| alone among Swiss Trip Report |
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| alone among Swiss   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Uri, Switzerland, Europe Lat/Lon: 46.73000°N / 8.68000°E Date Climbed/Hiked: Aug 24, 2003 Activities: Mountaineering | Page By: Mathias Zehring Created/Edited: Dec 19, 2004 / Feb 24, 2006 Object ID: 169726 Hits: 1217 Loading... Page Score: 76.36% - 5 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Introduction10 years ago I had read about the mountain in one of my favourite books about Swiss Alps: about the enormous altitude difference, that it required a bivouac and that it would be one of the loneliest mountains in Switzerland. Rarely I had read something as wrong as this…
In hot summer 2003 I planned the climb together with a friend from our alpine club. I found out about the little Bristenhuettli hut where I could reserve 2 places that spared us from carrying bivouac gear.
typical silhouette |
Bristenstaeffeli After 4 h driving from my home town we started at about 10 a.m. at Bristen village. A very steep path crossed the forest area to the open meadows that are already a fine lookout for the Reuss valley and the Vierwaldstaettersee Lake. As mentioned on the main page – yes we also had to sign the guestbook at Bristenstaeffeli pasture and I remember that the owner was very interested in German soccer.
Another two hours of a steep path through high forest and meadows awaited us, spiced with nice views to the mountains of the Maderaner Tal valley. At 1868 m we passed Blacki pasture where also private lodging might be possible.
Bristensee lake Left of a waterfall we reached the only even plain at this mountain where Bristenhuettli hut and the beautiful Bristensee lake are placed. The ascent was sweaty and this day in the record heat of summer 2003 was hot enough for me as a coward to take a refreshing bath.
Bristenhuettli hut The owner of the hut was up there with his wife and some friends. So we could have got a meal but we had carried food for ourselves. They were very friendly but when they talked to each other in their local dialect I could not understand a single word! The afternoon went by relaxing. We had dinner at dusk before the hut and when it was dark we had a fine look down to the Reuss valley from the hill behind the hut. A group of 10 Swiss camped near Bristensee Lake.
lights in the night |
the ascent
Bristen as seen from Bristenhuettli hut |
 the beginning of the ridge
exposed ! |
Sometimes there were several possibilities with traverses in the northern flank. For my criterion we were not climbing slowly but some guys had overtaken us so when we reached the summit two dozens already were sitting there. And many more were still coming! Children, seniors – man, are all these Swiss fit. We were the only "aliens". So in the end I counted about 60 climbers on that day, mostly doing a looong daytrip. The views from the mountain were fine but a little hazy. descent The descent needed caution, my friend was a little slow so we were almost the last party that left the ridge. We picked up our sleeping luggage at Bristenhuettli and left for the valley. Cumulus clouds had occurred and as we entered the forest a rain shower from a thunderstorm caught us. Getting wet was a rare experience in summer 2003! The steep path down to Bristen is no fun when muddy so we branched off for the plain of Breitlaui, where we could use a private little cablecar down to the Maderanertal valley shortly behind Bristen village. After a meal in the nearest restaurant we drove home, entering a huge traffic jam before Lucerne…
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