The Grimsel pass (2,163 m, summit sign 2,165 m) connects the cantons of Valais to the south and Bern to the north.
It connects the Haslital, the upper valley of the river Aare, with the upper valley of the Rhône, crossing the continental divide between the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
It’s part of the most famous routes – or round trips – of the Alps and is combined with the Furka pass, which it ‘meets’ in Gletsch in most of those, see the Alpenbrevet section below.
I cycled the Grimsel from Oberwald as part of the ‘Swiss Stage’ at the end of my Giro d’Italia 2015 – report here.
Oberwald > Gletsch
I deliberately descended to Oberwald to be able to take on the ‘full’ length of the Grimsel.
It has the first 6+ kilometers – until Gletsch – in common with the Furka pass.
If you come down from the Furka, the ‘natural’ route would be to turn (right) in Gletsch.
From Oberwald, the Furka is 12.2 kilometers long, with an altitude gain of 798 meters, or an average of 6.5%.
The second half, from Gletsch is slightly more difficult at 6.8%, but the views are such, that you’ll hardly feel it 🙂
Leaving Oberwald, you’ll climb out of the valley through a tree covered area over a distance of about 4 kilometers (average around 7%).
Once you pass a short tunnel, the view opens up and you’ll see the Grimsel switching left to right in front and above you.
Some 1.5 kilometers further, you might be lucky enough to see the train go through the spiral tunnel, before you take on the final stretch to Gletsch.
By the time you’ve reached Gletsch, you have climbed 389 meters, averaging 6.3% over the 6.2 kilometers – the extra distance from Oberwald to Gletsch is certainly not a freebie.
Once you leave Gletsch, the part with the most jaw dropping views awaits you.
From switchback to switchback, you’ll see more of the Grimsel and the valley towards Oberwald, but the Furka climbing up the slopes on the opposite side is also a spectacle to watch.
The combined view of two major passes winding up a high mountain, is something I have not experienced anywhere else so far…
At the summit, there is a restaurant – aptly called ‘Grimselblick’ – and a real tourist attraction, the Crystal cavern and Marmot park.
I didn’t bother to go in there, but the summit was crowded with Chinese tourists when I got there – must really be some attraction then…
Innertkirchen
The ascent of the Grimsel Pass from the north starts in Innertkirchen.
You can start 6 kilometers further out in Meiringen (595 m), which, although the net elevation is negligible (30 m), will give you another short climb and descend before Innertkirchen.
In Innertkirchen, the road to the Susten Pass goes left, but the Grimsel continues towards Guttannen, located at 1,057 meters.
Entering Guttannen, you’ll have gained 432 meters, over a distance of 8.4 kilometers or an average of 5.1%. Other than the painfully steep, but very short section at 12%, this is a good warm up 🙂
The total length of the climb from Innertkirchen is 26.7 kilometers, with an elevation gain of 1,538 meters (5.8%).
As usual, this average doesn’t mean a lot: the final 10 kilometers the average rises to 6.9%, but that’s only because of the near flat section(s) – the rest of it throws between 8 and 10% at you…
Beyond Guttannen, the road passes a pair of short tunnels to Handegg (1,378 m) – if you’re interested, this is where the lower station of the Gelmerbahn funicular, the steepest in Switzerland, is located.
Past Handegg, you’ll go through a series of hairpins and a long tunnel (850 m long, which at 8, 9% will take you a while to pass, but it’s well lit) to the Räterichsbodensee reservoir.
Less than 2 km further on, you’ll reach the Grimselsee reservoir and the Grimsel Hospice (altitude 1,980 m).
When I came down from the summit in 2015, I was so stunned by the view from a little higher up, that I stopped the descent and just wanted to sit down and stay there.
So, as you’ll be climbing through the final hairpins, you’ll have chance to enjoy that while actually moving – I didn’t, as there was a thick fog in 2019.
As mentioned above, there is, among other things, a restaurant at the summit.
I tackled this end during my ‘Tour de Suisse 2019‘, from Innertkirchen in a Wassen – Susten – Grimsel – Furka – Andermatt loop.
Report on that trip here.
Alpenbrevet
The Grimsel is part of one Alpenbrevet course, combining it with several other passes:
- Plantina course: CCW Andermatt – Susten – Grimsel – Nufenen – Lukmanier – Oberalp – Andermatt; 267 km, 6,800m of D+
- Gold course: CW Andermatt – Oberalp – Lukmanier – Nufenen – Furka – Andermatt; 212 km, 5,000m of D+
- Silver course: CW Andermatt – Gotthard – Nufenen – Furka – Andermatt; 108 km, 3,100m of D+
- Bronze course: Ulrichen – Nufenen – Gotthard – Andermatt; 68 km, 2,100m of D+
There’s also an Extended event: as far as I understand it, this involves cycling 3, 5 or 7 of these passes, the latter giving you “Alpenbrevet Legend” status.
The official event does not count for this. You can collect these in the order you want and in more than one ride, but pay attention to which end counts.
Sounds like the Swiss equivalent of the Brevet des 7 Cols d’Ubaye…
Background image: Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
