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FIESCHERTAL AND THE ALETSCH GLACIER

The Grosser Aletschgletscher is the longest and most impressive in the Alps

The upper region of the Rhône valley, from the Furka Pass downstream towards Brig, is known as Goms. It’s a gentle district of attractive villages, broad meadows, and a wonderland of prepared walking and cross-country ski trails in winter. Although part of the Valais/Wallis canton, tributaries on the valley’s true right flank drain mountains and glaciers of the Bernese Alps, and the largest of these tributaries is the Fieschertal. With the small resort of Fiesch at its entrance the valley is flat-bedded and U-shaped to betray its glacial origins, while beyond the roadhead and the last group of houses, its wild raw nature is revealed.

ACCESS AND INFORMATION

Location	On the north slope of the Rhône valley, about 16km northeast of Brig
Map	LS264T Jungfrau 1:50,000, and the Kümmerly + Frey sheet 18 Jungfrau Region at 1:60,000 cover most of the district. For more detail see the 1:25,000 sheet LS2516 Aletschgebiet.
Bases	Fiesch (1049m), Bettmeralp (1957m), Riederalp (1930m), Belalp (2094m)
Information	Tourismusbüro, CH-3984 Fiesch (Tel 027 970 60 70, www.fiesch.ch); Bettmeralp Tourismus, CH-3992 Bettmeralp (Tel 027 928 60 60, www.bettmeralp.ch); Riederalp Tourismus, CH-3987 Riederalp (Tel 027 928 60 50)
Access	By road or rail to Fiesch. For Bettmeralp, travel by road or rail to Betten-FO, then cablecar via Betten. For Riederalp, take road or rail to Mörel, then by cablecar direct to Riederalp, or by cablecar via Ried. For Belalp, travel by road from Brig to Blatten, then cablecar to Belalp.

The west wall of the Fieschertal is formed of a long ridge of mountains stretching in a steady arc from the Fiescherhorn, over the Wannenhorn and Eggishorn down towards the Rhône valley. Beyond that wall lies the Grosser Aletschgletscher – the longest and most impressive glacier in the Alps; a 22km long frozen river created by the combined icefields of the Jungfirn, Ewigschneefäld and Grüneggfirn that come together to join the Aletschfirn at Konkordiaplatz, southeast of the Jungfrau.

About 8km southeast of Konkordiaplatz, on the east bank of the glacier between the Strahlhorn and Eggishorn, lies a glacial hollow (the Märjelental) dotted with tiny pools and the celebrated, but much-diminished, Märjelensee. Streams from this basin flow in opposite directions, one to the Fieschertal, the other to the Aletschgletscher, and views are tremendous wherever you look.

Below the tongue of this great glacier, overlooking a narrow gorge, the Aletschwald is one of the oldest and highest pine and larch forests in Europe, now a nature reserve and part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn UNESCO World Heritage Site. The steep western wall of the gorge is broken by a couple of grass terraces on which a few alp chalets are found, and on its highest level stand the buildings of Belalp. The gorge is spanned by a 124m-long suspension bridge, and on its eastern side trails climb through the Aletschwald to a broad, sunny plateau below the Aletschgletscher’s moraine wall more than 1000m above the Rhône. Here lie Riederalp and Bettmeralp, which, like Belalp, are car-free resorts that enjoy panoramic views to the south where some of the most imposing snowpeaks of the Valais region line the horizon. Since there is no road access, visitors must either travel up by cablecar or on foot – gruellingly steep climbs of 600m–1100m.

As popular in winter as in summer, it’s not surprising to find plenty of mechanical lifts stretching across the slopes. However, some of these can be used to advantage by walkers, and with more than 100km of footpaths to choose from, a few days spent exploring the district can be recommended. Best of the walks are those that use trails overlooking the Grosser Aletschgletscher, but for a non-energetic, near perfect overview, take the cablecar from Fiescheralp (Kühboden) to the Eggishorn. The top station is on a lower, secondary summit at 2893m – a spectacular vantage point from which to study not only the glacier far below, but rank upon rank of high mountains that contain it. The Eggishorn also hosts a popular klettersteig/via ferrata with a 30m long three-rope bridge as a highlight.

Main bases

Fiesch (1049m) is the small resort at the mouth of the Fieschertal. As the main resort village of the Goms, it’s a mixture of modern, white-fronted buildings and characteristic dark-timbered Valaisian chalets. It has a railway station, and a cablecar link with Fiescheralp at 2205m, which gives access to the Bettmeralp plateau, Märjelensee and the Aletschgletscher. Fiesch has a handful of hotels, over 3000 beds in chalets and apartments, and a well-ordered campsite just outside the village. There are restaurants, shops (including a supermarket) and a useful tourist office.

The moraine ridge above Bettmeralp makes a fine viewpoint (Walks 5 and 6)

Bettmeralp (1957m) has an idyllic location and a number of footpaths that exploit the far-reaching views. It also has cable lifts strung across the hillsides that can be used to reach vantage points from which to access additional paths. The picturesque white-walled chapel of Maria zum Schnee is an eye-catching symbol of the resort, which has several hotels and a large number of beds in holiday apartments. The village has shops, restaurants, a post office and bank.

Riederalp (1930m) lies at the western end of the Bettmeralp plateau, with footpath access to the Aletschwald. It has several two- and three-star hotels, apartments, restaurants and shops, an Alpine museum and a nature conservation centre in the Villa Cassel at Riederfurka. There’s also a berghotel with standard beds and dormitory accommodation nearby (www.artfurrer.ch).

Belalp (2094m) is a collection of chalets strung across the hillside west of the Aletschgletscher’s gorge. There are two hotels, the Aletschhorn which is located directly above the cablecar station and has dormitory accommodation, and Hotel Belalp on a great vantage point about 30mins walk to the northeast.

Mountain huts

Burg Hut (1751m) Reached by a 2–2½hr walk from the Fieschertal roadhead, the Burg Hut is privately owned, but open to all. Standing among rock slabs overlooking the gorge of the Fieschergletscher, it has 32 dormitory places, and is usually open with meals available from the middle of May until mid-October (Tel 027 971 40 27, www.burghuette.ch).

Gletscherstube Märjela (2373m) This privately owned timber-built hut can be found in the Märjelental close to both the Märjelensee and the Aletschgletscher. It has 36 dormitory places, a full meals service, and is open from July to the end of October (Tel 027 971 47 83).