Gletscherhorn
3,982 m
Switzerland
Also known as გლეჩერჰორნიAlso known as
გლეჩერჰორნი
- Elevation
- 3,982 m
- Prominence
- 355 m
- Difficulty
- 7/10
- Hard alpine
- Best Season
- Jul
- Routes
- 1
Hut closedReported 4 Oct 2026 · until 15 Mar 2027
The Mönchsjoch Hut closed for the season on 5 October 2026 after a dry summer and increasingly difficult conditions; it plans to reopen in mid-March 2027. The 8-place emergency room (no cooking or water) stays open.
moenchsjoch.chHut closedReported 4 Oct 2026 · until 15 Mar 2027
The Hollandia Hut has been unstaffed since 24 August 2026 until mid-March 2027; its 12-place winter room is open.
moenchsjoch.ch
Routes
1Sources differ: AD (Camptocamp (free and obligatory rock 3c)) · S III (south-east ridge) (SAC guide Jungfrau Region, Berner Alpen 4 (2010), via SAC route portal archive) · D (SAC Alpes bernoises (2002), arête sud-est)
The easiest way up the highest 'three-thousander' of the Bernese Alps: from the Jungfraujoch over the Louwitor, then a steep snow or ice slope above a serac, a bergschrund and the rocky, partly corniced south-east ridge to the rock summit. Serious and rarely climbed; the descent is by abseils.
About 100% of this line is approximate (no mapped trail; drawn from the terrain). Check it against a map before relying on it.
Why? 7 check notes
- danger scan: Jungfraujoch → Louwitor: DEM line 828 m off the straight axis
- ascent 1007 m is 2.1× the net gain 479 m: the line probably detours down and back up (not a traverse)
- 100% approximate geometry
- Jungfraujoch → Louwitor: glacier (snap_failed, 3.9 km)
- Louwitor → Gletscherhorn: glacier (snap_failed, 1.4 km)
- unresolved waypoints: South-east ridge
- waypoints at the same position: Point 3624 below the Louwitor = Louwitor
Elevation Profile
approximate line- Distance
- 5.3 km
- one way
- Ascent
- +1,007 m
- −527 m lost on the way up
- High Point
- 3,982 m
- Time Up
- 5h 05m
- DIN 33466
- Time Down
- 4h 26m
- DIN 33466 · same way back
From the Jungfraujoch (3,454 m) go south over the Jungfraufirn, keeping east of the rock spur at point 3506, then climb south-west through crevassed, serac-broken slopes to the Louwitor (3,658 m), the col between the Louwihorn and the Kranzberg. Descend a short way on the far side to about 3,624 m below the col; this point can also be reached from the Konkordia or Hollandia huts by the Kranzbergfirn. From here climb the right-hand (northern) snow or ice slope until above the serac, then traverse left across the flank to turn point 3863. Cross the bergschrund and head left towards the col on the ridge, but before reaching it bear right on snow to gain the south-east ridge. Follow the ridge, mostly on the crest or its west side, over rock of up to about UIAA III, often loose and with cornices, to the summit (3,983 m). The SAC gives 4–5 hours and about 770 m of ascent (250 m of descent included) from the Jungfraujoch. Descend the same way: a short abseil reaches a notch on the ridge, three 30 m abseils lead back to the glacier, and an Abalakov thread may be needed to pass the bergschrund. The east-flank 'facette' is often icy, then calling for two tools and ice screws. Allow for the reascent to the Louwitor and the Jungfraujoch, and check the last train down.
Start
Jungfraujoch3,503 m
- Jungfrau Railway to the Jungfraujoch
- Train from Interlaken to Kleine Scheidegg (via Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen) and the Jungfrau Railway to the Jungfraujoch.
Stages
| Day | Stage | km | m ascent | m descent | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jungfraujoch → Gletscherhorn | 5.3 | 1,007 | 527 | 5h 05m |
Waypoints
- Station: Jungfraujoch3,503 m
Exit to the glacier by the Sphinx tunnel
- Col: Louwitor3,653 m
- Feature: Point 3624 below the Louwitor3,653 m
Start of the climb on the upper Kranzbergfirn, south of the Louwitor (not on route line)
- Summit: Gletscherhorn3,982 m
Key Passages
- Crevassed slopes up to the Louwitor
- Snow or ice slope above the serac and traverse around point 3863
- Bergschrund
- Loose, corniced south-east ridge (UIAA III)
- Three 30 m abseils in descent
Equipment
0/7 packedDownloads
Route confidence 55%Overview
At 3,983 m the Gletscherhorn is the highest summit of the Bernese Alps that falls short of 4,000 m, a rock and ice peak just south of the Jungfrau. Every route is long and graded around D-, so it is rarely climbed and offers solitude above the Aletsch glaciers.
The Gletscherhorn stands on the Bern–Valais border on the ridge running south-west from the Jungfrau towards the Äbeni Flue, 2.5 km south of the Jungfrau. To the north it drops about 2,800 m to the head of the Lauterbrunnen valley in a combined north face some 1,200 m high; to the south the Gletscherhornfirn and Kranzbergfirn, separated by the rocky south-east ridge, flow down into the Grosser Aletschfirn opposite the Aletschhorn.
The SAC calls it the highest 'three-thousander' of the Bernese Alps. The two normal routes, the east flank and south-east ridge and the west ridge, are of similar length and difficulty (D-/D, UIAA III), with steep snow or ice, a bergschrund, loose and partly corniced rock and abseils in descent. Surrounded by famous 4,000 m peaks and lacking an easy line, it sees few ascents.
The quickest access is by the Jungfrau Railway to the Jungfraujoch and over the Louwitor; parties can also come from the Konkordia or Hollandia huts by the Kranzbergfirn.
Climbing Notes
This is a route for experienced alpinists: you need to move confidently on 45°-type snow or ice slopes that are often bare, protect with ice screws, climb loose grade III rock with a pack, handle cornices and set up abseils, including an Abalakov thread at the bergschrund, as well as glacier travel on crevassed ground. Acclimatise first, for instance on the Mönch or with a night at the Mönchsjoch Hut, as the climb starts at almost 3,500 m.
With the first train to the Jungfraujoch the climb (4–5 hours up per SAC) and return can be done in a long day, but the reascent to the Louwitor and the last train make it tight; most parties will want a night at a hut. Conditions on the east flank change quickly with heat and dry summers; consider hiring an IFMGA guide from Grindelwald or Interlaken.
History
James John Hornby and the guide Christian Lauener made the first ascent on 15 August 1867, by the west ridge.
Season
Best Jul- January: Not advisable
- February: Not advisable
- March: Not advisable
- April: Possible
- May: Possible
- June: Good
- July: Best (best window)
- August: Good
- September: Good
- October: Possible
- November: Not advisable
- December: Not advisable
- Jan
- Winter
- Feb
- Winter
- Mar
- Winter; considered too difficult as a ski tour
- Apr
- Spring ski-mountaineering access to the glaciers; summit for experts only
- May
- Snow good on the flank, but cornices and short ridge rock still snowy
- Jun
- Often good snow on the east flank
- Jul
- Main season
- Aug
- Flank may be bare ice in dry summers
- Sep
- Stable weather but icy flank; huts start closing
- Oct
- Huts closed; short days
- Nov
- Winter
- Dec
- Winter
Access & Permits
- Hut Booking
- Mönchsjochhütte: online via moenchsjoch.ch; Hollandiahütte and Konkordiahütte via the SAC/hut websites.
- Fees
- Jungfrau Railway ticket to the Jungfraujoch (expensive; return the same way)
- Rules
- Timing is governed by the Jungfrau Railway timetable
- Blatten (Lötschental): exclusion zone around the May 2025 Kleines Nesthorn rockslide debris; relevant if approaching the Hollandia Hut from the Lötschental
- Getting There
Wengen / Grindelwald (Lauterbrunnen)
Bern (BRN); Zurich (ZRH) or Geneva (GVA) by train
- Train to Interlaken Ost, Berner Oberland Bahn to Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen, then on to Kleine Scheidegg and the Jungfrau Railway to the Jungfraujoch
Hazards
- Glacier
- Crevasses
- Rockfall
- Cornices
- Exposure
- Weather
- Altitude
- Remoteness