Chöpfenberg via Brüggler

A start by impossible cable car

This one starts the way every good hike should: with a tiny cable car doing something it really shouldn’t. The Luftseilbahn up to Morgenholz is one of those funky little Swiss contraptions that gains an absurd amount of vertical for its size — you step in at the valley floor, and a few minutes later you’re somewhere completely different, with the heavy lifting already done for you.

From the top, a really nice path leads via Wageten over to the Brüggler, passing right by the climbing area. There are two exposed bits on the way up, but they’re mentally manageable and well secured — call it T4+ to here. From the Brüggler you stay on the ridge toward the Chöpfenberg. There’s no marked trail, but it’s a good line anyway.

The east ridge (Ostgrat) up to the Chöpfenberg itself is more like T5, with a few short I–II climbing moves. The rule is simple: stay on the crest as much as possible. The well-trodden bypass paths look tempting, but they’re almost always dead ends — back up and onto the ridge you go. Off the summit, the route drops east via Moaregg toward Ohrenbüchel, with very lovely scrambling all the way.

Tip: the tail does drag a bit — from Scheidegg it’s still around 2 hours down to Innerthal. A proper full day out, so ration your energy accordingly.

How it went for me

On our day it was hot and sunny the whole way, and that’s exactly how the Chöpfenberg stays with me: the mad little cable car in the morning, then hour after hour of the finest scrambling along the ridge, with the Walensee, the Mythen and Lake Wägital far below in the autumn foliage. By the end our legs were tired and the long descent to Innerthal dragged — but this was one of those full, thoroughly happy days in the mountains.