Eiseesattel (Brienzer Rothorn)
Description
The gondola lift from Lungern to Turren makes the start of the tour easier. But even this route requires a few beads of sweat. The first ones come to the fore on the ascent to Schönbüel. This rides on an asphalt road as far as Breitenfeld, but then changes to a well-maintained gravel road. The main part of the ascent is already completed at Berghaus Schönbüel. The start of the trail is at Gibel on the ridge. The panorama from here (and throughout the rest of the tour) is simply stunning, with views down to Lake Brienz and the Jungfrau region opposite. The trail over to Zwischenegg is also spectacular. If you don't have a head for heights, it's better to push your bike on this stretch. The trail is not particularly difficult to ride, but the terrain is extremely steep. Caution is advised here! At Zwischenegg, the bike then has to be pushed up 100 vertical meters on a well-built single trail to get down to the Eiseesattel. In the lower part, the path leads through a rocky ledge, so a careful riding style is also required here. The Eiseesattel is the starting point of the long super descent to Brienz. This starts with a wide trail, which then becomes narrower and narrower down to the Gibelegg. The trail leads past the Irtschelen-Alp and down along the Lammbachgraben towards Schwanden; enormously varied, winding, fun, technical, flowy, rooty, velvety smooth - it has it all. At Oberschwanden, you are thrown back into civilization and head into the official bike route as you cross the road. This marks the end of what is possibly one of the best singletrail descents in the Bernese Oberland.
Attention: The section between Schönbüel and Eisee is heavily frequented by hikers, and crossing the steep terrain on the narrow path is not trivial. This route should be avoided on nice weekends in summer. It is ideal for mountain bikers in the evening, when the majority of hikers are already back in the valley.
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Details of the tour
18 km
715 m
1655 m
571 above sea level
2181 above sea level
1 day
Lungern
Brienz
1819
limited
More information
No bike schools are registered for this region. Registration as a partner takes place here.
Video
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User comments (11)
About the author: Thomas Giger
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.
I took the first gondola lift at 8:20 am on Saturday (early July) and hardly met any hikers on the way - perfect for an undisturbed ride.
The trail is a little exposed in places, but offers fantastic views of Lake Brienz and the Jungfrau region.
The descent offers everything: partly technical, partly bumpy, but always varied and great fun!
Video of the tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go1QDdNFK38
I was on the tour today. It really is fantastic. As already mentioned here, certain places are extremely exposed. Even small mistakes can have serious consequences. So it's better to push the bike from time to time. The descent to Brienz is really amazing. The route was clear and there wasn't a single hiker to be found. Even for me as an average rider (over 60) it was largely rideable. I can only recommend it.
I was on the tour yesterday Wednesday 7.9.23, was ok with the number of hikers. The tour is indeed panoramic and the layout of the path over the ridges is spectacular. However, Gibel-Eiseesattel is really very exposed, on large parts of the route even a small mistake would be fatal, because the path is often very narrow (sometimes even difficult and tricky to push the bike alongside...) and it is usually very steep downhill. It often wouldn't be that difficult to ride, but zero tolerance for mistakes, otherwise you'll crash. This could be mentioned a little more explicitly in the tour description. The descent to Brienz is great. Beware, the rock band between Stafelmad and Irtschelen is buried and no longer passable. You have to climb 70m up there and around the top. It's worth it, because the descent to Stafelmad is already very pretty and smooth to ride, as an alternative to the variant directly down to Irtschelen (also good!). It is a bit tedious at the bottom, where the Schwandentrail ends. Don't follow the bike signpost there (it leads back to the start of the trail), but turn left onto Vitaparcours, over the wooden bridge, up a little and right into the settlement, then down to Pt. 577 on the hiking trail on the right.
I was on the tour yesterday, Wednesday, and the number of hikers was ok. The tour is indeed panoramic and the layout of the path over the ridges is spectacular. However, the Gibel-Eiseesattel is really very exposed, on large parts of the route even a small mistake would be fatal because the path is often very narrow and the descent is usually very steep. It would often not be that difficult to ride, but zero tolerance for mistakes, otherwise you will fall. This could be mentioned a little more explicitly in the tour description. The descent to Brienz is great. Beware, the rock band between Staffelmad and Irtschelen is buried and no longer passable. You have to climb 70m up there and around the top. It's worth it, because the descent to Staffelmad is already very pretty and smooth to ride, as an alternative to the variant directly down to Irtschelen (also good!). It's a bit tedious at the bottom, where the Schwandentrail ends. Don't follow the bike signpost there (it leads back to the start of the trail), but turn left onto Vitparcours and up a little to the right into the settlement, then take the hiking trail down to the right to Pt. 577.
We rode the tour on July 19.
Very beautiful and varied tour. Part of the ascent has to be pushed in any case (e-bike or not ;) )
We rode on a Friday and still often encountered hikers - but it was all within reason and rather fun for both sides.
We took the bus back up the Brünig and then the trail down to Lungern, followed by a quick dip in Lake Lungern. The campsite is quite suitable for this, even if you don't camp there.
The Rothornbahn will not be in operation in summer 2023 due to renovation work
According to Switzerland-Mobility, the descent from Alp Irtschelen has been closed for maintenance since the beginning of June 2021. The most beautiful part of the descent down to Brienz is therefore not rideable. Duration until Dec 2021.
Correct. I was there yesterday. About 600tm are closed. Not worth it.
Greetings
I rode down the trail from Brienzer Rothorn to Brienz today. The path along the Lammbachgraben is still closed until the end of 2021 due to construction work on the path. However, there is a detour which is very fun to ride. You ride down the hiking trail next to the Derflibach. You don't have to destroy the meters of altitude on the road. I rode all the way down on trails.
Btw, neither the Rothornbahn nor the tourist information center (Brienz or Interlaken) knew that the trail along the Lammbachgraben was closed.
Eiseesattel today. There are few comparable routes of this length in the Bernese Oberland. Fantastic views. Trail very varied. I would be interested in the historical side of the trail. With the dry stone walls, some of which are very long, and the waterfalls, this trail must have been important, otherwise it would not have been built so elaborately.
This is the third trail on the Brienzergrat that I have done. Before that it was Augstmatthorn and Ällgäulücke.
I rode the tour today on 25.6.20 from the Turren mountain station. The impressive and imposing route from Gibel via Zwischenegg to Eiseesattel is exposed and requires extremely concentrated and defensive riding. Up to the Zwischenegg I descended in some places, the first few meters down from the Zwischenegg to the Eiseesattel I also managed on foot, the ground there is slippery with somewhat coarser, loose stones and a fall or slip into the northern flanks towards the Eisee would probably end fatally. Overall, the traverse from the Gibel to the Eisee - even if you have a head for heights - requires very good self-assessment and risk management - you are always in fall terrain.
The singletrail descent from the Eiseesattel via the Gibelegg, Irtschelen and the Schwanden bike trail to Brienz is simply magnificent, varied and long. The conditions today were ideal with dry ground throughout, but in wet conditions the trail along the Lammbachgraben in particular could be more challenging. The paths between Mederen and Irtschelen are freshly mown and very good to ride - many thanks to the unknown "mowers and trail maintainers"!!!