“A patch of Alpine hiking within the city of Zurich.” Ever heard of such a thing? I am talking about Fallätsche Buch.
The Fallätsche is not your typical city sight. It is a traverse. My colleague at work told me about Fallätsche Buch. The Fallätsche traverse has been described on Hikr many times. The Fallätsche traverse is currently in fairly good condition. I’ve seen it graded as a T5 on a few places on the internet. For me it’s certainly not more than a T4. But it comes with disclaimers.
T4 is still a real alpine hike. It is a completely different world from the busy paths elsewhere on the Uetliberg. Good hiking boots and sure-footedness are absolute requirements. The traverse is a no-go in the wet. The route is liable to landslides. This could make the traverse more difficult at any time. There is only one good route across the large landslide below the Teehutte. Crossing the landslide anywhere else will be considerably more difficult and risky. Have a good look at the photos attached to this report. You can find the correct route. At one point, the traverse is protected by a little rope. If that rope gets damaged or removed, the traverse would get more difficult.
Having said that, the Fallätsche traverse is good fun. I actually did it twice in a row. Once to just find my own way. The second time taking pictures and making notes for the annotated photos. The result is an annotated map of the Fallätsche. The numbers on the map occur again in the descriptions of the photos that follow. Hopefully this will help future Hikrs. They can venture into the Fallätsche to find their way around.
Apart from the challenging trails, an additional point of interest in the Fallätsche are the four different huts. Each with a long history.
The Teehütte / Teehüsli is the only one of the four that’s open to the public. This is only on Sundays and holidays. It was built in 1909 and is run by the Alpenclub zur steilen Wand. The Bristen-Stäffeli Hütte was built in 1912. Bristen is apparently the last mountain that is visible from the hut above the Albis-ridge blocks the view. A major landslide threatened to spell the end of the hut in 2007. The Alpenclub Bristen has since been revived. They are actively working for the preservation of the hut. The hut of the Alpen-Club Felsenkammer dates back to 1910. It has also seen its share of landslides. You have to cross some scaffolding in order to reach it. The Glecksteinhütte is hardest to reach of the four. It is situated on top of an escarpment above the Fallätsche traverse. Not much can be found about this one on the internet. One source claims that it was constructed in 1910 by Alpenclub Amicitia.
So, when you are ready for Alpine hiking within the city of Zurich, you know where to go.