Gross Spannort
A two-day high-alpine traverse in the Uri Alps: a night at the Kröntenhütte, a dawn glacier crossing, a loose but thrilling climb to the summit, and a long snow-surf down to the Spannorthütte.
Lovely from afar, loose up close
The great Spannort — one of the prettiest mountains in Switzerland, at least from a distance. Get up close and it turns out to be a proper Bruchhaufen, a heap of rubble where it’s genuinely hard not to send rocks down on your mates as you climb, because everything is so wonderfully loose. And yet the tour is an absolute blast — if you like mountains, glaciers and a bit of climbing, and if you don’t mind setting an alarm for 4 a.m.
The route is a hut traverse: first you climb to the cosy Kröntenhütte, with an ice-cold little lake right nearby and kids running around everywhere — a place well worth a visit in its own right. On summit day you set off very early: across the soft snowfield and the glacier (no crampons needed in good conditions, but roped up) to the Spannortlücke, then over a sketchy Bergschrund onto the rock.
The summit section is no clip-and-go via ferrata: you’ll want a 50 m rope and the know-how to use it. There’s a fixed rope in places to help, but you can’t rely on it, and the rock is loose throughout. The view waits at the top, and rappelling back down is easy afterwards. From there you surf perfect snow towards the Schlossberglücke — right beneath the notorious north face, which steadily spits rocks — and on almost all the way to the beautiful Spannorthütte.
Tip: on summit day, start at first light, before the snow softens and the north face really gets going. And plan the night at the Kröntenhütte: family-friendly, welcoming, and with a lake to swim in.
How it went for me
Starting at first light, Olli, Eva and I set off towards the Graw Stock — so warm we were walking in T-shirts at 2500 m at 5 a.m., reassuring ourselves that back in Zürich it must be absolutely baking. At the Bergschrund Olli lost a pole down a snow bridge, and Eva somehow climbed into the Schrund and magically retrieved it. We promptly lost the correct climbing line, built our own belay halfway up, and picked our way over the loose rock to the summit — what a view! Down at the bottom, Andy, the wonderfully welcoming host of the Spannorthütte, sent us off with a well-earned beer on the terrace. Cheers!