Saas Fee - Swiss Mountain Eye Candy

It seems like every time I travel in Switzerland I stumble across something new.  Sometimes it's somebody playing the traditional swiss alpine horn, sometimes it's a glacier that I didn't know existed and sometimes is a fact from popular culture that seems so random it can't possibly be true.  Saas Fee, as it turns out, was one of the destinations filmed in the music video for "Last Christmas" by George Michael.

The view back towards the Saas Fee valley from the walk up to the top of Prattjen lift station.  It was on this ascent that I came across a herd of Chamois, the other species of mountain goat

Saas Fee was the second stop on our Glacier Tour through the Swiss Alps (see previous post).  We'd been here before in the winter for skiing but had never been back for hiking.  To be honest, apart from finding accommodations, we hadn't really done a lot of research but friends had said it offered incredible trekking.  Fortunately, most hoteliers are more than happy to give you some local trekking tips.

The plan was simple.  Get up early and go discover what Saas Fee had to offer.  After discovering that the same hike was featured in our two trusted swiss hiking guidebooks, we were pretty confident that it would offer the experience we were looking for.  The destination was the Britannia Hutte (3029m) which supposedly offered incredible views over the valley towards Italy.  Apart from a name, we didn't really know what lay ahead.

The trail started from the top of the Prattjen lift and would likely take us 5 hours to complete.  Immediately after getting off of the lift we were confronted by a herd of Alpine Ibex (or Steinbock).  It was really incredible to see these wild animals in their natural environment.

Both times that I've done this walk I've been fortunate enough to come across Ibex.  These really are incredible creatures and are confident enough in their climbing skills that they don't see humans as much of a threat.  As a consequence, you can get some incredibly close photos

The trail was everything that we were hoping for.  It hugs the side of the mountain offering tremendous views of the valley as you walk.

A view of the trail back in the direction from which we'd come.  It is a nice gentle uphill pretty much from the start to the Britannia Hutte. 

It's not long into the hike before you get rewarded with incredible views into the valley and the snow covered peaks of the area begin to reveal themselves

However, the real pay off comes once you arrive at the Britannia Hutte.  The first time I completed this walk, the weather was horrible and didn't offer more than approximately 50 feet of visibility.  We arrived at the Britannia Hutte without any great sense of where we'd been or what was in store.  It wasn't until we were sitting inside enjoying some fine Swiss mountain food when the clouds broke and we saw what all of the fuss was about.  Outside, was one of the most spectacular views across a glacier field than I've seen in a long time. 

Once the clouds parted the views were spectacular (in all directions).  This shot is taken from the top of the extra little climb looking back towards the Britannia Hutte

From the Britannia Hutte it is possible to take a short 10 minute ascent up a small hill.  The view from the top is well worth the extra effort.  After spending a few minutes taking it in, a few more to snap far too many photos, we started the descent towards the Felskinn lift station.  The last remaining surprise on the trip was a beautiful traverse across an active glacier.  How better than to end this stop on the Glacier tour than to actually walk across one.

The glacial field is really one of the most spectacular that I have have seen in Switzerland.  What's amazing is that we didn't even know that this existed when selecting this walk

Although not a demanding walk it was still nice to sit down and take it all in.  We chose to buy food at the Britannia Hutte (I recommend the Rosti) but this would also be a great place for a picnic lunch! 

After leaving the hut you descend down towards the right crossing two glaciers (one dry, one wet). In both instances, due to the popularity of this trek the trails are extremely well marked.

Needless to say, our trip to Saas Fee was full of amazing surprises.  So much so, that we returned again the week after to experience more of what it had to offer!