Düssi
3,256 m
Switzerland
Also known as Gross Düssi, დიუსი, +1Also known as
Gross Düssi · დიუსი · Piz Git
- Elevation
- 3,256 m
- Prominence
- 429 m
- Difficulty
- 5/10
- Easy alpine
- Best Season
- Jul–Sep
- Routes
- 2
WorksReported 7 Oct 2026 · until 1 Nov 2026
Rockfall-protection works on the Bristen road between Amsteg and St. Antoni continue until early November 2026 with changing traffic regimes and closures; check Alertswiss before travelling. (End date given only as 'early November'.)
hinterbalm-huette.ch
Routes
2Sources differ: SAC WS, 2b (SAC route portal) · SW flank WS 2a; S ridge WS 2 (SAC Clubführer Oberalpstock/Windgällen, 7th ed. 2010 (as listed on the SAC route portal)) · T4–T5 (hikr.org trip reports)
The usual way up the pyramid at the head of the Maderanertal: a long valley walk from Bristen to the private Hinterbalmhütte (1,817 m), then a partly marked line of scree, a short rock band with easy scrambling and the upper south ridge to the summit cross. No glacier in a normal summer.
Elevation Profile
approximate line- Distance
- 13.4 km
- one way
- Ascent
- +2,550 m
- −123 m lost on the way up
- High Point
- 3,256 m
- Time Up
- 10h 25m
- DIN 33466
- Time Down
- 7h 11m
- DIN 33466 · same way back
From the Golzern cable-car valley station above Bristen (832 m) a broad path follows the Chärstelenbach through Legni, Rüteli and Stössi to Guferen (1,275 m), then on to Blindensee (1,374 m), where a bridge leads to the climb up to the Hinterbalmhütte (1,817 m). Allow about 3½ hours; an alpine taxi to Guferen cuts this to about 1½ hours and must be booked well ahead. From the hut go north to the Düssi alp huts (about 1,924 m), east to Düssifed and over grass and scree into the basin of Schattig Düssi; cairns and paint marks help. Climb scree or old snow to the gully coming down from the Chli Düssi. After a rockfall on the old line, a new variant was set up in summer 2024 by local guides: traverse left onto a ledge and climb up right just before the ridge edge (marked with painted smileys). The rock is easy but needs hands and is awkward when iced. Above, tiresome scree leads to the south ridge, which is followed on paths to the large summit cross. The SAC gives 4–4½ hours from the hut (1,436 m of ascent). Descend the same way (3–3½ hours to the hut). A popular alternative is to traverse over the Chli Düssi and descend the Tschingelfirn to the Tschingelseeli and the Brunnital (SAC T6/WS, with a fixed rope just above the firn), which is harder and longer.
Start
Golzern Talstation829 m
- Train to Erstfeld, bus to Amsteg, PostBus Amsteg–Bristen to the Golzern cable-car valley station
- Parking at the trailhead
Stages
| Day | Stage | km | m ascent | m descent | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golzern Talstation → Hinterbalmhütte | 9.0 | 1,051 | 60 | 4h 44m |
| 2 | Hinterbalmhütte → Gross Düssi | 4.4 | 1,499 | 63 | 5h 41m |
Waypoints
- Station: Golzern Talstation829 m
Postbus stop and paid car park at the Golzern cable-car valley station above Bristen
- Feature: Guferen1,309 m
End of the alpine-taxi road (not on route line)
- Feature: Blindensee1,374 m
- Hut: Hinterbalmhütte1,820 m
- Feature: Düssi1,929 m
Alp huts north of Hinterbalm
- Feature: Düssifed2,078 m
- Feature: Schattig Düssi2,420 m
Scree basin below the west flank
- Summit: Gross Düssi3,256 m
Key Passages
- Gully from the Chli Düssi and the 2024 variant on the rock band at about 2,800 m
- Scree slopes to the south ridge
- Upper south ridge to the summit cross
Equipment
0/8 packedDownloads
Route confidence 80%Overview
A clean rock pyramid (3,256 m) closing off the head of the Maderanertal in Uri. The normal route from the small private Hinterbalmhütte is a long but technically modest scramble up scree and short rock steps, with no glacier in a normal summer.
The Düssi, usually called Gross Düssi to distinguish it from the lower Chli Düssi (3,127 m) to the south, and Piz Git in Romansh, rises at the eastern end of the Maderanertal in the Glarus Alps. Its massif separates the Maderanertal from the Val Russein in Graubünden. Seen from the valley or from the Windgällenhütte opposite, it is a sharp, symmetrical pyramid, and it is the most-climbed summit at the head of the valley.
The Ober Hüfifirn lies on its northern side and the Glatscher da Cavrein to the south-east, but the normal route avoids both. From the Hinterbalmhütte (1,817 m) a partly marked line climbs scree basins and a short rock band to the south ridge: about 1,450 m of ascent with easy scrambling (SAC WS, T5) and plenty of loose ground. The north-west ridge from the SAC Hüfihütte is the harder classic, a long and loose grade II–III rock ridge, often combined with a descent of the normal route.
The valley approach from Bristen is long whichever line you choose, so most parties take two days. The reward is a quiet, traditional area with a resident ibex colony and views over the Clariden, Oberalpstock and Tödi groups.
Climbing Notes
You need the fitness for a 1,450 m summit day after a 3½-hour valley approach, sure-footedness on steep scree and loose blocks, and confidence on short, easy rock steps without a rope. Early in the season old snow lies in the gully and on the upper flank; then crampons and an ice axe, and the skills to use them, are needed. Navigation in mist is tricky because the line is only partly marked. Local guides from Bristen work from the Hinterbalmhütte.
Typical itinerary: day one, Bristen (Golzern valley station) to the Hinterbalmhütte, optionally by alpine taxi to Guferen; day two, summit and back to the hut (7–8 hours) or all the way to Bristen. Fit parties traverse over the Chli Düssi and descend the Tschingelfirn (harder, T6). The north-west ridge from the Hüfihütte needs a rope, rock-climbing experience on loose ground and glacier skills for the Ober Hüfifirn approach.
History
As with many summits in the area, chamois hunters were probably the first to the top. The first recorded tourist ascent is attributed to the geologist Arnold Escher von der Linth in 1842, followed later that year by Major Fäsi-Freudweiler (Camptocamp). The SAC route portal credits the west-flank route to C. Hauser, V. Haller, J. M. Tresch junior and H. Elmer in 1866. In summer 2024, after a rockfall destroyed part of the usual line through the west flank, local guides Ernst Jauch and Mike Zgraggen set up a new variant through the rock band at about 2,800 m.
Season
Best Jul–Sep- January: Not advisable
- February: Not advisable
- March: Possible
- April: Possible
- May: Not advisable
- June: Possible
- July: Best (best window)
- August: Best (best window)
- September: Best (best window)
- October: Possible
- November: Not advisable
- December: Not advisable
- Jan
- Winter; huts closed, no winter room at Hinterbalm
- Feb
- Winter
- Mar
- Long, avalanche-prone ski tour from Bristen for experienced ski-mountaineers only
- Apr
- Ski tours in stable spring snow
- May
- Snow on the approach; huts closed
- Jun
- Hinterbalmhütte opens around 20 June; old snow in the gully, take crampons
- Jul
- Main season
- Aug
- Usually snow-free; afternoon thunderstorms
- Sep
- Often stable; Hüfihütte closes end of September
- Oct
- Hinterbalmhütte closes in early October; verglas on the rock
- Nov
- Winter conditions
- Dec
- Winter
Access & Permits
- Hut Booking
- Hinterbalmhütte (private, 32 places): reservation compulsory, online via the hut website. Hüfihütte SAC (SAC Pilatus, about 30 places): book by phone or through the SAC/HRS online system; bookings are binding and late cancellations are charged.
- Fees
- Paid parking at the Golzern cable-car valley station in Bristen
- Hinterbalmhütte half board CHF 84 for adults (2026); cash or TWINT only
- Alpine taxi from Bristen to Guferen (fee; book early)
- Rules
- The Hinterbalmhütte requires a reservation and a silk sleeping-bag liner
- The Bristen road is narrow and winding with PostBus traffic; follow the notice boards at the start of the road
- Getting There
Bristen (Maderanertal); Amsteg and Erstfeld in the Reuss valley
Zurich (ZRH)
- Train to Erstfeld (Basel/Zurich–Locarno line), bus to Amsteg, PostBus Amsteg–Bristen to the Golzern cable-car valley station
- By car: A2 exit Amsteg, then about 3 km of mountain road to Bristen; large paid car park at the Golzern valley station
- Alpine taxi from the Golzern valley station to Guferen (1,275 m) saves about 2 hours; reserve in advance
Hazards
- Rockfall
- Exposure
- Weather
- Crevasses
- Glacier
Huts & Shelters
2- 1,817 m
HinterbalmhütteHutStaffedBooking required
32 beds · Staffed about 20 June to early October (20 June – 3 October 2026, depending on weather); closed in winter, no winter room
- 2,334 m