MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Clothing needed for hiking in Switzerland in May
-
I am taking a self guided train and hiking tour of Switzerland end of May. I love my jeans, but are they too warm?
-
Hi Jsmickelwait –
Welcome to My Swiss Alps-
<<“I love my jeans, but are they too warm?”>>
Simple answer, “No”.
More likely, not warm enough. ;-(
Depends a lot on where in Switzerland, and exactly when in May.
The Forum Rules request that you provide travel dates…not to annoy you, but because the weather is highly dependent on timing.
http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/rules
If you are trying to hike at high altitudes, you’ll freeze. Lots of snow and ice still on the ground.
In the lower altitudes, Spring progresses from marginal to advanced in May, depending on where you are.
Altitude counts, as does local topography.
Where and when will you travel?
Slowpoke
Hi Jsmickelwait,
Welcome to MySwissAlps and soon to the Swiss mountains.
As Slowpoke says it is hard to answer your questions with so little detail about your destinations. Generally speaking, in the high mountains you have to be prepared for everything, always.
To get some support this page can help: http://www.myswissalps.com/ab outswitzerland/nature
Otherwise please provide some details and I’m sure we can help.
Best,
StephThanks for your quick reply. My dates are May 20 to June 4. Itinerary: Vevey, Murren, Lucerne, Lugano, Bergün, Appenzell, and Schaffhausen. Will take some mountain trains like Rochers de Naye, and maybe Pilatus or whatever is open, as I realize that some mountain trips won’t be available yet. What mountain trips would you recommend that will be open??
<<“Will take some mountain trains like Rochers de Naye, and maybe Pilatus or whatever is open, as I realize that some mountain trips won’t be available yet. What mountain trips would you recommend that will be open??”>>
Here is a start. Lots of details with each link:
http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/naturalsites/ mountains
Those links give open dates, but, you can always check the timetable for your preferred day.
And, temperatures –
This one gives me Fahrenheit:
http://www.weatherbase.com/we ather/city.php3?c=CH&countryname=Switz erland
Of course, you’ll see Celsius once there or on most forum posts:
http://www.climatestotravel.c om/climate/switzerland
http://www.currentresults.com /Weather/Switzerland/a verage-annual-temperatures.php
Webcams may be useful:
en.swisswebcams.ch/kat egorien
What draws you to Bergün?
We liked the rail trail from Preda to Bergün. It is a high enough altitude to be concerned about possible snow on the trails.
Slowpoke
Wow, thanks so much. I was planning to walk the Bergün trail but I wasn’t prepared for snow. Think I better add another pound or two of clothes and shoes to my backpack-carryon, doggone it! Great website, by the way.
I said possible.
It is difficult to predict at that time of year, but the trail is definitely shaded at several places.
If I were doing it, being of a cautious nature, I’d wait until mid- to late June.
We did it on Monday, June 30, 1997, and it was wide open.
I think that one of the moderators knows the trail…perhaps we can get a second opinion.
http://www.myswissalps.com/hi king/preda-berguen
Bergün could be snow free….. I recall that the valley opens up there and could have good sunshine.
Have you considered the BLS Südrampe trail? Dry and sunny…should be good then.
Slowpoke
Hi Jsmickelwait,
If you mean the trail that Slowpoke linked in his last post, then I estimate a 95% chance that there won’t be snow on the trail.
Have fun!
Hi Arno-
To be clear- do you mean Preda-Bergün?
You know the trail more recently than I, so if that is your opinion, I’ll accept it. Seems a bit early to me.
If you mean the BLS Südrampe Trail, I am sure that the Südrampe trail will be clear. That “South Slope” gets a lot of sun. And, the whole valley is in a rain shadow, hence the prevalence of die Wasserleitungen….the bisses..
They make a substantial effort to have it open by or on Easter weekend…April 21st this year.
In the link I posted there are a couple of shots that showed some residual snow. They were taken in early April.
Slowpoke
Hi Slowpoke,
Yes, Preda to Bergün. The trail is on the valley floor. Even though it’s a high valley starting at 1789 m, I would not expect any (significant) snow there in late May/early June. Given the current temperatures I wonder if any snow will be left in April. But we all know that anything is possible in the mountains 🙂
Arno-
As I note, you have a much better idea than I do of recent conditions. We still don’t know about the snowpack…there was pretty heavy snow in southeastern eastern Switzerland a few weeks ago…..
Climate warming I understand. That did not stop it from snowing in August at Männlichen a couple of years ago, admittedly several hundred meters higher.
But, generalized warming can certainly can make a difference at that time of year.
What concerns me is lack of sun exposure in significant parts of the valley.
There are significant stretches in the middle of the hike where the valley is deep and narrow. I am reminded of places on other trails where stretches with little or no sun take a long while to be free of ice and snow after most of the trail is clear.
So, If Jsmickelwait takes that route, we can ask him to please give us a report. I hope you are right.
There are some helpful webcams, particularly the one at Naz:
en.swisswebcams.ch/suc he/ort/berg%C3%BCn-2661556/
The ones at Bergün should show snow-free land in May if your predictions are correct, wouldn’t you say?
Slowpoke
Hi Slowpoke,
Yes, a report would be great indeed. Keeping an eye on those webcams would be interesting 🙂 I learned that a warmer climate can cause more snowfall in certain places. E.g. where dry and cold was the average, now moist and less cold (around the freezing point) could occur more often, causing more snow. Then with a warm spring that opens up a new set of challenges.
Would the Landwasser Viaduct hike from Filisur have better hiking conditions than the Preda-Bergün one, on May 30? Thanks.
Much much shorter, and at lower altitude.
Should be snow free.
In my opinion, The Südrampe trail that I linked before is a much nicer trail than the Preda-Bergun walk because of the varied terrain and scenery. It has expansive views and a nice open feeling for much of the trail. Preda- Bergün, as noted, is deep in a valley for a considerable part of the hike.
You could access it as a day trip from Muerren, starting at Hohtenn and walking to Ausserberg.
Slowpoke
The S
- The thread ‘Clothing needed for hiking in Switzerland in May’ is closed to new replies.
