clothing for the Swiss mountains
 

My husband and I will be leaving for Switzerland on June 9 - 20th, 2014. We'll be visiting Interlaken, Luzern and Zurich. Weather permitting, we are hoping to go up at least one of the mountains: Mt. Pilatus, Mt. Titlis, and/or Jungfrau. I was wondering what the temperature may be like and what kind of clothing we should pack for ascending to the top.

I am assuming that it will be very cold but I don't want to pack a lot of extremely warm clothing for just one trip up. Any suggestions on how to stay warm but pack lightly?

Also, would anyone suggest one mountain over the others?

Personally, for spectacular views and REGARDLESS of what the weather is at the top, having done all three in the past my vote would be for the trip up to the Jungfrau. I say this because of the scenery <B>on the way up</B> is breathtaking and much more so than the trip from Luzern to Engleberg for Titlia or the route up and back to/from Pilatus.

All three are great trips but if you only did one...

As to the weather and the temps in June? They will vary from the bottom to the top. Last time we did the Jungfrau we wore windbreakers only and that was for a trip in July and we only needed them at the top.

Layers should do the trick. Have fun!

Simple layers. Don't forget sunscreen for your face (easy to burn with sun and snow reflection).

You don't need to pack anything special - just wear layers.

When we ascended the Jungfrau - MUCH the highest, with ski school at the top all summer - I was plenty warm in tee, long-sleeve shirt, cotton sweater and jean jacket. (Just don;t do what a young couple in our compartment did - shorts, tees and flip flops - not real good in snow.)

Well, I remember being in Switzerland during the summer heat wave in 2003. At a TV show they were interviewing the guardian of one of the building at Jungfraujoch - he was sweating as the the temperature was as high as 6 °C (42 °F). He said he was not used to such an high temperature.

In this very moment the temperature at the top is -7 °C (20 °F).

Jungfraujoch is much much higher than either Pilatus or Rigi - and like mokka4 says layering is the key - no need to bring a warm jacket, etc just for a few hours on a mountain top.

I've done this in the Tirol in June. I have a waterproof with a detachable light fleece lining - the fleece comes into its own on cool/breezy evenings as an outer layer at ground level as well as up on the glacier, and is as light as a feather.

We are planning to be in Lauterbrunnen area around June 7-9. When I look at the weather forecast, it shows 80 percent chance of rain every day. Then I read a blog about all the sunshine in June. Am wondering what the chances are that it will rain every day. We are hoping to hike a lot. Should we be looking at a different area of Switzerland?

It can rain anytime anywhere in the mountains. There are no guarantees. We have doe trips in Germany/Switz when is was misty or drizzly or gray for 4 or 5 days in a row - but didn't run into any real downpours. Never enough to stop us walking all over - although I don't "hike".

Yes you'll need "layers" but from what they are comprised is key: I never pack denim or cotton sweaters. Too heavy in weight and not wicking or fast drying. Do pack: merino wool sweater, waterproof shell or light jacket w/ hood(waterproof is not the same as 'repellent'), and performance-wear base layers. Look up this term online if you are not near large sporting stores, but even large department stores carry such. I also always take an ultra-light fleece, but in June above should suffice. In September we took 800-weight ultrafeather down jackets (which pack in their own pockets and make great plane pillows) but with merino + jacket + 2 baselayers, you should be more than toasty. In September, we only needed our shirts plus travel vests, it was unusually warm. Oh, yes, I take jeans to California, but find them too uncomfy for overseas flights and rather wear/pack other pants. The brands I most love are: Mountain HardWear, Patagonia, NorthFace, Columbia, Merrell, ExOfficio; all available online and go on sale all the time. Your hotel will probably have web-cams of mountaintops for morning decisions. We had no rain on our mountain days but only for a day or two in Montreux where our jackets sufficed.

Thank you to everyone for your replies! A few different layers it will be. We're getting anxious to leave and the help from this forum has been invaluable. Our last item to figure out is whether to get a Swiss Pass or not. I may start another discussion on that soon.