UKC

No joy in the Alps Conditions thread so thought I'd try a specific one.

Thinking of heading to Bernese Oberland this coming weekend. Anyone got anything to share on conditions in those parts in general or specifically PD/PD+ routes on Fiescherhorns, Gross Grunhorn or Finsteraarhorn ?

In reply to AndyG71:

Just got back a week ago. The weather was and has been mixed all summer. But the routes were do-able. You need a bit of luck with the weather.

The Finsteraarhorn should be relatively safe, although the summit ridge is perhaps undergraded at PD. There was fresh snow when we did it and I used slings and a few nuts.

The Gross Grunhorn likewise felt safe. It's a bit steep just as you gain the ridge(from the Gruneggfirn), but the ridge itself felt easier than the Finsteraarhorn.

The long glacier approaches to the Fiescherhorn might be a problem. From the Finsteraarhorn Hut there are seracs to pass, so might be a bit dangerous. We tried from the Monchjoch Hut but there was too much fresh snow, so nipped up the Monch instead. We were aiming for the NW Ridge, which should be easier with all the snow. We were a bit worried by the descent from the col with all the snow, but didn't get a look at it.

We also did the Aletschhorn from the Mittelaletsch Bivi, in case you're interested. The snow was perhaps marginal up to the ridge (between the Aletschhorn and Dreieckhorn) and very hard work. Otherwise, it was not too bad, although the rocks below the summit were awkward with all the fresh snow.

In reply to AndyG71:

I'm off in a few weeks so I'd be keen for any updates possible

In reply to Pero:

Thanks for the info, was getting worried there was nothing going out there at the moment! Looks like weather could be picking up at the weekend so fingers crossed ...

In reply to Cheese Monkey:

Just back last night but we bailed out of Bernese Oberland after 2 nights due to amount of unstable snow around and very changeable weather. We did the Monch via S-E Ridge in perfect conditions on the 17th. Abandoned our plan to traverse Fiescherhorns from Monchsjoch hut to Finsteraarhorn as much fresh untracked snow on Ewigschneefeld and no reports of anyone doing S-E ridge. We later met 2 hardy souls who had traversed Fiescherhorns from Konkordia to Monchsjoch so things were going if you are feeling brave and willing to break trail. We also abandoned thoughts of doing Jungfrau via S-E Ridge when we saw a cornice collapse across the track just before the Rottalsattel. I believe the guides stopped working the route but a lot could have changed in the week. Sounds like we got much better weather than has been the case for much of this year's 'summer' season but it is still very changeable so I'd go with a lot of flex in your plans. We ended up in Chamonix on south facing rock routes !

In reply to AndyG71:

Yeah anything could happen in a week! Will give some huts a call on Friday and see whats doing. Consistent bad reports on Finsteraarhorn though, but wasn't top of the list this time. Will try and tick off as many with safer approaches as possible, even if that involves going to Zermatt etc! Thanks for the report