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110 APPROACH
F
The approach to the face is from Grindelwald
or f rom Eismeer station.
The latter is most convenient in winter but
is expensive.
From Grindelwald: Follow the route to the
Schreckhorn hut and
then, between Stieregg and Banisegg go down a
grassy moraine
crest slanting R into trees, from where a
path leads to the glacier. Go
SE up the glacier, crossing it to reach a
small promontory at the NW
corner of Ziisenberg. Climb a shallow stream
bed just L of the
promontory and get onto a path leading E.
Follow this to an old hut
at 1948m. Follow a faint path over rocks and
grass, traversing up
and L wards (E) to a ridge bounding a rocky
bay. The path turns
SW and rises slowly before turning back E to
arrive at the ridge
again above the steep walls of the bay.
Follow the ridge on a
discontinuous path to the edge of the upper
part of the Fiescher
glacier at about 2350 m. There are good
bivouac sites with running
water near a commemorative wooden cross. 4hr
from the top of the
Pfingstegg lift.
The foot of the face is
reached from here in 1 .5 -2hr.
111 NORTH SPUR OF GROSS FIESCHERHORN
TD-/TD FORE-SUMMIT
D Wilkinson and R Brevitt, Aug 1988
The most obvious feature on the R-hand side
of the face is the NE spur of
the NW fore-summit of the Gr Fiescherhom. To
its R the face is
characterised by a Y-shaped couloir. The
route climbs the L bounding rib
of this couloir. There is some stone fall
danger in the first few pitches,
otherwise objective dangers are not great. Since the rock is not good the
climb is best attempted in cold snowy conditions.
From the foot of the Y-shaped couloir get
onto the rib on the L and
climb this to join the N rib route near its
top. 8-10hr from the foot
of the face.
112 NORTH RIB OF GROSS FIESCHERHORN FORE-SUMMIT
TD/TD+
First ascent party
The most obvious and one of the easiest lines on the face. It is a long
mixed climb, which Welzenbach found more
difficult than expected
during the second ascent. Most of the
climbing is on the rib (poor rock)
and is quite safe but it has definite N face
feeling about it. Average angle
is 650, the difficulties depending on
conditions. With dry rock there are
pitches of III and IV.
Start on the R of the rib at 2780m. Get onto
and climb the rib to
where it merges into the face. Traverse L and
then climb slabby
rocks for about 150m before moving L again to
get onto a
continuation rib. Continue up this to where
it fades into a snow
ridge. Climb this to the summit crags which
are climbed by a
couloir. 8-10hr from the foot of the face
113 REISS ROUTE
TD+
This route appears to be fairly safe and
seems to be the most frequently
climbed one on the face. It is a bit more
direct than the Friele-Sprang
route and probably better than this route in
snow free conditions. The
main difficulties are at mid-height where
mixed ground reaches 65o. The
top ice slope averages 550
Start at the foot of the rib just R of the
fall-line from the summit.
Climb the rib to where it steepens not far
below the upper ice field
(II-III
with some steps of IV-V according to conditions). 2 steep
pitches on mixed ground are climbed, then
slant L to the upper
ice field where a choice of line leads to the
summit. 10-14 hr from the
foot of the face
TD+ G Friele and G van
Sprang,
This route climbs a couloir L of the rib of
the Reiss route to where it joins
a ramp line leading R wards to join or cross
the Reiss route below the
upper ice field. It is somewhat easier than
the Reiss route. It was climbed
by D Wilkinson and W Barker at Easter 1982.
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