MYBERGTOUR'S FINEST
Foto Speedy Füllemann
Climbing Mittagflue
Fun climbing. Grippy rock. Easy grades.
The impressive wall of Mittagflue stands proudly above Guttannen and dominates the lower Haslital with its up to 400m mighty rock face. The Mittagflue offers a variety of extremely rewarding routes in the lower difficulties from 4c to 5c on its south face. Such generously structured and lavishly grippy rock is rarely found, especially not in the Grimsel area. Hands and feet almost always find hold on theses walls. The climbing correspondingly is straight forward and really enjoyable. Thanks to these qualities, the Mittagflue is also suitable for climbers with little experience who want to gain experience in multi-pitch climbing, e.g. accompanied by a mountain guide. If you are looking for further generously structured routes, see also dr Blau Chäfer in Melchtal.
The rock quality is consistently very good. Nevertheless, pebbles and small stones can be found in the lower part. Therefore, a helmet is an absolute must and several rope teams on the same route are a potential danger. Towards the top, the size of the holds decreases somewhat and most routes have their most demanding pitches in the end.
The protection is good, mostly on solid, new material and the cruxes are usually well protected. Nevertheless, climbers should master the difficulties in order to be safe on this inclined terrain. A cam or wedge can be placed here and there, but the rock offers only limited possibilities.
In addition to all these good arguments for climbing at Mittagflue, there is also the fact that it is easy to get to in just 30 minutes from the parking lot. Taken together, this results in a first-class destination for simple multi-pitch routes, but also means many visitor especially on weekends, because Mittagflue is no longer an insider crag. On nice days, you either bring a little patience or set the alarm clock early enough to be among the first at the base of the wall.
Topo Mittagflue south wall
The routes on the south side are all very similar in character. They offer extremely rewarding, grippy climbing of about 10 pitches and are well protected (xxx/XXXXX). The south edge is a tick easier than its neighbors. The Mittagflue south wall gets sun in July from around 11am.
South Edge 11SL | 400m | 5a (4c obl) the easiest route in the wall. Very rewarding.
Durststrecke 9SL | 400m | 5b + (5b obl) grippy and extremely rewarding
Am Ueli sis Chueli 10SL | 400m | 5b (5a + obl) same as above
Heidi mier weidi beidi 9SL | 400m | 5b + (5b obl) same as above
Fritz u Franz im nüe Glanz 9SL | 400m | 5a + (5a obl) same as above
Loris Boxenstop 12SL | 400m | 5c + (5c obl)
Topo Mittagflue west wall
The three routes in the west wall are significantly steeper and therefore more demanding. Stabon follows a bold line and offers spectacularly steep climbing especially in the upper part. Formkurve offers beautiful, technically demanding wall climbing, almost continuously in grade 7a, whereby the third pitch in particular should not be underestimated. Formkurve shares the exceptionally steep final pitch (7a) with Abadia, which up to this point offers beautiful wall climbing in the the grade 5a-6b.
Stabon 12SL | 400m | 7b (6c obl) great climbing, bold line, spectacularly steep
Formkurve 9SL | 400m | 7a + (7a obl) demanding wall climbing, last lengths together with Abadia
Abadia 11SL | 400m | 7a (6b obl) wall climbing in the area 5a-6b, last pitch 7a
Mittagflue approach & descent
Approach | From the parking lot in 30 minutes to the base of the wall. In spring there is often a snow field on the last few meters, which can make good footwear or even an ice axe necessary.
Descent | Basically you can abseil down the south face, but we recommend you to descend by foot. This is due to the risk of rope jam and rock fall when pulling off the rope as well to the many rope teams that usually are found on this popular wall. The descent follows the obvious trail that starts off the last pitches, leads to the highest point and via several downclimbing and at the end abseiling sections back to the base. Some downclimbing sections are exposed and require full concentration again, but are well equipped with iron rods. At the end you abseil 3x25m and climb the last few meters again over iron rods. Unfortunately, the most important rods were bent by rockfall, which makes downclimbing more difficult. Alternatively, you can rappel a fourth time orographically to the right into the gully and climb down to the base (watch out for rockfall).
You might also be interested in:
Dr Blau Chäfer | Bergseeschijen | Furkahorn |
Keywords: Mittagflue, Grimsel, climbing, multi-pitch, topo, mountain guide