The Swiss Wall

Has anyone ever been brave enough to ski the swiss wall ? I have been to the top once before and was very murky on that day looking over into the swiss side, I have seen videos on youtube and looks difficult they mention 10FT moguls and ice conditions. Its on my wish list maybe one day!

There is no denying that the SW has steep sections. By no means anywhere near the steepest I have skied, (which was in Colorado, I will be doing it again sometime over the next couple of weeks)

I am not a great believer in advising about particular steep runs, since there are so many variables. If someone is unclear, they may elect to accept an opinion from an experienced skier who knows both the run, plus the individual's capability.

Dave Mac wrote:There is no denying that the SW has steep sections. By no means anywhere near the steepest I have skied, (which was in Colorado, I will be doing it again sometime over the next couple of weeks)

I am not a great believer in advising about particular steep runs, since there are so many variables. If someone is unclear, they may elect to accept an opinion from an experienced skier who knows both the run, plus the individual's capability.

.... plus the conditions on the day and even the time of day:wink:. As we all know, any individual run can vary enormously depending on conditions. Usually, this is not terribly important but when dealing with extremely difficult runs, it is critical to know exactly what to expect. A run that might be perfectly manageable in good conditions, can turn into a nightmare in other conditions :x. If you are unsure, you need to get advice from somebody who knows the conditions of the run and knows your capabilities.

Would you consider doing it as part of a private lesson? That way, you would have an instructor with you which would give you the confidence to take it on :lol:

+1 to all the comments above. Conditions are key. My wife's niece (an experienced skier) decided to take her then boyfriend (and now husband) down the SW. He had only been skiing a little while and I don't think he enjoyed it v much. I think it was some sort of test......

I did it last year on a boys trip.
took it carefully and felt great when I got to the bottom.
But conditions were perfect and I was with a skier who had done it a few times.
Bottled out of doing it this year tho as conditions were different.

38 deg (getting towards extreme territory) at top and 33 deg average is certainly steep enough.

Put 20cm of powder on it or spring snow and remove the moguls and a lot more people would be able to try and style it. Not sure why you would bother if is an icy moguled mess.

Still good to give yourself a reason to practice self arrest now and again. Something about the gravitational pull of a run that is steep and you know will be a mess.

I did it 10 days ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Saying that, the conditions were perfect and the run itself wasn't busy so there was little fear of human snowballs hitting me. The run is very steep as expected but pick your turns and keep an eye on those around you and fingers crossed you'll be on the run off at the base pretty soon.

I even purchased a 'Mur Suisse' fake marker in a souvenir shop for the downstairs loo as I was very pleased. Doesn't skiing bring out the child in us all.

Good luck if you do it.