Schimbrig

May 30, 2021 by Pat and Bruno  ‐  3 min read

Difficulty T3
⇄ Distance 7.6 km
↑ Up 690 m
↓ Down 690 m
Notable Locations Gründli, Hängst, Schimbrig
Public Transit Access? Yes

Quick Summary

  • Relatively short hike up to the Schimbrig in southern Lucerne.
  • Took the alpine trail (blue-white-blue) up from Gründli to the Schimbrig
    • Parking available.
    • Accessible via PostAuto as well.
  • We skipped the option to go over the Hängst as there is a fairly sketchy scrambling passage (T4) that connects the Schimbrig to the Hängst.
    • Instead took the path below the south-side of the Hängst summit (less exposed)
  • Took the regular hiking path to the west of the peak back down to Gründi to form a loop.
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Ascent to the Schimbrig

The view from the parking lot. The white cross on the left-hand side of the ridge at the top of the mountain is the Schimbrig and the peak to the right of the rocky precipice on the right is the Hängst.

Most of the ascent consisted of these kinds of hiking paths (blue-white-blue markings). Most of the lower parts are fairly well marked, but some of the sections higher up required a little more attention to make sure we stayed on the correct path.

Another view back over the hiking path we'd taken to this point. Again, not terribly exposed here, but the path itself was fairly steep.

Starting the ascent to the ridge that lead to the Hängst. While still not particularly exposed, this part of the ridge was very strenuous because of how steep the path was (some sections had upwards of a 40% incline).

Turning 180° from where the previous picture was taken.

Our first view of the Hängst (peak on the right). Here we opted to follow the official path (left) that leads below the summit of the Hängst. Part of this section involved crossing the snow field which was by far the sketchiest part of the hike.

Looking back towards where the previous picture was taken. This photo was taken directly at the edge of the snow field (behind where I am standing).

We finally made it up to the ridge between the Hängst and the Schimbrig. The path we came up was on the right-hand side where the blue waypoint is pointing. The crux (T4) for the ascent to the Hängst can be seen here on the left; the narrow ridge leading up to the peak has around a 200 m to 300 m drop on both sides. We decided to skip that one for this time.

The beautiful panorama view from the ridge. The summit cross of the Schimbrig can be seen here on the right. There were already quite some people there so we decided to find a spot to sit here on the ridge and not near the cross. (Note: we were pretty much alone on the way up; most of the people at the summit cross took the regular hiking route from the west side of the Schimbrig instead.)

Descent back to Gründli

After a well deserved lunch, we headed back down on the western side of the Schimbrig. The hiking paths for this descent were quite a bit less steep than the alpine trail we took on the way up.

Even though we weren't terribly high up here, there are still pretty consistent views of the surrounding peaks which is always great.

A look back up the path we'd just descended.

A look back up to the Schimbrig.

The last portion of the hike consisted of gravel roads. Definitely a nice way to end an otherwise fairly steep hike.

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