. Bahnhölzer, ISBN 3859022229

Maps: Urseren Blatt 1231