The forest fire that broke out on July 17, 2023 on the Riederhorn in the western part of the Aletsch Arena in the canton of Valais destroyed around 100 hectares of forest, the equivalent of 140 football pitches. Although the fire is under control, there are still pockets of embers in the ground. For this reason and due to the increased risk of erosion, hiking trails between Bitsch, Riederhorn and Riederalp are likely to remain closed for some time to come. The affected area is marked on the Web Map from Alert Swiss.

Mountain bikers, for example, are no longer affected by the road closures on the Aletsch circular tour. The final descent of the tour leads from Riederalp through the Riederwald forest to Bitsch via trails that were closed until the beginning of August 2023. An alternative is the descent from Riederalp via Goppisberg to Mörel. Other attractive tours in the Ride database include the Fiescheralp Enduro Tour and the Fiesch Spring Trails.

The route of the Stoneman Glaciara also had to be rerouted, as can be seen from the information on the Stoneman website. The alternative route rides from Bettmeralp via Alpmatten to Betten and Mörel, where the ascent to the Breithorn is tackled on the regular route. It is therefore no longer necessary to bypass the area via the adapted route as of August 10, 2023.

All information about the region in the spot guide: ride.ch/spotguide/aletsch-goms
The trails of the Aletsch region in the web map of the Ride Trail Map: map.ride.ch