Gemmi Pass

The Gemmi crosses at 2,314 metres between the Valais and the Bernese Oberland, and it has carried traffic for centuries despite an obstacle that would have stopped most routes: on the southern side the ground rises as a sheer wall above Leukerbad, and the path was blasted and cut into that face in the 1730s and 1740s in a series of zigzags with drops beside them - it is walkable but exposed, and it was famous enough in the nineteenth century that Twain and others described the ascent. A cable car now does the climb in minutes. From the pass the northern side is gentler, passing the Daubensee, a lake with no surface outflow, and descending toward Sunnbuel and Kandersteg.

What you actually see

• A path blasted into a cliff - the 1730s zigzags above Leukerbad.
• The Daubensee - a lake at the pass with no surface outflow.
• A crossing at 2,314 metres - Valais to Bernese Oberland on foot.
• A cable car alternative - minutes instead of hours on the south side.

When to go

Late June to October. A day for the full crossing.

Honest expectations

The historic path is exposed with real drops and is not for everyone; most people take the cable car up. The full crossing to Kandersteg is a long day needing transport arranged at the far end. Snow blocks the pass into early summer.

Nearby

Leukerbad is below the south side; Kandersteg and Oeschinensee are north.