Grotzenbühl
An enjoyable snowshoe tour above Braunwald in the Glarus Alps: a gentle climb through snowy slopes to a wide, sunny viewpoint.
Up on snowshoes, down by sledge
Grotzenbühl is the snowshoe outing you suggest when someone says “I’d like to try snowshoeing but I don’t want to die today.” It sits above Braunwald — a car-free village reached by funicular, which already makes the whole logistics piece feel kind of civilized — and the route climbs gently through snowy slopes and open woodland to a wide sun-soaked plateau at the top.
No technical sections, no real navigation puzzles, just a steady climb with the Glarus mountains opening up around you the higher you get. The plateau makes a perfect long-lunch spot before you point yourself back downhill. That said: this is still alpine winter terrain. When the avalanche bulletin is anything other than mellow, check conditions and slope angles before you go, not after.
Tip: and here’s the best part — the way down is by sledge. You can rent one right at the Grotzenbühl station, and the cable car will happily haul you back up so you can do the run again, and again. It is, frankly, ridiculous amounts of fun, and a properly satisfying reward for all that climbing.