We arrived in Saas
Fee late on Monday evening following our amazing walk from Zermatt,
having decided to move so that we could get an early start again the
next day and make the most of the beautiful weather forecast to
continue. At 1800m, as the sun disappeared behind the surrounding
peaks, the temperature plummeted overnight and we were two chilly
campers the next day as we donned our hiking gear ready to leave the
van excited at the prospect of some awesome glaciers nearby.
The Saas Fee
valley boasts more percentage area covered by glaciers than any other
in Switzerland at over 50% and thanks to our meeting with Anne and
Glenn in Grimentz some 2 ½ months ago we had heard about the Saas
Pass – a card you can buy for just 5 CHF each per day alongside
your normal 'tourist tax' (unavoidable in Switzerland it seems)
giving access to all of the cable cars in the area. “Why walk when
you can ride” we thought and so dashed straight to tourist info to
get our 2 day Saas Pass and explore the awesome scenery on offer.
Passes in hand and
we were straight onto the Alpin Express, leaving Saas Fee and
climbing up to Felskinn station at 3000m. Rising up steadily with
just the 2 of us in the car, having beaten most of the crowds, we
began to pass over the bare rock of the mountain and past the tongue
of the enormous Feeglestcher stretching down towards the town. In
previous centuries the glacier had reached Saas Fee itself, then a
tiny village. Nowadays it has retreated hundreds of metres higher and
towers above the sprawling tourist complex, but from our rising
vantage point the blue tinged ice and deep crevasses were majestic.
Arriving at Felskinn we dashed straight to the Metro Alpin, the
highest Metro in Europe which passes through the mountain rising a
further 500m to the Allalin station at 3500m – higher than we have
ever been before.
Emerging into the
sunlight we were gobsmacked by the view. Without a cloud in the sky
every direction we looked in showed another 4000m peak decorated with
cascading glaciers, including right back over Saas Fee to the Bernese
Alps of Central Switzerland including the Eiger, Jungfrau and Monach
and even the hint of the mighty Aletsch glacier we had visited in
July. We could see why the tagline we had seen in the tourist office,
“more 4000's you won't see”, was justified from this high vantage
point. Moving slowly around the station, from where summer skiers
enjoy the permanent snowfields to race across the glacier surface, we
just couldn't take it all in and as other tourists came, took some
pictures and left, we just sat captivated by the beauty all around
for hours.
Venturing inside
the Allalin station we were also happy to discover we had access to
the Eispavilion, a stunning cave network hollowed right into the
glacier itself and descending some 20m or so beneath the glacier
surface. The chill of the glacial air as we entered froze our noses,
but the reward of the grottos beneath, decorated with ice sculptures,
soft lighting and information about the glacier was incredible. It
was almost unbelievable to be walking within the glacier itself,
surrounding by millions of litres of water frozen as blue tinted
translucent ice formed into twisted caverns.
Back above ground
and we sat again in the sunshine, staring at the peaks and not
wanting to leave this paradise. However, after several hours the
pistes closed and the station started to get busy, so after making
one more foray into the glacier, we hopped back on the metro and made
our back down to Saas Fee, where we immediately hopped onto another
cable car, this time towards the Langfluh station at 2870m. Despite
being some 630m lower than our morning vantage point, Langfluh is
positioned right up against the crevasse ridden Feegletscher and we
wanted to get closer. As the afternoon was drawing on, many of the
other visitors had departed when we arrived and so finding a handy
rock we enjoyed a peaceful half an hour staring over the expanse of
tumbling ice with crevasses that would swallow up a tower block
before it was time to descend ourselves as the lifts were closing.
Sitting back in the motorhome that evening reflecting on what we had
seen, we couldn't believe our luck at the value of the Saas Pass and
the unbeatable weather that allowed us to enjoy such an awesome day.
In fact the
following morning we were out by 7.30 to catch one of the first lifts
straight back up to the Allalin station. Joined only by a few skiers,
who seemed to be professionals training (not a bad commute to work),
the 2 hours that followed where we sat in almost complete isolation
in the sunshine staring over the near and distant peaks once more was
blissful. Sadly (for us) it couldn't last all day and as the crowds
began to arrive at 10ish we made one last tour of the Eispavilion
before heading down by midday, saying a sad farewell to our glacier
paradise.
Although we were
moving on that evening (as it was an expensive place to camp) it is
another bonus of the Saas Pass that it includes the nearby resorts of
Saas Grund and Saas Almagell as well, plus buses between them and so
we made the most of our remaining time in the valley by hopping on
the bus to Saas Grund and catching the Hohsaas cable car. This time
rising up to 3200m, we were treated to a view right back across the
valley to the expansive Feegletscher we had stood above not 2 hours
before plus a host of other glaciers on surrounding peaks which had
previously been hidden from view. We took a stroll around a
convenient walking loop detailing the 18 4000m peaks visible from
here, when they were summitted etc. and right up to the surface of
the Triftgletscher. Unfortunately clouds were blowing in hiding the
highest summits from sight, but on a clear afternoon it would be
spectacular.
As we made our way
back to the motorhome by late afternoon and prepared to leave, still
debating where to, we reflected on the previous 3 days in Zermatt and
Saas Fee and the weather that had made them such memorable ones. It
is no surprise having had that time why when people used to think of
the Alps they thought of Switzerland and we felt very happy with our
decision to drive back here before the snow arrives in the next
month.
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