Balmflue Südgrat
A long limestone multipitch at grade 5c above Solothurn — plenty of pitches, little wall feeling, and a steel cable in the middle of it.
Many pitches, not much wall
The south ridge of the Balmflue is one of the long routes in the first Jura chain — considerably more pitches than you would credit the Jura with. Big-wall feeling still barely materialises: between the climbing sections come traverses and walking terrain that break the ridge into instalments. You are out for a long time, but rarely properly in the wall.
One stretch cannot be climbed at all. There you traverse along a fixed steel cable, protected and not very elegant, but it is the only way on. And the 5c pitches are what you talk about afterwards: for the grade they are stiffer than expected, not limestone that hands anything over.
Once you are in, you are in. Retreating from the ridge is awkward, so the decision is made at the bottom — on the weather, the timetable and your form alike.
Tip: a classic spring and autumn route. In high summer the south-facing wall is simply too hot; in spring and in October it is ideal. Allow enough time: the traverses eat more of it than the pitch count in the topo suggests.
On my list but not yet climbed myself — a personal report will follow.
Hero photo: M M (Padmanaba01), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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