A friend that I met while travelling in Asia, was visiting Zurich over Easter. He asked me if I could take him for a hike in the mountains, but unfortunately the Alps were still full of snow. As I don't have much experience with snowshoe hikes on my own, that basically only left one choice: Mount Rigi. Another friend told me that the hike is doable also in winter as there is no risk of avalanches and if you keep to the main path there are no exposed positions at all. So we met on Easter Monday early morning and made our way to Weggis where we started our hike. We made good way in the beginning and soon reached a height where we were able to admire the already stunning view.
We kept a steady pace and rather sooner than later found ourselves right in the snow. As I didn't know what to expect when we hit the snow, it was a pleasant surprise to see that there was already a path in the snow from people that came that way before. This obviously made the going much faster and easier than anticipated. So pretty soon the first part of the hike was over and we reached Rigi Kaltbad, a tourist village about half way up the mountain. The hiking until then was highly enjoyable, with great views, a nice path and no people at all.
As there is also a railway and a cable car that goes up the mountain, the loneliness was over in Rigi Kaltbad. As from there we shared the path with many other people. The way from Kaltbad up to the top of Rigi was no hassle at all. The path is well maintained even in the winter and there is not that much elevation to cover anymore. So all we basically did during the last part was admiring the view and enjoying the perfect weather. After tackling the last ascending slope before the summit we reached the top around noon. The views from there are amazing and that's why it was no wonder that we had to share the top with tons of other
people.
Luckily we found a quiet spot a bit away from the crowds for lunch and the mandatory summit beer. :) It was that nice, we stayed on top for over an hour. Unortunately the time passed way too fast and soon we had to make our way home again. We descended the same way back to Rigi Kaltbad and took the cable car back to Weggis just in time to reach the ship that brought us back to Luzern. What a lovely day that was!
Highlight of the day: definitely the view from the top!
This hike is for you if:
- you're looking for a 360° view over the Alps and the lowlands of Switzerland
- you don't mind a difference in altitude of over 1000 m
- you want to use transportation along the way and don't want to hike all the way up or down
- you want to go hiking in the snow without using snowshoes (only doable if there is a walking path in the snow already)
This hike is not for you if:
- you want to escape the crowds
- you never walked on snow before
PS: There are actually many ways to go up to Mount Rigi. While in summer all of them should be useable and doable, in winter or beginning of spring it will be different. If you go up and there is still snow on the mountain I strongly recommend to keep to the main path and only go up from Weggis or alternatively from Vitznau.
Comments