Jegigrat – south-east face (Weissmieshütte) · Saas Valley · Switzerland
Read the cautionsBail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
A long, well-bolted alpine outing to the crest of the Jegigrat at over 3200 m: eleven pitches around 5a to 5c, with wide views of the Saas four-thousanders. The climbing is a series of steps separated by terraces, and the rock is flaky and lichenous in places. The way home goes over the Jegihorn by the via ferrata, so it is a full day.
The bolting is excellent, but the rock is flaky with loose terraces, and the only sensible way off is a long return over the Jegihorn via ferrata.
The route
Netlo S-O is one of the routes opened in 2017 on the south-east face of the Jegigrat, the ridge that runs north from the Jegihorn above the Weissmieshütte. It has eleven homogeneous pitches, with the hardest move at 5c+ on pitch 3. Opinions differ sharply: two 2020 parties enjoyed comfortable belays and steady climbing, while a 2021 party found it discontinuous, with doubtful flakes, and preferred the Jegihorn south face. Count three to four hours on the route and at least eight hours from Kreuzboden and back.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5b | No pitch-by-pitch description is published; the hut topo gives grades only. This first pitch is in the shade early: a mid-July party found belay 1 in the sun at 08:00. |
| P2 | 4c | Grade from the hut topo. Reports describe the whole route as short steps separated by terraces, roughly one terrace per pitch. |
| P3 | 5c+ | The hardest pitch on the hut topo. |
| P4 | 5b | Grade from the hut topo. |
| P5 | 5c | Grade from the hut topo. |
| P6 | 5a | Grade from the hut topo. |
| P7 | 5b | Grade from the hut topo. |
| P8 | 5b | Grade from the hut topo. |
| P9 | 5c | Grade from the hut topo. |
| P10 | 4a | Grade from the hut topo. |
| P11 | 5a | Grade from the hut topo; the route ends on the crest of the Jegigrat. |
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 the Weissmieshütte follow the right-bank moraine towards the Jegigrat to the foot of the face, about 45 minutes. The start is marked NETLO SO in yellow on the rock (a 2021 party found the name on a stone glued to the base). From Kreuzboden allow about 1 h 30.
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 372896 (Jegigrat, point 3350 m)
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: 46.15810, 7.97780 (crag) · Parking: 46.13903, 7.96333
Getting down
From the top follow the broad, rubbly ridge down towards the Jegihorn to the notch at the foot of its north ridge, where you meet the via ferrata. Follow it to the summit of the Jegihorn; there is an airy variant across the suspension bridge and a more direct line from the notch. Then descend the blue-and-white marked path. The hut site allows a good two hours to the hut; a 2020 party took one hour from the top of the route to the Jegihorn summit and a further hour and a half to Kreuzboden. Abseiling is possible in an emergency but not recommended because of stonefall.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
The hut and camptocamp both say the route can be abseiled in an emergency with two 50 m ropes, and that Netlo is the best line on the face for doing so. They also warn against it because every terrace is covered in loose stones. A 2021 party thought abseiling it would be reckless.
Safety
Sun and weather
South-east facing, from about 2850 m to the ridge at over 3200 m (camptocamp gives 3250 m). Season roughly July to September. The face catches the sun early. Dried black lichen coats some of the rock; it was not a problem in dry conditions in 2020.
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
12 quickdraws, a 50 m rope, a helmet and a via ferrata set for the return over the Jegihorn. Two 50 m ropes only if you want the emergency abseil option.
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 Netlo S-O.
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 5c+ · about 11 pitches
Austria · Zillertal
Twelve long pitches of slab climbing up an unremarkable-looking wall near the Klausenalm, getting harder towards the top. The length, the bolting and the short approach are rare in the Eastern Alps. The price is the descent: a steep, rough scramble and four abseils that the sources call delicate.
5c+12 pitches570 m
Read the cautions
France · Ailefroide
One of the best-known slab routes at Ailefroide: eleven pitches up the big inclined plane on the foothills of the Pelvoux, directly above the village. The style never changes, slab from bottom to top, mostly 5b with two pitches of 5c. The approach gully, damaged by a rockfall in 2013, is the serious part of the day.
5c11 pitches300 m
Read the cautions
Greece · Kalymnos & Telendos
The first route on the wall (Odermatt and Keller, 2008), climbing a long, exposed line on sharp, grippy rock right of the huge roof. The lower pitches are easy for the grade. The two 6a cruxes are a short odd corner over a small roof and a traverse high up, and they come with big exposure. Pitches are short, so you can link them with long draws.
6a11 pitches250 m
Switzerland · Grimsel
Glacier-polished slabs straight above the Räterichsboden dam. Four warm-up pitches lead to sustained 5b–5c slab and a short fissured roof (6a or A0).
6a11 pitches220 m
Read the cautions
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.