This post is also available in: Deutsch Fran­çais Ita­lia­no

Bru

Alre­a­dy many clim­bers noti­ced the huge gra­ni­te face high abo­ve the Balt­schie­der val­ley. Roland Ker­nen, who had alre­a­dy deve­lo­ped various rou­tes in the front of the Balt­schie­der val­ley, found tog­e­ther with San­dro Per­ren a first ide­al line, through the impres­si­ve wall. They named it “Die Nebel von Bru” which means in Eng­lish the fog of bru.
A second, very rewar­ding and some­what less dif­fi­cult rou­te (Där Sick­bo­zo) was achie­ved by Roland and his wife Rena­te in 2015.
Spe­cial: The wild, iso­la­ted Bru used to be an Aus­ser­berg sheep alp. Clim­bing the wall you can find big Edel­weiss bou­quets, which is quite unty­pi­cal for the crystal­li­ne rock landscape.

Drei Sagen Tour

Rena­te und Roland Ker­nen as well as Feli­ci­tas und Egon Feller.
This clim­bing tour invol­ves 32 pit­ches and 1500 meters of clim­bing, plus the sub­se­quent ridge clim­bing it is one of the lon­gest clim­bing rou­tes in Valais. From the Balt­schie­der val­ley to the Wiwan­ni­horn, it’s about 1800 meters in alti­tu­de in a very scenic area.
Ide­al­ly, the rou­te will be clim­bed in two days with an over­night stay at the Wiwannihut.
It’s the com­bi­na­ti­on of three rou­tes start­ing at the legen­da­ry Balt­schie­der val­ley to the Wiwannihorn;
Start­ing with the rou­te ds Hibsch Meiss­ji fol­lo­wed up by  Sik­bo­zo and the final rou­te Ver­bor­ge­ne Tänze.
Rating: 6b (6a man­da­to­ry) 32 pit­ches + ridge climbing
Equip­ment: 16 quick-draws, 50 meters dou­ble rope
Safe­guar­ding: Very well equipped
Access: Appro­xi­m­ate­ly 2 hours. Hike along the his­to­ric water pipe at Niwärch into Balt­schie­der val­ley and con­ti­nue to the ent­rance of the via Fer­ra­ta. Now about a hundred meters to the right is the access.
Atten­ti­on! This rou­te should only be approa­ched in safe wea­ther con­di­ti­ons. A wea­ther chan­ge or insuf­fi­ci­ent clim­bing tech­ni­que can be very serious, as a des­cent from Bru to the Balt­schie­der val­ley or over to the via Fer­ra­ta at about 2100m is not that easy to find. In ear­ly sum­mer and during thun­der­storms, the­re is a dan­ger of rockfall.

O / Ds hibsch Meiss­ji 6a (5c mandatory)
First ascent, Rena­te and Roland Ker­nen 2016.
The rou­te leads with 9 pit­ches as access into the rou­te Sick­bo­zo. Stun­ning slab and face clim­bing. Accor­ding to the name, the­re is a beau­tiful­ly car­ved and struc­tu­red rock. The name ori­gi­na­ted from a tale about the water pipe in the Balt­schie­der val­ley. After the last belay, you des­cend a few steps into the migh­ty rift and tra­ver­se over the blocks to the next belay. After the sixth pitch, you climb up about 70 meters in easy terrain.
Access: Appro­xi­m­ate­ly 2 hours. Over the his­to­ric water pipe at Niwärch at Balt­schie­der val­ley, you go to the ent­rance of the via Fer­ra­ta. From the­re about a hundred meters to the right you find the entrance.
Rating: 6a (5c man­da­to­ry) 8SL and easy clim­bing with wal­king sections.
Equip­ment: 16 quick-draws and a 50 meters rope
Safe­guar­ding: Well equipped

Q / Där Sick­bo­zo 5c+ (5c mandatory)
First ascent, Rena­te and Roland Ker­nen 2015.
Long, very varied clim­bing in a well-secu­red line. This rou­te should only be approa­ched in safe wea­ther con­di­ti­ons. A wea­ther chan­ge or insuf­fi­ci­ent clim­bing tech­ni­que can be very serious, as a des­cent from into the Balt­schie­der­val­ley or over to the via Fer­ra­ta at about 2100m isn’t that easy to find. In ear­ly sum­mer and during thun­der­storms, the­re is a dan­ger rockfall.
Ascent: Towards the east ridge of Wiwan­ni­horn, then at the cross abo­ve the lower clim­bing gar­den, des­cent dia­go­nal­ly down­wards, through the hol­low tra­ver­se to the grass plat­form about 20 min.
Then rap­pel 7 times (45–50 meters each). When rap­pel­ling, keep to the right. Alter­na­ti­ve access to the rou­te is from the Balt­schie­der val­ley over the rou­te, “Ds hibsch Meissji”
Rating: 6a + (5c man­da­to­ry) 400 clim­bing meters.
Safe­guar­ding: Well secu­red belay with stain­less mate­ri­al. The­re are prac­ti­cal­ly no addi­tio­nal belay options.
Equip­ment: 50 meters dou­ble rope and 16 quick-draws, rap­pel equipment

P / Die Nebel von Bru 6c (6a+ obl.)
First ascent, Roland Ker­nen and San­dro Per­ren 2010.
The 11 pit­ches in a steep face and slab clim­bing, most­ly at a rating of 6a to 6c is recom­men­ded only for expe­ri­en­ced clim­bers. Roland Ker­nen and San­dro Per­ren did the routs first ascent while they instal­led and lead clim­bed the rou­te. This rou­te should only be approa­ched in safe wea­ther con­di­ti­ons. A wea­ther chan­ge or insuf­fi­ci­ent clim­bing tech­ni­que can be very serious, as a des­cent into the Balt­schie­der val­ley or over to the via Fer­ra­ta at about 2100m isn’t that easy to find. In ear­ly sum­mer and during thun­der­storms the­re is dan­ger of rockfall.
Over­all, the 11-pitch tour offers a gre­at day of clim­bing in a wild environment.

Ascent: 25 minu­tes from the Wiwan­ni­hut along the trail towards the east ridge of Wiwan­ni­horn and from the­re down to the first rap­pel belay whe­re the­re is a sum­mit book.
Then rap­pel 11 times over the rou­te fol­lo­wing the bolts. The rap­pel slo­pe is visi­ble. Only the seventh belay is slight­ly next to the rou­te becau­se the rope is easier to pull off from the­re. (See Topo) While rap­pel­ling on the rou­te alre­a­dy gives you a good insight about the rou­te and the belays. An alter­na­ti­ve ascent pos­si­bi­li­ty is to get the­re from the Balt­schie­der val­ley over the rou­te Ds hibsch Meissji.
Rating: 6c (6a + man­da­to­ry) 430 clim­bing meters.
Safe­guar­ding: Most­ly very good belays with stain­less mate­ri­al. The­re are prac­ti­cal­ly no addi­tio­nal belay options.
Equip­ment: 50 meters dou­ble rope and 16 quick-draws, rap­pel equipment.

This post is also available in: Deutsch Fran­çais Ita­lia­no

Topo from the clim­bing gui­de Wiwan­ni 2022

Scroll to Top