We are going on a week long hiking trip in Grindelwald the first week of July. I have no idea how to dress for the day hikes. Is the sun brutal that high? How hot (or cold) does it get? Do you have any special hints like wearing Coolmax shirts? Thanks!

Paul, I've never been to this area in July. I usually travel to Grindlewald in late August or early September. <BR> <BR>Mornings usually are cool with gradual warming as the day goes on. I usually start off the mornig with a jacket, a sweater or a turtleneck, then as it warms up, I usually put that in my daypack. <BR> <BR>Mornings can be cool, but the weather can warm up. Only the very high mountain trails remain cool. <BR> <BR>I walked along the north wall of the Eiger last August. That morning started off cool, but before that walk was finished at Alpiglen, I was walking in warm sunny weather. <BR> <BR>Dress in layers. As I said, mornings and evenings can be cool, but days can be very summerish, even with a touch of humidity at times. <BR> <BR>I know you know this, but get a good pair of hiking shoes or boots. I got the timberland. Looked at some Lowa boots last year in Switzerland, but as of now I still have the timbers. Go with the timberlands if you have not gotten the boots as of this time. <BR> <BR>Take a jacket, a sweater and a turtleneck shirt for those colish mornings. Take some rain gear also.

Also, pack some sunscreen. You can purchase that in the stores in Grindlewald though. <BR> <BR>

Sunscreen, UV-protected sunglasses, layers, sweater, waterproof/windproof parka, gloves, broad-brimmed hat. Normally in the 70s during the day or a bit above, but it will feel much warmer if the sun is out, not in Grindelwald, perhaps, but up at 6-7,000 feet. Temps can drop 30 degrees or more in a matter of a few minutes if a thunderstorm comes in. <BR> <BR>Notes on mountain weather, specifically oriented to the Jungfrau region, at www.twenj.com/tipsmtnwx.htm

Hi Paul. Part I <BR> I have walked quite a few miles on the tails in the Berner Oberland over the last three summers. <BR>As for clothes, well wear about anything you would not get arrested for on the streets of Grindelwald. <BR>I know this may sound trite, but it all depends on the sun. If there is sun, it can be very warm; if clouds, it can be chilly. If sleet, it can be cold. First, I would take my own sunscreen, particularly if you are in a high risk group as I am. Many of the trails are above the tree line and often you are receiving reflected light off of the snow patches. <BR> <BR>Second, have a good sun glasses. <BR>On a clear day, the rays of the sun can be very intense because you are much higher and there is less atmosphere to act as a filter. Third, have a water bottle. If you are going steeply uphill, as you will in many cases, you will work up a good sweat and need to rehydrate your self and refuel a little too with high energy foods. <BR>Fourth, have some type of rain gear. <BR>(I carry a Gore Tex rain suit.) <BR>If you are going to the Jungfraujoch and plan on walking the snow track to the Mönchjochhütte, which is large enough to hold 100 odd hikers overnight with food service, you will need warm clothes. <BR>I had a turtleneck shirt and a Polar Fleece pullover under my GoreTex rain jacket.

Part II <BR>Fifth, take along plenty of film. The light can be intense, so you don't need anything more than ASA 100, depending on the maximum shutter speed of your camera. (If it is a point and shoot, then point, shoot, and pray.) <BR> <BR>I find a couple of hiking poles to be a good idea. I have seen experienced hikers who also ski use their shoes as skis and pole their way over snow patches. I have not mastered the art. <BR> <BR>I don't know what kind of boots you have or what kind of socks you wear with them, but make sure what ever you have on your feet is well broken in. I have a pair of boots I got years ago that look like they were refused by the Salvation Army. I keep them year after year, even to the point of resoling them, because they do not rub blisters. <BR> <BR>My standard attire is this: <BR>short sleeved shirt, polar fleece pullover, regular trousers, Smart Wool socks with a liner sock, rain outfit, cap, and sunglasses. I always carry a pack with a compass, map, flashlight (emergency just in case), water, and food. If it is warm, the stuff goes in my pack as I don't need it. <BR>Of course a lot of what I carry depends on how far I am going. But don't be so sure that a sudden thunderstorm will not come up in the summer. <BR>Coolmax is ok, but I have never worn anything special other than my GoreTex outfit, which has sloshed through snow, sleet, and hail. I use a T-shirt as an undershirt so I can strip down to that and still look like I am dressed if it is hot. My wife has one thing I should get, trousers that hAVE zip off legs that convert to become hiking shorts. <BR>Now where to go?? My first recommendation is to take one of the most classic of all ofthe routes. <BR>Take the Gondola to First and walk to the top of the Faulhorn. <BR>The ride up is eye popping. After that, you just walk along and keep looking. <BR>At the top, you can see forever. <BR>It is the most gorgeous view I have seen, although it is strongly rivalled by the view from the Schilthorn and by some of the view from the Jungfraujoch. <BR>Another walk is to take the cable lift up to Pfingstegg and walk the short trail along the Untergrindewald Glacier <BR>to the restaurant at Stieregg. From there, you can traverse a gully and continue on over rough trail until you get to the ladders leading up to the hut on the Rots Gufer. I drew a blank there and did not continue. A little too risky for me at this age. <BR>I suggest you get Kev Reynolds book on the walking in the Berner Oberland. <BR>I think you can find a copy at Borders or similar store. I know the Adventurous Traveler Bookstore has it because I just breezed through their summer catalog. <BR>If you have any more questions, ask. <BR>The email address is not a phony. <BR>

Paul, my wife and I have done a lot of hiking from Grindelwald. The summers are wonderful there. It sounds from your post that it's one continuous trip. I hike and backpack a great deal, even operate my own website on the subject. My strong recommendation, if you can afford it, is to buy three layers of wicking, breathable synthetics. I use Duofold Coolmax tees for my base layer ($15-19). I've used a number of brands, but these have been best to wick off the sweat and keep you a little warmer when it's cool or a lot cooler when it hot. Temperature-wise you'll find that the tee is plenty during the day, at most altitudes up to, I'd say, 2700 or 3000m. Certainly, my wife and I were comfortable in tees; however, the sun can burn you pretty good at altitude, so we always wear a second layer. I wear a very light weight North Face loose-fitting long sleeve shirt ($50), very breathable, and have worn it even in the southern Appalachians mid-summer on humid days comfortably. Still use the tee underneath. Same comment about the shirt applies to pants; very light weight with zippers on each leg that enable you to wear them as pants or shorts. Works great. Then the third layer is a Marmot "WindShirt" made of their proprietary "Dry Clime" material. ($70) This has a warm comfy sewn-in liner and nylon exterior that is amazingly light and warm. Zips up. You can pour a gal. of water on it, put it on, and it'll be dry just from your body heat in about 10 min. It is just the thing for down to about 45 degrees if you're moving, 55 deg if you're not. Your whole outer garmets as I've described will hardly begin to fill a common daypack. <BR>I would also invest in GoreTex raingear. At least a parka of GoreTex although I also wear GoreTex pants if there's any hypothermia danger. Again, these are Marmot. Lots of brands make similar stuff. Very wide range of prices depending on whether or not they're Gore-Tex. Guess I'd skip the Gore-tex due to it doubling your cost. <BR>I tend to wear a wide-brim hat for sun/rain protection. Two very good ones are made by OR (Outdoor Research. One of them the Sahara-something-or-other is particularly light and protective. I suppose a ball cap would do, though, for just a week. Regarding your feet, the same store you go to for the rest of the stuff can sell you good boots, but BE SURE to wear them a LOT before you get out on the Faulhorn and discover you're getting blisters. The store will sell you socks and you'll need a change every day of your sock liners and your outer socks. Best outer socks are "SmartWool" brand. <BR>If you're going to be in a shelter I'd not worry about a parka, but I would bring a fleece jacket with me for insurance. Info others have already provided on temps at night, etc. look accurate to me. <BR>Let me just say that Grindelwald and the Bernese Oberland is fantastic. You're going to love it!!!

Paul, one more thing. In case $$ is a problem, try CAMPMOR or REI. Their web addresses are just what your first guess would be. <BR>Don't let any salesperson suck you in to "approach shoes" which do not protect the ankle. At the other end of the spectrum avoid "rough trail" heavyweight boots. Boots are a highly personal thing, but focus on a boot sold by a store that specializes in hikers. This isn't a mall purchase! And if the company making the boot you're looking at also makes dress shoes and such, move on! Great brands: Garmont, Montrail, Vasque, Technica, Merrell. <BR>Last: don't wear any cotton; it holds the sweat or rain and when wet causes you to loose body heat 21X faster than when dry. Stay with wicking fibres and buy name brands.

I can't stress enough how important it is for you to get an early start during early summer. Late afternoon thundershowers are common. I remember last year getting quite a bit of rain the first few weeks in July.

First, thanks everyone for so much helpful information, and to Paul for asking the question. <BR> <BR>I'm on a trip in which we will have only two days to hike in the Berner Oberland; the rest of the trip we will be doing other things. I have to balance packing light against the realities of what we'll need for hiking. <BR> <BR>I had thought we could get away with rain jackets, cotton sweater, and cotton layers, say, shirt-over-tee shirt, providing the hiking isn't too intense and we don't try it at altitudes higher of oh, say, 2500 feet. Is this correct? Going out and buying special shirts is perhaps a little bit of a strain on our budget, although I am intrigued by Joel's enthusiastic endorsement of these products. <BR> <BR> We would of course pack hats and gloves since these don't add much weight, and of course sunscreen, sunglasses, etc. <BR> <BR>Also, since we're staying at a hotel, not a mountain hut, we thought we'd ditch the idea of rain pants and wing it without. If we get wet, we'd dry out later, providing we didn't try to go too far. Or are we totally crazy, as in risking hypothermia within the hour at 2500 feet in mid-June? Forgive me if my questions sound stupid, but our experience at altitudes of even 2500 feet is nonexistent. <BR> <BR>We were also hoping to get away with hiking sneakers, as opposed to hiking boots, since our footwear would have to double as walking shoes for the rest of the trip, and most of the time boots would be too heavy. So I was hoping to choose moderate intensity hiking routes only, where good soles are mandatory but ankle protection is less critical. Again, am I nuts?

Many a day hike, I've worn a trusty cotton turtleneck over an ACDC T-shirt. ;-) <BR> <BR>I usually only do the 2-5 hour hikes. <BR> <BR>In 1999, I hooked up with a German hiking group for about 3-4 hour hike roundtrip up to the Flualp over Zermatt in the Sunnega area. <BR> <BR>I had my Timberlands ( a mall brand I guess) but still the Timbers ddd a great job. <BR> <BR>Other hikes in the Loetchental valley of the Kandersteg area have stood up well with the Tiberland boots. <BR> <BR>I guess a person would do well to invest in state of the art hiking gear, but in the meantime, I will continue to wear cotton turtlenecks. <BR> <BR>At least until I get a raise at work . ;-)

Hi again Paul. <BR>If your time is limited, my recommendation for a good outing is the trail from the First gondola station tot he top of the Faulhorn. I have done it twice and I hope to do it again next year. (This year we go to Austria.) <BR> <BR>To be blunt about it, Paul, I have hiked and backpacked a good deal of my adult life. During my forties I climbed several of the 14,000 foot peaks in the Colorado Rockies. We usually backpacked into one of the wilderness areas, and set up our base camp near water. <BR> <BR>Other than a back pack, sleeping bag, boots, a broad brim hat, and a down jacket, I NEVER bought any special equipment for hiking, other than socks. (I use Cool Max or Smart Wool socks with a polypropaline (spelling ??) liner sock. I wore the same pants I use for casual wear at home, and I wore shirts that I pulled out of my every day drawer. <BR> <BR>You are not going to find ANY really worthwhile mountain hikes at altitudes under 4,000 feet of elevation. <BR>If you are healthy, with normal oxygen absorption by your cardio vascular system, and you are not carrying an over burden of fat, you can tolerate most of the walks in the Berner Oberland. <BR>At age 65 I never had any prohibitive trouble with one very, very minor exception. <BR>The train to the Jungfraujoch goes up fairly fast. I felt a little breathless up there at an altitude of about 10,000 feet. But the percentage dropoff of the available oxygen in the atmosphere reaches a critical point at about 7,500 feet. So naturally you would feel it a little at 10,000 feet, particularly after a relatively rapid ascent. <BR> <BR>I know that two years ago, we struggled up to Cabin de Moiry above Lac de Moiry with the Moiry Glacier in full view. <BR>The climb was a vertical one of better than 2,000 feet and the trail felt like it was straight up. I was not the only senior citizen on the trail that day. <BR>I was breathing hard at times, and my legs were not really ready for that, but I got there with no ill effects. <BR>

Sue: <BR> <BR>Well, the techno-gear is fine, but highly specialized clothing is not required for casual walking (hiking if you'd like) in the mountains. <BR> <BR>However, mountain weather should not be ignored. And Grindelwald, itself, is at 3400 feet, and there's little interesting walking at that altitude. The classic easy hike one would make would be from Grindelwald-First to Bachalpsee and back, which runs from 7122 feet to 7431 feet. Another easy classic for the area would be from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg which goes from 7346 feet to 6762 feet. With two days for walks these would be THE two I'd recommend to you. <BR> <BR>We see lots of people hiking in t-shirts and sneakers. We've no idea how many foot and ankle strains result ... probably only a few. <BR> <BR>As to clothing, mountain weather is unpredictable, especially in that area (see URL cited in earlier post). I often wonder what those folks do when the temp drops 30 or 40 degrees suddenly. It's not often, but by no means unusual, that we at least have to put on our Gore-Tex light parkas when the sun disappears and the wind picks up a bit. We've had to add sweaters more than few times. And Julie always chafes when I pack the Gore-Tex rain pants, but we've used them more than once, always as much as an hour from the nearest shelter. <BR> <BR>Just like seatbelts, there are many who ignore the realities of mountain weather. Most get away with it. But not everyone.

Hi again Paul. <BR>The trail from the First gondola terminal to the Faulhorn leads directly to the Bachalp See. To reach the Faulhorn, you continue around the east side of the lake, and climb to a notch than you see just off to your left. There will be other hikers out if it is a clear day. But at the Bachsee or Bachalp See, a real hiker is just getting warmed up. <BR> <BR>The Faulhorn as I said earlier is positioned so that you get incredible vistas in all directions. <BR>You can see the lakes on either side of Interlaken. To the east, south and west the Berner Oberland is in full view. <BR> <BR>The trail is such that you don't need regular hiking boots, EXCEPT if you have traverse snow banks. There, I have found, that even yellow label <BR>Vibram soles are not much good because the surface is so packed and hard. The only thing that has saved me from sliding on my rear has been my trusty Leki hiking poles. There has been little snow pack in the mountains this year I have heard, so you may not encounter much snow. <BR>One hazard if you have only typical Reebok or Nike jogging type shoes will be getting your feet wet if you do encounter snow banks. But you can work around those usually. <BR> <BR>The trail from the Pfingstegg lift station to the Stieregg Restaurant is exposed with a southern slope so that the snow melts rather quickly. The trail is easy enough to manage until you get past the restaurant. Then I would recommend hiking boots because after you cross the gully, the path becomes rougher. <BR>Just about anything on the Männlichen Ridge, other than the steep descent to the Schwartze Lütschine valley can be negotiated with footwear that provides a good grip. <BR>

Sorry Paul, I jumped in on your thread with some questions and now I have managed to confuse everyone (except Ed) into thinking that you are me. <BR> <BR>And to everyone else, thanks for the replies; by the way, I did indeed mean to type '7500' not '2500' feet. How polite all of you were not to point out that at 2500 feet I wouldn't even leave the valley floor!! Do hope you got a chuckle, though..... <BR> <BR>The 'hiking sneakers' I was thinking of are neither regular sneakers nor hiking boots - I suspect they are akin to the 'approach' shoes Joel mentioned which don't come up over the ankle. They are more water-resistant than sneakers and the soles are much tougher, although Joel is quite right to point out that they don't offer ankle protection. I thought these would suffice providing we didn't do the Jungfraujoch excursion, sinced that area is definitely going to have snow in June, from what I can gather. <BR> <BR>Ed you are quite right - I wouldn't dream of venturing out without layers, just that I'm hoping to avoid having to pack, say, an extra fleece just for two days. Reading the replies I'm thinking that if one wears jeans, as opposed to lighter pants, one might just rough it without Goretex rain pants, although I agree these would sure be nice in a thundershower. But I think we just won't have the room. Hmmn, seems I have food for thought... <BR> <BR>Paul, thanks again for asking the question.

If it's cold enough for a turtle-neck, I'd recommend a fleece headband to cover your ears. Ear pain from cold/wind is just awful. A headband takes up practically no space, so I always take one with me. Wish I were going to Grindelwald!

On the one hand, taking day-trips in the Alps isn't a Himalaya expedition. On the other hand, it's still mountain hiking and one should respect the mountains. Many trails are easy and enjoyable, even wearing sneakers, jeans and a T-shirt. The problem is that the weather can turn ugly and there can be complications. If one takes a day-trip where the next restaurant is two hours away, many people on the trail and the trail is clearly marked, no problem. But if one takes another trail which is just a little bit more difficult and not clearly marked and then the weather turns ugly, one loses the trail because of fogg, it's late in the evening and someone sprains an ankle, the situation turns ugly. <BR> <BR>I don't want to say that one shouldn't set a foot out of the hotel without a complete hiking gear but if one hasn't got it, one should avoid all but the easy trails. Ask in the hotel about it and they will be able to tell you about the situation. If they tell you not to go a trail without hiking boots, listen to them even if someone else had no problem one day earlier.

I think that asking the hotel people about certain trail conditions is a good idea also, but I usually walk over to the local tourist i center to get information on certain hikes and trails and such. Sometimes they are not realy sure about the condition of a certain walking path or hiking trail. <BR> <BR>I remember walking a trail in Saas Fee in 98 that pretty much went poof. The trail just ended. Those trails are your rocky, climb down the mountain type trails. I've encountered a few. <BR> <BR> Since most of the casual trails are pretty safe, I've seen people even wearing sneakers. Ed mentioned the walk over to Bachalpsee. Most of that trail is on a wide, gravel path as I recall.Btw, that *is* a nice walk Ed. Even though that walk and other walks similar to that one are safe,I would still recommend for someone to at least purchase the *ankle* hiking boots. <BR> <BR>Speaking of encountering sudden thunderstorms,I was walking a trail in Zermatt around the Gorner Glacier when the clouds suddenly rolled in. The clouds came and opened up with hard rain. I quickly aborted that hike and went back down to Zermatt. I remember several of us on that glacier trail quickly aborted that hike that day. Something about heavy rains and rockslides if yah know what I mean here? <BR> <BR> <BR>Keeping an eye out for the weather can certainly help. <BR> <BR>Those that do many of the longer overnight hikes can't afford to go without the state of the art gear. <BR> <BR>I think that most of the walkers and hikers I've seen and talked to on trips are of the the daytrip walking situation also. <BR> <BR>Anyway, as I said at the beginning of this, dress warmly in the morning. Take off sweaters and jackets as the day heats up and stuff em in the ole pack along with bottled water, OJ and other assorted munchies and goodies. <BR> <BR> <BR>And I have my AC/DC 1993 tour T shirt also. ;-)