Bernese Alps (Switzerland), 20-28 August 2017

Day 6. Langgletscher glacier - Lötschenlücke pass - Hollandiahütte refuge.

Lötschenlücke was arguably the most technical part of the trip. However the ascent was short and we encountered no problems. As soon as we got to the glacier in the morning, we saw a guided group walking down, so we crossed the glacier to follow their tracks. We ended up on the rocks and had to scramble up. It would have been much easier to climb up the glacier and go on the rocks above the steep part. The navigation on the moraines was not trivial. The path is marked with cairns but they can't always be seen. The last climb to the pass crosses an area of rockfall, and ideally should be done in the morning. We were walking there in late morning, but the previous night was quite cold, and the rocks only started coming down in late afternoon. However the following night was warm and wet, and the rockfall started early in the morning. The glacier leading to the pass is crevassed but the crevasses are all visible and are easy to walk around. We did not see the tracks of other groups. The climb to the Hollandiahütte refuge is on a steep via ferrata with ladders, cables and steps over 100 vertical metres - easy but scary.

The red line shows our track. The arrow shows direction of travel. Shift-click on the track link will open it in nakarte.me.

Sunlit seracs.


Putting on crampons.	A dwarf in a quarry is mining quartz crystals.

Crossing the glacer. The ice is quite hard in the morning, walking is easy.

We descended to the tracks of the guided group. The crevasses with blue ice decorate the glacier.

Time to take the crampons off and scramble up the rocks. Hover the mouse over the image to see the line of our ascent.

We found a little quarry with various tools and quartz crystals.

We are passing by a beautiful icefall.

The glacier flows over the rocks into the valley.

Our route now takes us onto the glacier.

There are some crevasses, but all are easy to walk around.

The last climb on the glacier leads to the pass. The red line shows the path of our ascent (click on the "show/hide annotations" button to toggle the red line). The crevasses can be by-passed on the rihgt-hand side, close to the area of rockfall. The steep climb from the pass to the mountain refuge is clearly visible

The icy teeth behind a crevasse...

Where next? We are inspecting an area of rockfall ahead.

We have roped up.

An area of rockfall. Not many rocks have ever made it to our path, but one would be enough...

Looking back at the glacier.

The Lötschenlücke pass. Unsure of how to get to the Hollandiahütte refuge, we rang them. It turned out that in the past, the refuge could be reached from the glacier above the pass, but this year the glacier is too crevassed and the snow bridges are too weak - so the only way is up the via ferrata on the steep rocks. So we had to go back down from the pass and onto the rocks.

Our destination for today: Hollandiahütte. It is not far away but it is not easy to get there...

No matter what, the lunch must be had first!

A bit of scrambling and we will reach our destination.

A view from the refuge at last! The rocks on the other side of the glacier started coming down in the afternoon. We are the only people in the refuge except for the hostess and her friend. The refuge can house up to 90 people. Everything is clean and tidy.

Konkordiaplatz, our next destination, can be seen from the refuge.