Hi--
I'm about to head out on a business trip to Zurich, and will have a couple of weekends to myself--both this upcoming weekend (June 21-22), and a 3-day weekend (July 4-6). This is my first trip to the Alps, so I'm keen to soak in as much as I can while I'm there, and am soliciting opinions/pointers to places to see.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to get out and hike all weekend, cover as much ground as I can, probably stay in a hut overnight if that means I can spend more time in the mountains, and tag a peak or two along the way. I'll be solo, will bring axe/crampons, and I'd prefer to keep anything I tackle in the YDS class 3-4 range. I won't have a car, but I'm open to renting one on the weekends if need be--but my hope is that public transportation is good enough that I can get by without. (As you might surmise, I'd hope to leave Fri afternoon/evening, and return either late Sun evening or, better, Mon morning.)

I took a look through the forums, and found a couple of suggestions in this thread:
http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB2/viewto ... ght=zurich
...but I hope people have more suggestions to offer now, too. I tried searching on here and picking out the peaks that look particularly nice from their signature shots, but the sheer number that have been posted on here within 50-100 miles of Zurich is pretty overwhelming.

So, any suggestions for loop trips, say 20mi a day (if snow isn't a serious obstacle now), comments on public transportation, etc. would be great. (As this is my first visit, scenic beauty of the whole area is as high a priority as a classic climb.) Thanks in advance.

The public transportation system is just excellent - so you could be in the Berner Oberland for a weekend trip (like to Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Kandersteg, Meiringen, etc.) with no problems - about 2 to 4 hours travel time . When Fred and I did the Schächentaler Windgälle, we did it as a day trip using public transportation to Klausen Paß and back in a day from Zürich. There is some great hiking in the Glarus region as well.

Many people like to hike hut to hut - so you could arrive by train near one trailhead, hike to a hut, spend the night, hike to another hut the next day and spend the night or hike out and catch transportation back home. Example: Kandersteg to Blümlisalphorm hut, down to Griesalp where there is a bus to Frutigen to catch the train. The peaks are spectacular from the hut, but you must cross glacier to do a climb - not a wise idea, if solo.

Hockenhorn might be a go - again not sure if the hut is open yet.

It's very early season, so snow in the high country may still be the issue. Not all huts are open yet, so you would need to check it out on the Internet or call.

Thanks, that was really useful--just what I was looking for.

What kind of mountains you want near Zurich?

A = hard
B = Medium
C = easy

He wants easy: UIAA 1 to maybe 2- at most.