Jegihorn – south face (Kreuzboden / Weissmieshütte) · Saas Valley · Switzerland
Read the cautionsCommittingBolting confidence: medium
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.
Bolted from bottom to top, but with long gaps on the easier ground, unlinked belays and no abseil retreat.
The route
Panorama climbs the right side of the Jegihorn's south face, starting beside a big corner and gully and finishing on the summit. It was opened in 2004 and is the usual fallback when Alpendurst is queued out. The pitches are long, 24 to 44 m, and the route has more grade 3 and 4a ground than its neighbours, with short harder passages; the steep middle section is the highlight. Parties consistently find some of the 4c pitches harder than the first 5a, and one experienced party called several pitches 5b. Protection is bolts only, but spaced where the climbing is easy.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 4b | 44 m | Long slab pitch. Bolts are spaced on the first three pitches. |
| P2 | 4b | 24 m | Short slab pitch. The 2024 passion-alpes topo gives this pitch 5a. |
| P3 | 4c | 38 m | To a grassy ledge; walk about 20 m across it to the next belay. |
| P4 | 4b | 32 m | First pitch above the ledge. |
| P5 | 5a | 30 m | First 5a; a 2022 party found it easier than some of the 4c pitches. |
| P6 | 5a | 42 m | Steep and sustained on good flakes; parties in 2020 called the two 5a pitches the best of the route. |
| P7 | 4c | 42 m | Steep, airy climbing on positive edges. |
| P8 | 4c | 42 m | More of the same. |
| P9 | 4c | 42 m | The route gains a crest with some exposure; a second walking transition of about 20 m follows. The 2024 topo gives 5a here. |
| P10 | 4c | 24 m | Past a notch (an intermediate belay is possible after it), then a few metres of grade 2 to 3 to the summit cross. |
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 lift is included in the SaastalCard that overnight guests in the valley receive (the valley campsite counts), and parking at the valley station was 12 CHF a day in 2022. Parties report the first cabin at about 7:30 in high summer. The alternative is to sleep at the Weissmieshütte (2726 m), about 30 minutes above Kreuzboden.
As for Alpendurst from Kreuzboden (1 h 15) or the Weissmieshütte (about 40 minutes). Before the Jegihorn path swings left into rock steps, at a faint cairned track, traverse right towards the right-hand side of the face. Follow the foot of the cliff to a large corner visible from a distance, where a gully comes down. 'Panorama' is painted in white at the start; it is the right-most route on the face.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Kreuzboden gondola station, 2397 m (camptocamp waypoint 465854): the top of the lift from Saas-Grund, where the walk starts. Cars stay at the valley station in Saas-Grund.
Point from camptocamp waypoint 43177 (Jegihorn summit; the routes climb the south face directly below and finish at the summit cross). Summitpost gives 46.1513, 7.9712 for the same 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
On foot by the blue-and-white marked normal route from the summit, shared with the via ferrata: scree and blocks first, then the approach path. Camptocamp allows 1 h 30 to Kreuzboden; a hut-based party took 40 minutes to the Weissmieshütte. You can leave a rucksack where you turn off the path.
Retreat
Committing
Camptocamp states that the belays are not linked and that there is no possibility of descending by abseil. No source describes a retreat. The route crosses two ledges, after pitch 3 and after pitch 9, but nobody documents an escape along them.
Safety
Sun and weather
South-facing, 2900 m to 3206 m. The foot of the face is in the sun from about 8:00 in early July. Season roughly July to September; an October 2021 party found 50 cm of fresh snow on the summit. The gondola timetable is the same constraint as for Alpendurst.
Sun on the wall · S-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.
Climate figures for Saas Valley are not available yet
What to carry
10 quickdraws, slings or cord to link the belay bolts, a single 50 m rope and a helmet. No source asks for cams or nuts; gulliver.it notes that the easy runouts can be supplemented if you want. Fine in mountain boots; rock shoes are more comfortable.
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 Panorama.
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 '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
Switzerland · Saas Valley
Ten short pitches of grade 4 on superb red-brown gneiss at 2900 m, ten minutes from the Almagellerhütte. Steep little slabs with good holds, closely bolted, and often climbed in mountain boots. An ideal first high-mountain multipitch or an afternoon route after the walk up to the hut.
4c10 pitches150 m
Around 5a · about 10 pitches
Austria · Wilder Kaiser
Nine pitches of easy slabs and water runnels beside the Treffauer normal route, UIAA 5 at most if you take the easy variant on pitch 4. Lots of bolts and friendly ground make it one of the most popular routes in the Schneekar. The rock is not solid everywhere and the walk-in is two hours.
5a9 pitches280 m
Austria · Grazer Bergland
A new (2025) nine-pitch outing on the right edge of the Breite Wand that weaves between the bushes. Three spots of UIAA 5-/5, otherwise easier. Still a little earthy in places.
5a9 pitches260 m
Switzerland · Wiwanni (Baltschiedertal)
Eight short pitches of 4b to 5a on compact, grippy gneiss slabs above the Wiwannihütte, finishing on a 2880 m summit. Pitches 3 and 4 climb a big steep slab that is the heart of the route. Chained belays and an abseil descent make it the gentlest introduction to the Wiwanni routes, though the starting pitches feel stiff for 4b.
5a8 pitches180 m
Spain · Aragonese Pyrenees (Tena & Canfranc valleys)
An easy granite ridge above the Bozuelo meadows, low-angled and never exposed. Two smooth friction slabs at 5a, on pitches 1 and 6, are the only real difficulties; the rest is steps and short walls at grade 3 to 4. Ideal for a first multipitch, and you can step off rightwards onto ledges almost anywhere.
5a7 pitches200 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.