Hiking along the Europaweg – from Grächen to Zermatt

‘Buried. Following the collapse of a rockslide onto the Europaweg near St. Niklaus in August 2018, the authorities ordered the popular route to be closed,’ announced the ‘Walliser Bote’ newspaper, under a picture of rubble and ash on its front page one year after the accident. The news came as a shock to many hikers, including me. The popular Europaweg closed? Surely not. I showed Dieter the headlines in disbelief. Just a few weeks earlier, we were hiking on the Europaweg ourselves and had both thought it was one of the most impressive trails ever. The route was exciting and varied, just the way we like it. Exposed sections that test your nerves contrast with idyllic meadow ridges where you can relax and admire the stunning panorama at your leisure. It went without saying that a trail like this could not be left out of my latest hiking book. I’d just written the chapter on the Europaweg – all for nothing?

Flashback to the 1990s: the five municipalities of Grächen, St. Niklaus, Randa, Täsch and Zermatt felt that a special trail was needed where Switzerland’s highest mountains soar into the sky – and so they created a 36-kilometre panoramic route 1,000 metres above the valley floor. It was officially opened in the summer of 1997. Two years later, the Europahütte was opened as an important base about halfway along this mammoth 14-hour route through the Mattertal valley, including an ascent of around 2,000 metres.

Moving in many senses

But mighty forces were at work in the precipitous slopes of the valley. An unstable terrain where rock glaciers move, mudslides and landslides are everyday occurrences. Sections of the path frequently have to be closed, in some cases for years, as was the case with the Grabengufer near the Europahütte above Randa. In 2010, a rockslide swept away the hiking trail here. When it reopened in July 2017, the ‘NZZ’ newspaper wrote: ‘The boulders, the size of detached houses, bounced down into the valley like ping-pong balls. They flattened centuries-old larch trees and didn’t come to a halt until well down in the valley floor between Randa and Täsch. On the way down they demolished the centrepiece of the hiking trail – a suspension bridge 250 metres long and 25 metres above the ground. The bridge had only been opened two months earlier, in July 2010.’ The site of the most recent rockfall in August 2018 was the Grosse Graben between St. Niklaus and Herbriggen. Based on the expertise of geologists that the risk of falling rocks and rockslides on the affected section of the path between Mittelberg and Breithorn would tend to worsen in the future, the municipal council decided to close the bridge.

Since then, a generous bypass on side paths has been guiding Europaweg hikers below the tree line from Grächen to Herbriggen, before rejoining the existing Europaweg on the Galenberg. Dieter and I were sceptical at first, as we didn’t want to swap a panoramic route for a forest one, or a high-altitude trail for a descent to the bottom of the valley. But our research on the ground proved us wrong and we happily realised that despite the new route being significantly lower than the original, it has lost none of its adventure and variety.

With the Pope’s blessing

Our favourite start to the Europaweg begins with an overnight stay at the Hotel Zum See. The time-honoured wooden chalet is located twenty minutes’ walk above Grächen in a secluded spot on a dreamy mountain lake with an unobstructed view of the Valais peaks. According to rainfall statistics, Grächen is located on one of the driest altitude terraces in Switzerland. So it’s no wonder that four irrigation channels collect the precious water from the Riedbach stream. The lowest bisse, the Bineri, leads us above Gasenried to the Schalbettu pilgrimage chapel offering its panoramic views. The Ried Glacier glistens way above our heads. Once, it had advanced as far as the village and repeatedly destroyed the vital irrigation channels. The elders had had enough, and instructed two priests to repel the glacier. And they succeeded. As a token of gratitude, they built the chapel in 1672, to which the villagers made a pilgrimage every year on St Jodern’s Day. However, the fact that the glaciers were retreating to such an extent went too far. In 2010, they obtained the Pope’s blessing to reverse the vow and pray for an increase in the glaciers.

Dieter doesn’t pass up the chance to light a candle in honour of the glaciers. The Brunegghorn diagonally opposite looks almost like a desert mountain. We plunge into the forest and impressive panoramas do appear, again and again. Soon the forest path winds its way through a mishmash of rocks. Roots smother blocks of stone the height of houses. You can smell damp moss and mushrooms. Then the Grosse Graben crosses the way. It’s much narrower down here than at altitude, but difficult to hike through. The debris at the edges require you to use your hands.

Hiking above the abyss

We follow the contour line through a boulder field until we find markings once again. They guide us up along the edge of a trench, eventually leading us to the other side, protected by rocks and stabilised with a rope. Shortly before reaching the end of the stage, we pass the Mariengrotte. ‘It was built as a mark of gratitude when a landslide threatened Herbriggen in the spring of 1959 and people were evacuated for three months,’ Rosi tells us, the cheerful owner of the Hotel Bergfreund, the only accommodation in Herbriggen. Today, rockfall protection dams and two dozen GPS devices have been set up on the slopes above the village to record any movement in the ground.

Morning dew glistens on the grass as we climb up the sharp hairpin bends to the Galenberg. The Weisshorn looms ever larger. Joseph Anton Berchthold, canon of Sion and surveyor of the Valais, called the mountain ‘a diamond in the crown of the Alps’. Irish physicist and first ascender John Tyndall waxed lyrical, calling it ‘perhaps the most splendid object in the Alps’. Its symmetrical pyramid shape, towering 30 metres above the Matterhorn, will remain our top eye-catcher for the next few days. The Europaweg meanders like a thin thread through the rugged flanks of the Dirruhorn and Hobärghorn. At some point around the corner, the Randa landslide shows up from the valley floor like a gaping wound. Not the only calamity to threaten the village, but the most striking. Every so often, ice cracks burst from the cliffs of the Weisshorn. The mountain is constantly monitored by specialists. Marcel Brantschen, manager of the Europa Hut, which we reach in the late afternoon, has also definitely felt the effects of global warming. For six years, the Europaweg was blocked at the Grabengufer, virtually on the hut’s doorstep. Because the bypass led nearly all the way down to Randa, his guests stayed away. ‘I actually entertained the idea of taking over another hut,’ he admits. Today, though, the hut owner is pleased that he stuck it out.

Summer 2017 saw the inauguration of the world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge below the Europahütte. Stretching an incredible 494 metres, it runs 85 metres above the village stream and is sufficiently far away from the unstable zone of the Grabengufer to be safe from rockfall. Since then, Marcel Brantschen has never been able to complain when it comes to hut occupancy. We enjoy tasting the Johannisberg, a very drinkable white wine from the Gregor Kuonen winery, on his terrace, from which you can savour the Valais sunshine. An elegant label with the Charles Kuonen suspension bridge adorns the bottle. ‘The namesake is one of the founders of the family winery from Salgesch,’ Marcel explains, ‘and donated most of the 750,000 francs needed to build the bridge.’

Mighty valley heads

The next day, we eagerly look forward to the gigantic suspension bridge as we eat our breakfast. Once there, the solid construction takes us by surprise. The swaying as we walk is limited, even though we have to cover almost half a kilometre up in the air. This is due to a newly developed and patented cushioning system. The route continues into the deep gorge of the Wildikin. A spectacular section, at times carved into the rock and leading through tunnel galleries, then back over edelweiss meadows and marmot country. Afterwards, a huge cone of scree obliges us to descend to Bränd above the Täschgufer. Under the protection of a long rockfall gallery and three short corrugated metal tunnels, we negotiate the loose rock masses. The damage to the reinforced concrete betrays how seriously you should take the warning sign.

The larch forest exudes its magic and lush grass blankets the ground like velvet. Soon the route takes you along the sunny side of the Mellichbach stream into the next vast valley head, this time offering a clear view of the Matterhorn. The glaciers of the Rimpfischhorn gleam above the Täschalp. Directly at the beginning of the alpine settlement, the Täschalp Lodge’s outdoor dining area beckons. The food here is still home-cooked using fresh ingredients. And that’s how it tastes: the Röschti has the flavour of real potatoes, the soup of fresh vegetables.

Incidentally, the lodge used to be called the Europaweghütte, but the lodge team tell us of the many times that confused guests arrived at the wrong door due name’s similarity to the Europahütte. We go for the Europaweg route via the Pfulwe. More demanding and therefore more private, as well as more scenic. The location of the Täschhütte tops it all – a panoramic terrace like no other. The evening sky over the Weisshorn, Schällihorn and Zinalrothorn is a blaze of colour. The glaciers glisten in gold. The panoramic windows let the sun shine directly into the kitchen. Renata Schmid can’t imagine a more beautiful place to work. The personable Valais native has been running the Täschhütte since 2018. And now and again she also has time for excursions. Her eyes sparkle as she recounts the natural beauty of the surrounding area, including Lake Alphubel, an hour and a half away, which glows a glorious turquoise colour in the morning sun. Or of the ‘Inca cemetery’ in a gap on the Wissgrat, where countless cairns adorn the panoramic view. It’s a place bursting with energy. Alfons Lerjen, Renata’s predecessor for many years, named it this, inspired by his mountaineering in South America.

Curtain up

Hiking across ‘Arschchumme’ and ‘Pfulwe’ sounds like a tough. rugged route – and that it is. But at the same time, the route is also charming and dreamy. At times, the alpine trail leads through oceans of edelweiss, and higher up, a heart-shaped lake gleams from the snowy remains. ‘Pfulwe’ means cushion in Valais German. Not that it has anything to do with soft cushions, but rather with hard pillow lava, says Jürg Meyer. The geologist and mountain guide shares his deep understanding of geology on his annual ‘Rocks around Zermatt’ excursion.

When everything here was still beneath an ocean, lava flowed from the depths of the earth. The cold shock of the water caused the hot molten rock to solidify into pillows that rose upwards when the Alps formed. But while looking for this one phenomenon, another intervenes: the wonder of the Matterhorn. And that’s not all. As if a curtain is raised, the dazzling sight of a full set of 4,000-metre peaks appears.

We descend through scree into an enchanted little valley squeezed between the mountain and the mighty moraine of the Findel Glacier. A narrow path balances over its instep. Sand trickles down to the left and right; now and then a stone rolls into the depths. Not even a tremor is needed. The walls of the moraine form a constantly shifting sculpture. A fragile entity, even in places where the mountains seem immovable. We sit on the moraine for ages, watching the glacier water meandering like arteries through the alluvial plain, slowly but steadily shaping this breathtaking landscape.