Description

There cannot be many alpine glacier hikes which offer such a Himalayan feel as this one - it's a truly magnificent trip through some of the highest, most dramatic mountains in Europe.

This day would not feel out of place in Nepal, except that if you did it there you wouldn't have the luxury of 2 gorgeous mountain huts at either end of the trip. Start your day in the first rays of dawn and head down the Konkordia Hut ladders to the Konkordiaplatz - a 2 kilometre wide glacial junction where the Aletsch Glacier (the longest glacier in the Alps) meets the Grosser Aletschfirn and Ewigschneefeld. Head west across the Konkordiaplatz and begin climbing up the Grosser Aletschfirn.

The ascent of the glacier is nicely mellow and too overly taxing, leaving you plenty of energy with which to enjoy your surroundings.

The Aletschhorn, up to your left, looms over you and it's a truly spectacular mountain.

As you progress up the Grosser Aletschfirn you mountain's north face watches over you the whole way, and what a face it is, with rock bands and seracs tumbling down it. At some stage during the walk (depending on conditions and what time of year you're doing it) the glacier will go from dry (when the glacier is blue ice, with no snow) to wet (when the glacier is snow covered and the crevasses are concealed).

When this happens you will need to rope up and employ your glacial route finding skills to pick the exact line required.

Keep heading up the glacier towards the clear col at the western end of it.

Just before reaching the col head off right and climb a short slope which leads to the spectacular, and thoroughly old-school, Hollandia Hut.