Tour Monte Rosa — Stage 5: Saas-Almagell → Grächen

EEExperienced hikersummer

Distance

25.9 km

Ascent

+1072 m

Descent

−1424 m

Duration

11.5 h

Fitness level

Map & route

GPX track — verify on the ground before hiking

Description

From Saas-Almagell reach the glacial basin of Saas-Fee (1,798 m), the “pearl of the Alps”, start of the famous Balfrin Höhenweg: a long, partly exposed high-level trail along the west flank of the Saastal to the sunny terrace of Grächen (1,619 m).

A long day in two acts. The first is gentle: valley-floor paths link Saas-Almagell to Saas-Fee, the car-free “glacier village” ringed by thirteen four-thousanders. The second is the famous Balfrin Höhenweg, opened in 1954: a true high-level route cutting across the flanks of the Balfrin through stone-pine woods, moraine hollows and short fixed-rope sections, suspended up to 1,200 metres above the valley. No refreshment for six hours: load up on water and food in Saas-Fee. Grächen welcomes you with its sunny terrace and ancient irrigation channels (bisses).

Earth sciences

Geology & landscape

Monte Rosa is the core of the Penninic nappe of the same name: gneisses and granites of subducted, exhumed European continental crust. Around it the tour crosses the Zermatt-Saas ophiolite zone — green serpentinites, metabasalts and metagabbros, the floor of a vanished Jurassic ocean — outcropping at the Olen, Theodul and Cime Bianche passes. The 2,600-metre Macugnaga east face is the highest wall in the Alps and exposes the nappe in full section.

History & culture

Saas-Fee, “pearl of the Alps”, has been car-free since 1951 by its inhabitants’ choice; the Balfrin Höhenweg, opened in 1954, was the first high-level trail in the Alps designed for multi-day trekking.

Water sources

Water at the stage's support points (Saas-Almagell, Grächen). On the high ground and at the passes springs are not guaranteed: fill bottles in the valley and at the huts.

Getting there

Cross-border stage: on the foreign sides local public transport applies (PostAuto in Switzerland, line buses in France/Piedmont). Check seasonal timetables; in peak season several access links run by reservation only.

Warnings