The Great Aletsch Glacier

The other day I had the opportunity to visit again one of the places that impressed me most this winter: Aletsch Arena. A few months ago, we went to this region of Canton Valais in hope to see its main natural wonder and attraction, the Aletsch Glacier, the largest glacier in the Alps. After a few hours hiking with all kinds of weather (fog, snow, sun and clear sky), we enjoyed the sight of magnificent winter landscapes. All except the one thing that brought us there: during the whole time we spent that day in Aletsch Arena (the name of the ski resort in the area), we couldn’t see the glacier, as it was hidden under thick fog…

So seeing the Aletsch Glacier has been one of pending things in my list for a few months… Until the other day! When my husband suggested me to go with him and his work colleagues to hike along the glacier, I couldn’t say no. The idea of seeing this ice giant and all the mountain area around it was too appealing! So there we went again to Canton Valais.

It’s amazing what seasons do with these Swiss landscapes. When I visited Aletsch Arena a few months ago, it was winter wonderland! A huge layer of snow was covering everything, and even the mountain peaks looked smooth and round, while a deep silence accompanied us during the whole hike. Now in August, flowers and green pastures covered everything and sheep and cows bells cheered us on our way. From where we were hiking, we could see some of the highest peaks in the Swiss Alps, including the Matterhorn, the Monte Rosa and Jungfrau. And, of course, we saw the Aletsch glacier… Although it is a retreating glacier as many others in the Alps, the Great Aletsch glacier is massive. It’s 23 km long and it’s almost 1 km thick where its four tributary glaciers meet at Concordia Place. It’s quite a view, specially after we saw recently other glaciers melting and shrinking (in Zermatt and Rhône glacier).

For this hike, we started in Fiescheralp and walked around the Eggishorn along an easy path with views of the Goms Valley, paragliders and Swiss cows, until we reached a tunnel right after seeing the small Fiesch glacier. Once we left the tunnel we were at the other side of the Eggishorn mountain, and a beautiful little meadow with small lakes and green pastures covered in cottongrass flowers welcomed us. After having lunch at the Berggasthaus close to the lake Märjelen, we continued walking and it wasn’t long before we saw the magnificent Aletsch glacier in front of us. Our path followed the east side of the glacier, rewarding us with an impressive panoramic view of the glacier and all the mountains around it. After that, we went to Bettmeralp, back in Goms Valley, where we were treated with some beautiful sights of the Bettmersee with the Matterhorn, Weisshorn and Monte Rosa in the background.

Here are some photos I took during the hike. I hope you like them! 🙂