Jungfraujoch - Lötschenlücke
29th April 2007
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After ski touring in the Matterhorn area last weekend it seems appropriate that this weekend I took a ski tour in the Jungfrau region near the Eiger. The target of the trip was the Lötschenlücke starting from the Jungfraujoch and taking in the Aletsch and Lang Glaciers before a descent into the Lötschental (above) and onto Blatten for a bus and train trip back to Interlaken. This takes in an area that makes up part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn UNESCO World Heritage site and is a heavily glaciated area.
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I have produced another GPS track file showing the route we took from the Jungfraujoch.
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The snow leaving the Jungfraujoch was pretty good and there was a light layer of fresh snow which made it more pleasant.
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After quite an enjoyable ski and shorter flatter section taking around 45mins it was time to put the climbing skins on and make for the Lötschenlücke. By now it was 10am and getting quite hot so although the climb is fairly easy the heat looked certain to make it seem further.
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Taking a welcome drink break after around an hour.
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And two hours after starting the climb reaching the Lötschenlücke with the hut perched above us.
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After making the climb in tee shirts a cool wind was blowing over the pass and we need to put fleeces and jackets on to avoid cooling too much before skiing into the valley.
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I was pretty surprised by the snow for the descent, I’d expected we’d ski a few hundred meters and then be walking but cover was good down to a few minutes from the road at 1789m giving a descent of around 1400m vertical and about 10km.
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In total it’s a route covering about 25km with around 6km of ascent. It’s a classic route and pretty well known in Switzerland being somewhat comparable to the Vallee Blanche although requiring climbing and ascent which that route does not.
There’s a fuller gallery here : http://snowslider.net/gallery/2007_-_ski/2007_04_28_l__tschenl__cke and I have the originals if other party members want to use the contact form and send me a message.
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April 30th, 2007 at Mon, 30 Apr 2007 14:05:21 +0000
Ian,
Nice work. I can see your a pro at this stuff ! A real pleasure to see your pictures and to have met you. Hope your elbow gets better and maybe we can do some more skiing toegther next winter !
All the best. Bob
September 15th, 2007 at Sat, 15 Sep 2007 12:52:36 +0000
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