Schwägalp - Säntis
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 2.86 mi
- Elevation gain
- 3,661 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Difficult
- Elevation loss
- 66 ft
- Max elevation
- 7,650 ft
- TrailRank
- 29
- Min elevation
- 4,039 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Moving time
- 2 hours 59 minutes
- Time
- 4 hours 44 minutes
- Coordinates
- 874
- Uploaded
- July 13, 2020
- Recorded
- July 2020
near Schwägalp, Kanton Appenzell Ausserrhoden (Switzerland)
Viewed 527 times, downloaded 8 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
Difficult hike, quite steep in some parts, with elements of via ferrata. You should definitely not be afraid of heights and have proper hiking shoes. The route is marked all the way to the top. The views from the top and the landscapes are amazing. Recommended for summer. We tried to do it in winter but failed to find the entrance to the route in the snow. In summer, thanks to marking, you can find it easily. Even in summer there is some snow on the top, so have some warm clothes.
The route consists of two parts: first, you ascend a steep wall that you can see in front of you in Schwägalp, this part is quite steep, has some narrow cliffs and a bit of steel ropes and metal ladders to climb. It ends with a hut on top of the wall. Then you enter a more mountainy area and hike from the hut up to the Säntis peak with a tower on top. This part is slightly less steep, except for the very last part which is a "sky ladder": essentially a vertical ladder out of narrow metal steps and steel ropes (see photo). In this part, be prepared to have some snow all year round and strong winds.
From the top you can take the cable car back to Schwägalp, or you can choose one of several routes which go down on the other side of Säntis. There are several of these routes. If you choose one of them, make sure you have enough time to finish it in one day. We did a two-day hike with camping: on the first day, we ascended Säntis and walked along the mountain ridge towards Rotstein. We camped on the ridge during the night. And on the second day, we ascended Altmann and then went down to Bühlisau (see my profile for the other parts of his hike).
The route consists of two parts: first, you ascend a steep wall that you can see in front of you in Schwägalp, this part is quite steep, has some narrow cliffs and a bit of steel ropes and metal ladders to climb. It ends with a hut on top of the wall. Then you enter a more mountainy area and hike from the hut up to the Säntis peak with a tower on top. This part is slightly less steep, except for the very last part which is a "sky ladder": essentially a vertical ladder out of narrow metal steps and steel ropes (see photo). In this part, be prepared to have some snow all year round and strong winds.
From the top you can take the cable car back to Schwägalp, or you can choose one of several routes which go down on the other side of Säntis. There are several of these routes. If you choose one of them, make sure you have enough time to finish it in one day. We did a two-day hike with camping: on the first day, we ascended Säntis and walked along the mountain ridge towards Rotstein. We camped on the ridge during the night. And on the second day, we ascended Altmann and then went down to Bühlisau (see my profile for the other parts of his hike).
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