Overview
The North West ridge of the Weissnollen is a short climb from the glaciated pass between the Gross Grünhorn and the Weissnollen. This pass, the Grünhornlücke at 3286 meter, is on the route between the Finsteraarhornhütte and the Konkordiahütte.
The conditions on the NW ridge depend on the weather and season and are a mix of some rock, snow, firn. The difficulty of the climbing is no more than I-II and the climb is graded WS (wenig schwierig).
The altitude gain from the Lücke to the Weissnollen top is approximately 300 meters. Going to the top takes approximately an hour.
All in all this is a nice route to climb if travelling between the Konkordiahütte and the Finsteraarhornhütte or if desiring a shorter day trip from either of the hutts. The route is also climbed with the goal to ski down the east flank of the mountain.
Getting There
The route starts on the glaciated Grünhornlücke (3286 meter) pass between the Gross Grünhorn and the Weissnollen.
How to get to the Grünhornlücke via the Konkordiahütte or the Finsteraarhornhütte or to get to these huts can be found on the page of the
Weissnollen.
Towards the Grünhornlücke Route Description
NW ridge route (red) from the NW
From the Grünhornlücke start at the base of the NW ridge which starts out as a not too steep snow/firn ridge with here and there some rocks. Depending on the conditions you can either climb more in the rock or more in the snow/firn but do stay on the ridge. After the start with some rock the middle part of the ridge is more snow/firn.
On the NW ridge (lower part)
Continue on the ridge until at the end it becomes somewhat steeper and more rocky again. The climbing should not be too difficult (no more than I-II).
Near the top the ridge levels out and shortly afterwards you arrive at the snowy/firny top of the weissnollen. The time to ascend from the Grünhornlücke is 1 hour.
On the NW ridge (upper part)
The descent is ussually done along the same route or the east flank of the mountain can be skied down (do watch out for crevasces).
Essential Gear
rope (single or 1 half of a double)
helmet
good high alpine clothing
ice-axe and crampons
External Links
Guidebooks and Maps
Berner Alpen' Werner und Margrit Munter, Bergverlag Rudolf Rother - München, ISBN 3-7633-2415-1, (1995)
'Clubführer Berner Alpen 4', Karl Hausmann, Schweizer Alpen-Club, ISBN 978-3859021624, (1997)
'Landeskarte der Schweiz 1:25000', '1249 Finsteraarhorn'