Hiking in Kandersteg

Yet again, I went into the mountains this weekend. It's simply not possible to be in the Alps too often, each visit is as enjoyable as the last. The Erasmus Student Network organised a hiking weekend in Kandersteg; a tiny, alpine village in Berner Oberland – close to the cantonal border with Valais. A beautiful mountainous region not a million miles away from the well-known areas of Interlaken or Jungfrau.

The valley seen from the west face of Bunderspitz.

We arrived in the village on the Friday evening, giving us the chance to fire up the Finnish sauna cabin that we had to ourselves. Definitely a good shout – and I could really enjoy the sauna, although had it been after the hike – my sunburn would've probably made me suffer. Sunburn, which I have to add, that only seems to have got to my nose and ears: not a great look!

Steinbock sighting.

The hike itself was pretty decent, good weather and conditions and the route was cool too. We headed up to the summit of Bunderspitz before traversing around the east face of the mountain and descending to the west via a pass – where we witnessed a spectacle. A lone steinbock (a rare alpine mountain goat), which strolled up to a cliff edge beside us and simply jumped down – running down a vertical crag – not only without dying, but with grace!

The scree slopes of the eastern face of Bunderspitz.

On the Sunday, before heading back to Zurich, a challenge awaited us: Jacob's Ladder. A simple task of climbing a set of wooden ladders, the catch being that the rungs began at one and a half metres apart and the gap increased incrementally. It certainly sounds easier than it was in practice. An uncomfortable challenge complete with many compromising positions – spectating was definitely more entertaining.

The Jacob's Ladder challenge: everyone in the group managed, some found it more trickier than others.

Again, another great time in the mountains. Now that the Summer is upon us, I'm sure I'll get some more hiking done too.