Whenever the avalanche or weather conditions did not permit an ascent, we tried to research exemplary projects for the climate or did safety exercises.

It’s great to see how solar energy has gained in popularity compared to “Swiss TOPtoTOP 1.0” more than 20 years ago.

After the highest mountain in the cantons of Fribourg and Vaud and the visit to the ETH Zurich, we attempted the “Bös Fulen”, the highest mountain in the canton of Schwyz.

This year, the first attempt by Dario and Jeremy didn’t work out either. In the summit area, the danger of avalanches was too high. In the steep, rocky and exposed flank that led up to the summit ridge, we were literally showered by drift snow that washed down the rock faces. Due to the accumulated drift snow and the associated high risk of avalanches, we turned back before reaching the summit ridge with huge cornices. Even a small avalanche would have had fatal consequences and would have washed us several hundred meters down a vertical cliff.

The collapse of a cornice, where huge masses of snow tumbled down just about 100m behind us, was another clear sign of nature that turning back was the right thing to do.

Even on Swiss TOPtoTOP 1.0 we needed two attempts, as can be seen from the expedition report more than 20 years ago:

…The “highest Schwyzer”, the Bös Fulen, is made of loose rock and interspersed with snow and ice fissures. To ensure that the snow and loose rock were as frozen as possible, we got up at 4.45 am (on 21.02.2003). At 8.15 am we were at the ski depot, put on our crampons and roped up. Shortly before we reached the summit ridge, the first stone came shooting down the SE couloir: – we turned around!…. – Energy consultant Otto Fischli from Näfels talked us through some interesting projects in the Glarus region: the Schwanden heating network, the canton’s largest self-built solar panel system in the retirement home in Näfels, sewage sludge is dried using solar energy in Bilten and the municipality of Bilten is also an energy town….

… This morning (22.02.2003) we were already on our feet at 2.45 a.m. and at 5.30 a.m. at the start of Bös Fulen. In the southeast flank we built T-anchors in the moonlight with wooden splints for belaying and for the retreat. …The ridge itself then became a real challenge: there were huge cornices, so we almost always had to avoid the steep north-west flank. Traversing on the front peaks, we only made slow progress in this difficult terrain, so that we only reached the summit of the “highest Schwyz mountain”, the Bös Fulen at 2802 m, at around 10.15 h….To date, the Bös Fulen is by far the most difficult canton top on Swiss TOPtoTOP!….20 years ago, we were invited to visit Paul Balmer, the Swiss solar car pioneer, and his wife Marie.

Now, after more than 20 years, Dario and Alegra had this privilege again and it was a great reunion.

So we concentrated on the highest mountain in the canton of Uri, the Dammastock (3630m), as although the tour was very long, the avalanche risk was more calculable thanks to the long, flat Rhone glacier. We were allowed to stay at Tiefenbach by Madeleine and Hansruedi Tresch above Realp. On the hut ascent from Realp, we continued on to the Furka Pass, where we deposited our rope, crampons and ice axe so that we could make faster progress in the first few hours the next morning thanks to a lighter rucksack. In the evening, Hansruedi told about his 105 m2 solar system and told us how much electricity he saves every year.

With headlamps on, we set off at 4 o’clock in the morning. From the Furka Pass, we first headed back down to the Rhone Glacier. – It was strange to see the ice covered with cloth at the glacier tongue. They do this so that the ice doesn’t disappear completely due to global warming and so that tourists can still touch some glacier ice in summer.

Roped up, Andri was leading in front of Balti, Salina and Dario the long glacier to the summit. From the ski depot over a short ridge, a stiff cold breeze blew. On the way back, we then had to tackle the counter ascent to the Furka Pass again and reached Tiefenbach in daylight after an almost uninterrupted tour of 12 hours.

The next summit was the Ringelspitz, (3248 m) the highest mountain in the canton of St. Gallen. We had to carry our skis from Vättis to the Kunkelspass due to a lack of snow, then we went up to the cozy Ringelspitz hut. We cooked Älplermacaroni in the winter room and went to bed early. As it was very warm again, we decided to set off again in the dark so that we could reach the summit couloir, which runs from the Tamins Glacier up to the Glaser Glacier, early, – means safe conditions.

We reached the ski depot with the first rays of sunshine. The couloir has become steeper and steeper in recent years as the ice has receded. Andri laid a good track on front points and took the lead of our three-rope team for the whole day. He mastered the rock climbing to the summit with great success, even though the holds and footholds were hidden under a thick layer of ice.

After the Ringelspitz, Balti had to go home and Andri and Dario were welcomed by Brother Martin at Disentis Monastery. He proudly showed us the monastery’s new solar power system. There are currently 137 solar panels with 378Wp installed, with 579 panels with an output of 425Wp to follow. Read more here….

From the monastery, we headed to Vals and from there to the Rheinwaldhorn (3402 m). Andri and Dario decided to skip the mountain hut halfway up and reach the summit in one go from the valley. The start was at 3am, we were at the Zervreila reservoir at 5am and the Lena mountain hut at 7am. We had great speed. Below the summit it became steep, as the Lenta glacier had retreated a lot. Andri was leading and stopped because he didn’t trust the snow cover. We did an avalanche test, which confirmed what we had already thought. The avalanche risk was too high to continue. After the many meters of altitude and the great distance, it was strong of Andri to turn around shortly before the summit and shows his good character trait.

The second attempt was successful with Ueli from the south side. In all the huts where we passed and in some cases stayed overnight, it was positive to see how solar panels had been installed.

With the Rheinwaldhorn, we now have 22 tops. We hope to reach the last 4 TOPs (Dufour, Tödi, Bernina, Finsteraarhorn) soon.