Multipitch Atlas

Promenade

Pfriendler – south face (Steingletscher) · Susten · Switzerland

Easy to bailBolting confidence: high

Five sustained pitches up the steep part of the Pfriendler's south face, harder and quieter than Via Fritz and Tröimli. Flakes and mantels, thin cracks, a nearly overhanging start on enormous holds and a finish laybacking an arête. Steep but very featured gneiss.

The Pfriendler and its south face seen from the boulder field on the approachPhoto: alpineis · CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

Photo

The Pfriendler and its south face seen from the boulder field on the approachPhoto: alpineis · CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Hardest pitch
6a
Pitches
5
Length
180 m
Approach
50 min
Aspect
S
South-facing
Rope
2×50 m

The route

Overview

Promenade is the pick of the 6a routes on the Pfriendler, the popular gneiss pillar above the Susten Pass road. It is short at five pitches but every one except the second is sustained around 5c+ to 6a, on steep rock with big sculpted holds and a few delicate slab finishes. It was rebolted in 2015 and the belays are chained, so the three abseils back down run smoothly. Parties regularly have it to themselves while Via Fritz and Tröimli queue.

The climbing

Pitch by pitch

PitchGradeNotes
P15c+Steep, from flakes to mantels with a delicate finish. A 2024 party thought this close to the hardest pitch, a soft 6a.
P25aAn easy pitch.
P35c+Thin cracks and slabs, then a steep finish on magnificent big holds.
P46aAlmost overhanging at the start but on enormous holds, then along cracks to a delicate slab finish. Taking the crack on the left near the top, clipping a blue hanger and traversing back right to the belay brings it down to about 5c.
P55c+A tight corner climbed mostly on the slab to its right, then a pull onto the arête and a layback up the edge. A 2021 party thought it 6a.

Getting there

Approach

To the parking

The Pfriendler stands above the Susten Pass road on the Bernese side, above Steingletscher. Drive from Innertkirchen through Gadmen or from Wassen over the pass. Coming from Innertkirchen, pass the Hotel Steingletscher, go round the hairpin and through the short tunnel with the Wysse Bach waterfall running over it, then park on the left by the 25 km marker stone before the next gallery. The lay-by is small and fills early on fine weekends (full by 09:30 in one 2019 report). A seasonal postbus from Meiringen reaches Steingletscher; one 2021 party arrived at 09:44 and had a single afternoon bus back at 17:20, so check the timetable.

On foot · about 50 min

From the 25 km lay-by a cairned path with blue paint marks climbs north to the pillar, which is easy to pick out from below. It is clear at first, fades where it crosses a boulder field, then reappears higher up and reaches the foot of the wall at about 2340 m. Allow 45 minutes to 1 hour from the lay-by. From Steingletscher (public transport) take the hiking trail north, turn left at the fork, cross the pass road and join the same path; the SAC portal gives 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 for the approach and grades it T3. Promenade is on the main south face; follow the yellow hangers.

Map of the walk-in

  • Crag
  • Parking

Loading map

The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.

Coordinates · crag

46.73909, 8.41909

Parking

46.73089, 8.42769

Steingletscher access point (camptocamp waypoint 117538); the lay-bys used for the crags are a little further up the pass road

Point from camptocamp waypoint 376277 (Sustenpass – Pfriendler summit)

For your phone or watch

Download GPX

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.

Getting down

Descent

Three abseils down the route from chained belays with two 50 m ropes. You can instead continue to the summit by the top of Tröimli and use the normal descents (two 45 m abseils on the west side, or the exposed west ridge and gully path).

Retreat

Bailing off the route

Easy to bail

Abseiling the route is the normal descent and the belays are chained, so you can go down from any stance with two 50 m ropes. The one reported nuisance on this wall is wind blowing the ropes sideways into flakes.

Retreat from
Any belay.
Point of no return
None.
Carry
Two 50 m ropes.
Basis
Stated in the sourcesCamptocamp gives the abseil descent and a 2024 party reports chained belays and three smooth abseils.

Safety

Hazards

  • Bolts are up to 5 m apart on the easier ground between the well-protected hard moves.
  • Several routes cross or run close together on this face (Quereinsteiger, Neue Südwand, Tröimli); the yellow hangers mark Promenade.
  • Wind can make the abseils awkward and snag the ropes.
  • Stonefall and dropped gear from parties on neighbouring routes.

Sun and weather

Conditions

South-facing gneiss between about 2340 m and 2514 m. The season runs from about June to October: a snow patch usually lies at the foot of the routes in June and can hide the painted names, and parties climbed in T-shirts in mid-August and comfortably in late October. The rock dries fast; one party found it dry the day after heavy rain. The pass road below is busy with motorbikes and noisy. It is a popular wall, with ten parties on it on a fine summer weekend. In strong wind the abseil ropes blow sideways and the terrain catches them; an August 2022 party on this wall lowered with coiled ropes.

Usual season · Jun to Oct

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Mean daily high °C−4−31381215151171−3
Mean daily low °C−10−10−7−404774−0−6−9
Rain days 1 mm or more141315151821222016141515

● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 2008 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

Gear

Two 50 m ropes and 11 quickdraws. Camptocamp states that cams are useless. Helmet.

Checklist

Quickdraws
11
Rope
2×50 m
Helmet
One each
Abseil device and prusik
The descent or the retreat involves abseiling

Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo

From climbers

Reader reports

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 Promenade.

Worth knowing

Tips

  • A 2024 party took 2.5 hours for the five pitches.
  • Neue Südwand next door (hardest pitch 6b, well protected at the crux) shares the abseils and pairs well with it.
  • A 2020 party made a good link-up: the first two pitches of Quereinsteiger, pitches 3 to 5 of Promenade, then the top of Tröimli to the summit.
  • The grades above are those of the SAC selected-climbs topo, which a 2024 reporter found more accurate than Schweiz Plaisir Ost.

Open questions

Where sources disagree

  • Grades: the French camptocamp text (updated in 2024 to the SAC topo grades) gives 5c+, 5a, 5c+, 6a, 5c+; the older Spanish text, following Schweiz Plaisir Ost, gives 5c, 5a, 5c, 5c+, 5c.
  • Hardest pitch: the topo puts the 6a on pitch 4; a 2024 party found pitch 1 the hardest and a 2021 party pitch 5.
  • Bolt spacing: 5 m in the French text, 5 to 7 m in the older Spanish text, which predates the reports calling the rebolted equipment excellent.
  • The SAC route portal lists five Pfriendler routes; Promenade is not among those with a public page, so the SAC data here are for the wall, not this route.

Provenance

Sources

Same area

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Read the cautions

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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.