ViaBerna - Stage 20 Gadmen - Susten Pass

After starting in the beautiful mountain village of Gadmen, the route leads via Obermad to the old pass route. The Reissend Nollen, Titlis, Grassen and Fünffingerstöck towers impressively over the Wendental. Passing the huts on the Alp Wyssenmad, it goes to the panoramic height of Steinweng. Along the way, a look back into the Gadmen valley is worthwhile. The area is of wild beauty. A slab path leads through the marshy raised bog landscape to the alpine centre in Steingletscher. The ascent to the Susten Pass lets you immerse ever deeper in the mountain world. At the Susten Pass summit at 2259 meters above sea level is the border to the Canton of Uri. Here is also the moment to bid farewell to the ViaBerna.

The old Susten path, embedded in a wild mountain landscape, is considered one of the most beautiful pass routes in Switzerland with its high natural retaining walls and stone slabs. Since its restoration in 1993, you can follow the old pass path away from the traffic. In the unique mountain landscape with roaring mountain waters, you gain insight into the technique of the path builders of the time.

This is how the pass road was built: When Valais was annexed by France in Napoleon's time, Bern sought a replacement for the Grimsel route to avoid high customs duties. In 1811, the cantons of Bern and Uri built the road connection over the Susten Pass, which lost importance quickly after Napoleon's fall and especially after the construction of the new pass road. In 1993, the former connection was restored as a witness of old pass road construction art.

The current pass road is 45 km long and was built between 1938 and 1945. Because it mainly serves tourism, it is usually only open from June to October.

On the ascent to the Susten Pass, the alpine mountain world can be impressively experienced. From the firn summits of the Susten and Gwächtenhorn, the Tierberg and the Giglistock, ice flows drop down to the Steinalp.

The ViaBerna is a continuously signposted attractive hiking trail that leads from Bellelay in the Bernese Jura across the canton of Bern to the Susten Pass. The route realized by Bernese hiking trails has a length of around 300 kilometers and covers 20 stages.