Schwalmere with Pascal
After cancelling twice due to weather, Pascal and I finally got a bluebird day for a skitour together. The conditions were definitely in the “spring” range, and with a clear sky the night before I was psyched for some perfect “sulz” skiing. Since we only had 2/3 of a day, we decided on a tour of the Lobhörner region with the Schwalmere as an objective.
Pascal picked me up in his super-cool van at 5am, and we were at the base-station of the Isenfluh gondola (ca. 1100m) at 6:45. A short ride up to 1600m with some local farmers had us walking at 7am. The snow was soft up to 2000m, but as we traversed to the Lobhorner the conditions improved I had the feeling we were going to have a great tour. The weather was gorgeous - clouds gave the incredible Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau panorama a bit of drama, and the temperature was very comfortable in the shade.
After checking out the climbing routes on the Lobhörner for another day, we made it to the summit of the Schwalmere at around 10:45 and spent a comfortable half-hour enjoying a sandwich and the views. The first few meters under the summit were a bit soft, but after a few turns the “sulz” was perfect and we were both grinning like madmen on the beautiful slopes down towards the Sulstalt. Unfortunately, at 2000m the snow softened up again and we had a few delicate moments in a terrain-trap and set off a few point-release wet-avalanches around 1800. Pascal handled the situation like a pro and found a super-safe route back into the flats. A bit of walking led us back to the gondola and a well-deserved drink. Thanks for a great tour Pascal!