Lotschental

The Lotschental runs about twenty-seven kilometres north-east off the Rhone valley, and until the Lotschberg railway opened in 1913 it was reached only over high passes, which left it culturally distinct in ways still visible. Its best-known tradition is the Tschaggatta: during the carnival weeks between Candlemas and Ash Wednesday, figures in sheepskins and heavy carved wooden masks - deliberately grotesque, with bared teeth and horns - move through the villages after dark. The masks are carved locally and sold year round. The upper valley leads into the Lotschental side of the Aletsch region, with the Langgletscher at its head, and Wiler, Kippel and Ferden keep dense clusters of dark timber houses. Blatten, the village at the head of the valley, was largely destroyed on 28 May 2025, when the collapse of the Birch Glacier sent rock and ice down onto it and buried about 90 percent of the village, 130 houses and the church among them; it had been evacuated nine days earlier.

Highlights

• Tschaggatta masks - carved grotesques worn through the winter carnival.
• Dark timber villages - Wiler, Kippel and Ferden; Blatten was largely buried by the glacier collapse of May 2025.
• A valley isolated until 1913 - opened by the Lotschberg railway.
• The Langgletscher - the glacier at the head of the valley.

When to go

June to October for walking; February for the carnival. A day.

Good to know

The carnival is a village tradition, not a show - dates are local and crowds are small but the atmosphere is not staged for visitors. Avalanche risk closes parts of the valley in winter. Postbus timetables thin out of season. Masks sold as souvenirs vary widely in quality.

Nearby

The Rhone valley is below Goppenstein; the Aletsch region is over the ridge.

Key facts