Jegihorn – lower south-east ridge (Kreuzboden / Weissmieshütte) · Saas Valley · Switzerland
Bail not documentedBolting confidence: high
A gentle half-day ridge route above Kreuzboden: eight short pitches on good gneiss, mostly easy, with three brief 5b passages that can be avoided on the right. It suits a first alpine multipitch or the afternoon you walk up to the hut. It does not reach a summit, and several parties find it a little short.
The route
MaRoCa follows the rib on the true right bank of a big scree gully low on the south-east side of the Jegihorn, well below the long south-face routes. The hut wardens equipped it in 2018 as a practice route, and the hut topo allows three to four hours hut to hut with about an hour and a half of climbing. The climbing is uneven: easy ridge scrambling broken by three short 5b steps. Pitches are hard to link because of rope drag.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Bolts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 4a | 25 m | 4 bolts | An easy slab. |
| P2 | 5b | 25 m | 8 bolts | Traverse left, then climb to and over a small overhang. The best protected pitch. |
| P3 | 3a | 30 m | 2 bolts | Follow the easy crest to the foot of the next step. |
| P4 | 5b | 25 m | 4 bolts | A corner rising leftwards, with one thin move. |
| P5 | 5b | 25 m | 5 bolts | Easy crest, then a short wall on hand holds that are less good than they look. |
| P6 | 3a | 25 m | 1 bolts | Easy ridge; one bolt. |
| P7 | 3a | 25 m | 2 bolts | Easy ridge; two bolts. |
| P8 | 4c | 25 m | 3 bolts | Traverse right, then climb the wall; some of the holds are not very solid. Camptocamp grades this pitch 4a with four bolts. |
Getting there
Saas-Grund is in the Saas Valley above Visp (Valais); postbuses run from Visp station. Take the Hohsaas gondola from Saas-Grund to its middle station, Kreuzboden (2397 m). The Weissmieshütte (2726 m) is about 30 to 45 minutes above Kreuzboden on a marked path. A 2021 party advises taking the first cabin up so as not to miss the last one down (16:45 that year). The Weissmieshütte has been under reconstruction since May 2026 and a Bergwelten hut listing reportedly shows it closed from mid-August 2026 for the rest of the season (seen in search results only, not confirmed on the hut's own site). Check the hut website for the current state before planning a night there; the routes can be done as day trips from the gondola.
From Kreuzboden follow the signs for the Jegihorn via ferrata (Klettersteig). From the Weissmieshütte walk towards the Jegihorn over the first bridge, turn left and cross the second bridge. About 30 to 50 m before the signpost where the via ferrata and Jegihorn paths divide, a wooden arrow fixed to a rock points left onto a cairned track, which crosses the hiking path and a cone of scree. Beyond the scree cone walk up the grass on the right to reach the first pitch within a few metres, on the right bank of the gully. 35 minutes from the hut (hut topo), 45 minutes from Kreuzboden (camptocamp).
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Kreuzboden, middle station of the Hohsaas gondola from Saas-Grund (camptocamp access waypoint 465854); the trailhead. Cars are left at the valley station in Saas-Grund.
Point from camptocamp summit waypoint 43177 (Jegihorn); the route is on the lower south-east ridge, several hundred metres below and south of the summit, and no source gives a confirmed base point
Contains the route point and parking. Opens in most mapping apps and GPS watches.
Points are compiled from published sources, with the precision stated above. They were not surveyed on the ground: check them against a current topo.
Coordinates: 46.15146, 7.97017 (crag) · Parking: 46.13903, 7.96333
Getting down
From the top of the route walk down along the ridge, following cairns, to the old ladder path, marked by a large metal post. Follow the track left and descend the ladders, which are exposed; you can protect yourself on the thick cable, and a 2021 party recommends a proper via ferrata lanyard. The track then passes below the routes and rejoins the approach. Allow 45 minutes to the Weissmieshütte or about an hour to Kreuzboden. The same 2021 party notes you can instead descend the valley straight towards Kreuzboden if you do not need to return to the start.
Retreat
Bail not documented
No source says whether the belays are rigged for abseiling; the hut topo for the neighbouring Kusima states that route is not. The line follows a broken rib beside a scree gully with easy ground between the steps, so escaping sideways or finishing the easy upper pitches is likely to be simpler than abseiling.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
East to south-east facing, from about 2690 m to 2890 m, so it gets the sun early. Season roughly July to September, in step with the gondola. The hut topo advises against the route when wet. A September 2022 party climbed MaRoCa in cold wind with a little snow in the air.
Sun on the wall · SE-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
Estimated from the wall's aspect only. Ignores surrounding terrain, gullies and the wall's exact shape. Clock times are local to the wall (Central European time), for the 15th of each month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul (usual season) | Aug (usual season) | Sep (usual season) | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | −8 | −6 | −3 | −0 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 4 | −3 | −7 |
| Mean daily low °C | −15 | −14 | −11 | −7 | −3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | −4 | −10 | −14 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 12 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 2575 m. Area climate from Open-Meteo reanalysis. Temperatures are adjusted to the height of the crag; rain comes from a grid cell of about 10 to 25 km, and summer highs on sea cliffs can read a few degrees low. The wall and valley can differ. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
What to carry
8 quickdraws and a helmet. The hut topo specifies a 50 m rope; camptocamp says a 30 m rope is enough for the 25 to 30 m pitches. A via ferrata lanyard or a sling is useful on the ladders in descent.
Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo
From climbers
Reader reports are not being collected yet. Until they are, check a current topo and the local club or guidebook publisher for recent changes to MaRoCa.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
Switzerland · Saas Valley
Fourteen pitches of steady 4b and 4c on good gneiss that finish at the summit cross of a 3206 m peak, reached from a gondola. It is the best-known plaisir route on the Jegihorn, closely bolted with chained belays, and often climbed in mountain boots as a first long alpine rock route. Expect company: it is very busy in high summer.
4c14 pitches350 m
Switzerland · Saas Valley
The left edge of the Jegihorn's south face: a 1922 ridge climb turned into a bolted outing of many short pitches, mostly grade 3 and 4. The one real step is the red gendarme, a well-bolted pitch of 5a. More varied than Alpendurst, with slabs, a short steep wall and narrow sections of crest, and a summit finish at 3206 m.
5a18 pitches300 m
Switzerland · Saas Valley
The right-hand of the Jegihorn's three easy bolted routes and the quietest. Ten long pitches up low-angled slabs and then a steeper, airy central section on sharp flakes and edges, finishing along a short crest to the 3206 m summit. Bolts are further apart than on Alpendurst and the belays are unlinked, so it suits a leader who is steady at 4c.
5a10 pitches360 m
Read the cautionsCommitting
Switzerland · Saas Valley
The 'digestion route': four 20 m pitches of grade 3 and 4 on solid gneiss, fifteen minutes above the Almagellerhütte at 2900 m. Very closely bolted, with iron rods to stand on at the two steepest steps, and well suited to practising in mountain boots or to a first multipitch after the walk up to the hut.
4b4 pitches80 m
Around 5b · about 8 pitches
Italy · Lecco & Valsassina
The first route opened on the Zucco dell'Angelone, following the natural line of the fourth spur by corners, cracks, a chimney and friction slabs. Eight varied pitches at 5a to 5b with an easy crest to finish. Never hard but never trivial either.
5b8 pitches220 m
Switzerland · Wiwanni (Baltschiedertal)
A popular eight-pitch line straight up the south-west face to within minutes of the 3001 m summit. Most of it is grade 4 on good gneiss, with two short 5b steps that are closely bolted; the upper one can be avoided on the left. It stays in the shade well into the morning and feels a little more like a mountain route near the top.
5b8 pitches250 m
Switzerland · Grimsel
The 'flying carpet': nine long pitches of sweeping, immaculate granite slab at the left end of the Gerstenegg, with a superb layback crack on pitch 4 and two short steeper steps. Very popular, quick and never strenuous; the difficulty is all in trusting your feet. The 5b step on pitch 1 goes at 4c with a pull on a bolt.
5b9 pitches385 m
Switzerland · Orny (Champex, Mont Blanc massif)
Nine pitches up a granite spur and the final tower of the Aiguille d'Orny to a 3150 m summit, on rough, cracked rock with superb friction. Two moves of 5b, the rest 4b and 4c, closely bolted since 2016 and easy enough to climb in boots. The three steep pitches on the summit tower are the highlight.
5b9 pitches250 m
Compiled from published sources and last verified October 2026. Bolts, anchors and access change. Climbing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own decisions: check a current topo and read the disclaimer.