Hoh Brisen

Enjoying the Monday off for Knabenschiessen, I was free to do my first solo hike in quite a while. Usually I get tempted to cover fairly epic distances on such solo hikes, when I don't have to take anybody else into account. This time however, I was still tired from a two day tour in the Göschenertal over the weekend, so I picked a relatively modest goal: Hoh Brisen.

 

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I find myself in scenic village of Oberrickenbach, in the very heart of "cable car country". There are about as many cable cars as inhabitants in the village. I pick the private Fell-Spis-Sinsgäu cable car. Calling in advance (079 711 09 26) is recommended, but I manage to get a ride without prior reservation. For CHF 7, you get to ride two different stretches of cable car. If you think that the first cabin is a bit old and shabby already, then you're in for a surprise on the second section. Riding the semi-open crate of metal and wood is not for the faint-hearted.

 

Getting out of the cable car, I follow the signs for the Zickzackweg (yes, this seems to be the official name) towards the Brisen. This route is marked with wooden posts with blue-white paint. In spite of those colours, the difficulties are hardly above T2, though I can imagine that the path gets quite slippery in the wet. Early on, the small summit of the Rinderbalm invites a small detour. This briefly involves some T4 at the bottom of the crag. Careful here, because the undergrowth covers up some treacherous holes in the ground. With more careful route finding, an easier T3 route onto the Rinderbalm might also be possible. Unfortunately, the best view point (a small mound just west of the true summit) is crawling with ants, otherwise I would have taken a longer break here.

 

The south-west face of the Brisen is far from its most spectacular side, so it's a relief when I reach the Haldigrat. Not only is the Brisen itself much more rugged as seen from this ridge, but you also get beautiful views of Buochserhorn, Vierwaldstättersee and Rigi. In the background, the Mittelland is covered by low clouds.

 

On the final 40m of ascent to the Brisen summit, I stick to the ridge instead of following the path around. There are quite some loose rock shards lying around, but otherwise this is unproblematic. While the Brisen is the final goal for tourists, the more experienced alpine hikers will automatically look over towards the slightly higher summit of Hoh Brisen. A 600m long, sharp, undulating ridge connects the two summits. For most of it, the difficulties don't go beyond T4, but the crux is the final bit before the Hoh Brisen summit. This first involves walking over a 50cm wide rocky trail with sheer drops on either side (T5). Immediately afterwards, there is a short scramble, easy (UIAA grade I) but exposed, which is climbed down on the way to the summit and taken in ascent on the way back.

 

A friendly German hiker and I arrive together at the Hoh Brisen summit and have our lunch break together. Clouds are hiding most of the panorama, only towards the south-west the views are clear. We are also briefly visited by yet another solo hiker, a young woman. Unfortunately she doesn't hang around for any banter. But it's true, on a summit like Hoh Brisen, three is already a crowd.

 

As the other two descend to the Klewenalp, I'm on my own again walking down the Haldigrat. I quickly get some food and drink at the (rather gloomy and uninviting) restaurant, before continuing down towards Oberrickenbach. The descent from Giri to Schmidsboden is in part on narrow and rather badly maintained forest paths, in part on comfortable but boring unpaved forestry roads. At Schmidsboden, I take the small cable car for the final 320 metres of descent to Oberrickenbach. Here as well, reservation is recommended (041 628 11 38) if you want to make sure that the cable car is indeed in operation. The slightly higher Haldiwald cable car doesn't seem to be open to the public any more.

 

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In summary: The ridge connecting the two Brisen summits is a little jewel for the alpine hiker. The rest of the route is much easier. The small cable cars (especially the Spis-Sinsgäu section!) are an adventure on their own.