Eggishorn
A panorama tour to the Eggishorn (2926 m) above Fiesch — arguably the grandest balcony over the Great Aletsch Glacier, with views of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.
Ridge scrambling above the Aletsch Glacier
The ridge from the Bettmerhorn to the Eggishorn is a box seat above the largest glacier in the Alps. From the Bettmeralp you reach the Bettmerhorn in a good hour, and then the real scrambling begins along the ridge — airy, but on good rock, and the whole time that phenomenal view down onto the Aletsch Glacier. From the Eggishorn the pathless east ridge (T5) drops to the Gletscherstube, much of it through tiresome scree, and on over the Märjelensee to Fiesch.
Tip: The descent from the Eggishorn is pathless and rubbly — allow enough time and keep an eye on the last lifts. If you like, add a visit to the ice grotto beneath the Aletsch.
How it went for me
The climb up the Bettmerhorn was gorgeous, and the ridge took us about two hours of pure scrambling — with a generous raclette break in between, at a fairly fresh ten degrees. The pathless descent from the Eggishorn dragged on, a lot of wobbly scree, a good hour and a half. There wasn’t time left for the ice grotto if we wanted to catch the second-to-last lift — so we jogged down from the Gletscherstube to Fiesch, where it was suddenly much warmer down in the valley.