Surprisingly enough, there are people out there who prefer skiing uphill. While it would seem zooming downhill at high speed while making graceful turns would be all anyone would want with boards attached to their feet, others are more appreciative of the uphill aspect. We're of the second breed.

Instead of hunting for the perfect lines, we study maps searching for the perfect line up of peaks to link in one big endurance effort. One such objective sits right above the town of Grindelwald; the Wetterhorn, Mittelhorn, Rosenhorn trilogy, aka, The Horny Tour. We wrote about the experience here.

Rumored to be the Swiss Mountain Guide endurance exam, this tour requires conditions to be just right, and may not be possible every year. The tour starts at the Gletscherschluct Rosenlaui (1350 meters) where you hopefully step into your skis and not on dirt. You'll need a car to access the start as bus service doesn't get you to and from given the itinerary and likely late finishing time. The road to Rosenlaui is the east side of the Grosse Scheidegg Pass, which starts just above Meiringen and is a pay-to-pass, twisty turny affair famous for cycling in the summer. The road itself is a worthy destination that puts you beneath some giants, namely, the Wetterhorn, which is the first ski objective on the Horny Tour.

Wetterhorn

From Rosenlaui, you skin through forest before popping into the open where it becomes painfully obvious you have some serious work to do. Your ski tips will be pointing straight at the seemingly impassable Rosenlauigletscher, the access to the alpine world above. The east side of the glacier contains passages which you'll use for both skinning up and skiing down. After these passages through rock bands, you traverse a heavily crevassed section of glacier. This is where optimal conditions are import -- there needs to be sufficient coverage to pass through complicated seracs and crevasses.

After weaving through the crevasses, you'll reach a flattish glacier plateau at around 2900 meters, where you can settle in for a long skin towards the Wetterhorn. Your day, which is still in its early phases, has already gained 1600 meters. You have yet to summit or ski anything.

The Wettersattel (Wetterhorn saddle) is reached after skinning up a long canyon. There, at about 3500 meters, you'll likely stash your skis and climb the south side of the Wetterhorn with crampons and ice axe (PD) for about 30 minutes to the first summit of the day, at 3692 meters. Tourists often mistake the Wetterhorn for the Eiger as it is no less impressive, and in fact its pointier summit makes it more of a classic pyramid than the Eiger.

Mittelhorn

From the summit of the Wetterhorn, you descend the same line of ascent back to the saddle to pick up your skis before proceeding to the Mittelhorn's NW ridge, again climbed right from the saddle. The climb to the Mittelhorn summit might be on skis, but more likely by boot crampon as the shoulder is often blown-off and icy. Surprisingly, the Mittelhorn is the highest summit of the trio at 3704 meters.

Rosenhorn

Descend the Mittelhorn on foot via its NE ridge to about 3630 meters where you drop off to the east and begin a long traverse to the saddle between the Mittelhorn and Rosenhorn. Continue past the saddle and descend to about 3400 meters. At this point you've just about traversed past the Rosenhorn, but you're in position to skin an open face to access the SE ridge and climb to the summit.

Descent

At this point in the day, you've climbed more than 3000 meters, most of it on skis, and have yet to whoop or holler about how much fun you're having, unless, of course, you're an uphill enthusiast. Now that you've huffed and puffed and snot-rocketed your way into a state of bliss, and finally, on the summit of the Rosenhorn, you get to lock your heels down and, on wobbly legs, descend through much of the terrain you've come up.

Hit the conditions right and you've got a whole lot of goodness about to come your way on the glacier, and even below. Ideally you ski all the way down to the parking, first on glacier, then by traversing west below the glacier to ski along the base of the Wellhorn before weaving in and out of the trees to stay on good snow.

Once finished, the day feels like it was more of an odyssey than any kind of normal ski tour. Passing through forest, glacier, alpine plateau, and reaching three high summits, you'll have had a day that satisfies the soul. Especially, as it turns out, the uphill skiers soul.

TIP: To maximize enjoyment, go when conditions are primarily good from bottom to top. The tour covers a wide range of elevations, so you'll see just about everything. Be fit and ready for a huge day of movement! If you are not familiar with the region, be ready to navigate and make decisions about the route. Do not rely on an existing track. Have all the necessary skills for alpine terrain -- this tour is more of a mountaineering route than a ski tour. Glacier travel, crevasse rescue, and navigation skills should all be at the highest level.

For those targeting a big ski mountaineering objective, but maybe not this big, consider just doing the Wetterhorn Ski Tour.

Check in at our Alps Education pages to better understand what is required, especially for Glacier Travel.