Tyndall trail

Belalp is a mountain pasture and holiday destination located on a terrace on the southern flank of the Unterbächhorn and the Sparrhorn. The Tyndall Trail begins at the Belalp cable car mountain station and initially leads via a well-maintained path to Aletschbord. Since 1858, Aletschbord has been home to the historic Hotel Belalp, which hosted the Victorian alpine pioneer John Tyndall for 44 summers. The Irishman was a passionate alpinist and scientist who took a keen interest in glacier movement and climate change. Hotel Belalp was renovated in 2015 and still maintains the historic “Tyndall Room” with original 19th-century furnishings in his honour. During the snowshoe tour you can replenish your energy levels at the hotel’s restaurant while enjoying the enchanting view of the Great Aletsch Glacier and the surrounding four-thousand-metre peaks. You then head off to Hohbiel; this is the most demanding stretch of the trail, but the view of the 17 four-thousand-metre peaks makes it worth the effort. Along the way you’ll pass the memorial to John Tyndall, which his wife had built in 1911, eight years after his death.

The eight-kilometre Tyndall Trail is classified as medium difficulty and covers 580 metres in altitude difference. The departure point of the roughly three-hour snowshoe hike is the Belalp cable car mountain station. The route follows the connecting path towards Aletschbord, then continues uphill on a slightly more demanding path up to Hohbiel and its reservoir lake. The return journey follows the same route.

Motorway A9 direction Brig. Continue direction Naters until Blatten.