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Packing list for high alpine tours
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The Uri Alps are often overlooked. While the tourism machine in Valais runs at full throttle and the Bernese Oberland is flooded with travel reports, the canton of Uri sits quietly in the background. No mass tourism, no overcrowded huts, no long queues at the summit cross. What you get instead: some of the most beautiful and varied high alpine tours in all of Switzerland.
We’re based in Erstfeld. The Uri Alps are our home mountains. And that’s exactly why we’re sharing our favourite tours with you in this article.
The Uri Alps stretch from the Reuss valley in the north to the Gotthard massif in the south and boast an impressive density of glaciated peaks between 2800 and 3600 metres. Here’s what sets them apart from other alpine regions:
Access is excellent. Many tours start directly from Göscheneralp, Realp or the Susten Pass and can be reached without hours of travel. The huts are well run but never overrun. The summit panorama reaches far beyond the cantonal borders, often all the way to the 4000m peaks of Valais and the Bernese high Alps. And the variety is huge: from the gentle glacier tour on the Sustenhorn to the demanding traverse of the Dammastock, there’s something for everyone.
The Swiss Alps offer an astonishing choice of high alpine tours that are doable even without years of experience – provided you go with an experienced mountain guide and are physically well prepared. In this article, we show you five tours that are ideal as your first high alpine tours: easy to get to, stunning scenery, technically learnable.
Unlike a normal hike, a high alpine tour is defined by the fact that you climb to a summit across glaciers, firn or rock – usually in high mountain terrain above 2500 metres. You move on the mountain guide’s rope, wear crampons and learn how to handle an ice axe.
The good news: you don’t have to be a pro to get started. The Swiss Alps have plenty of objectives within reach of ambitious mountain hikers with good fitness, often as early as your first high alpine course or on a guided day tour.
Difficulty: L to WS
Ascent: approx. 1650 m | Walking time: 6 to 7 hrs
Starting point: Göscheneralp (UR) or Steingletscher (BE)
Season: June to October
The Sustenhorn is our go-to recommendation for anyone who wants to experience a real glacier tour for the first time. From Göscheneralp, you first head through a wide glacial valley, past moraine-shaped hills and the Voralp Hut, before reaching the Steingletscher. The terrain is easy to read, the glacier easy to walk on, the route logical.
At the top, one of the most impressive panoramas in Central Switzerland opens up. The view stretches across Uri, Bern and Valais and, on a clear day, all the way to Mont Blanc. If you choose the traverse and descend on the Bernese side via the Steingletscher, you also get a completely different perspective on the same mountain.
Ideal for: beginners with solid fitness. The SAC grade «L» doesn’t lie. It’s a long tour, but technically very manageable.
👉 To the guided Sustenhorn high alpine tour with Exped Tribe
Difficulty: ZS (fairly difficult)
Ascent: approx. 1700 m | Walking time: 7 to 8 hrs
Starting point: Göscheneralp (UR)
Season: July to September
The Dammastock is the highest peak in the Uri Alps – and the most impressive. From Göscheneralp, the route leads across the Dammafirn, one of the few large glaciers in Central Switzerland that is still intact, to a summit plateau with views over much of the Swiss Alps.
Technically more demanding than the Sustenhorn: steeper firn slopes, a short exposed ridge and changing snow conditions call for good preparation and an experienced mountain guide. But if you’ve already got a first high alpine tour under your belt, the Dammastock is a worthy next step.
What makes it special: the Dammafirn is geologically fascinating and has an almost arctic stillness. Set off early and you’ll often have the mountain to yourself for hours.
👉 To the guided Dammastock high alpine tour with Exped Tribe
Difficulty: WS
Ascent: approx. 1300 m | Walking time: 5 to 6 hrs
Starting point: Meienreuss (UR)
Season: July to October
The Gross Düssi is one of our all-time favourite tips for anyone who wants to get to know the Uri Alps away from the well-known routes. The Maderanertal is a quiet side valley visited by few hikers. The ascent leads across alpine pastures, through boulder fields and finally above the Hüfifirn to the summit.
The view from up here is disproportionately vast for a 3000m peak: the entire Uri Alps range is laid out before you like a stage. Down in the valley, hardly a soul.
Ideal for: experienced hikers looking for their first taste of a glacier. Can also be combined with other tours or with an onward hike to the Planura Hut.
👉 Enquire about the Gross Düssi high alpine tour
Difficulty: WS
Ascent: approx. 1300 m | Walking time: 6 to 7 hrs
Starting point: Tiefenbach / Furka Pass (UR)
Season: July to September
The Galenstock sits on the edge of the Ursern valley, right next to the Furka Pass, and the route leads across the Tiefengletscher to one of the most striking peaks in the Uri Alps. It crosses extensive glacier surfaces with shifting crevasse fields: rope and crampons are on from the very start, and you’ll need to stay focused throughout the entire ascent.
What makes this tour special is its remoteness. Although the Furka Pass is well developed for tourism, the Galenstock remains far removed from the hustle and bustle. Once you step onto the glacier, you’re quickly alone with the ice, the silence and a panorama stretching from the Rhône Glacier to the 4000m peaks of Valais.
Ideal for: mountain lovers with some initial glacier experience who are looking for a tour with genuine alpine character, without taking on the big tours of Valais straight away.
👉 Enquire about the Galenstock high alpine tour
Difficulty: L (normal route)
Ascent: approx. 4 hrs from the Krönten Hut | Total time: 2 days
Starting point: Erstfeld (UR) to the Krönten Hut, then on to the summit
Season: July to September
The Krönten is our home mountain. Rising directly above Erstfeld, it’s more than a training tour for the Exped Tribe team: it stands for everything the Uri Alps are about. No crowds, no mass tourism – instead, a quiet ascent through the Erstfeldertal, a cosy night at the Krönten Hut and, the next morning, the climb to the summit via the Glatt Firn and the west ridge normal route.
From the hut, the normal route first crosses alpine terrain and boulder fields before reaching the firn. The Glatt Firn is the heart of the tour: this is where crampons and rope come into play, the terrain opens up, the air gets thinner and the silence more complete. The summit at 3108 metres rewards you with a direct view into the Reuss valley, down to Erstfeld and across to the big neighbours: Dammastock, Sustenhorn and the Bernese high Alps.
What makes this tour special: it starts right on our doorstep. Starting in Erstfeld, you experience the complete arc of a high alpine tour within two days, from the valley village to the glaciated summit – no long journey, no time lost, no compromises on the experience.
Ideal for: beginners and more experienced mountaineers looking for a classic two-day high alpine tour with a hut overnight and real glacier contact.
👉 Enquire about the Krönten high alpine tour with Exped Tribe
Summer in the Uri Alps usually lasts from mid-June to early October. The best glacier conditions are typically found in July and August, when the winter snow has melted and the firn offers good grip. From mid-September, the nights become shorter and cooler, the huts emptier and the visibility often at its clearest.
One point deserves special attention: the glaciers in the Uri Alps are changing rapidly. What was reliable snow ten years ago is often bare ice or scree today. Up-to-date condition reports and local knowledge are therefore more important than ever. Our team is out on these routes regularly and knows the current state of the glaciers first-hand.
We’re from Erstfeld. The Uri Alps are our home mountains, and it shows. We know the routes, the quiet alternatives, the best huts and the local weather phenomena that no weather service can reliably predict.
Whether you’re planning your first high alpine tour or looking for an experienced partner for a demanding traverse: we tailor the programme to your level, the time you have available and your goals.
Exped Tribe is a mountain guiding school based in Erstfeld, Uri. We accompany guests on guided high alpine tours, ski tours and expeditions worldwide, with a focus on genuine mountain adventures and professional safety.
