I follow my guide, Beat, across a steep, grassy slope, brushing through wildflowers and the odd tangle of undergrowth. He moves with easy, mountain-goat confidence, nudging aside fallen branches like he’s done it a thousand times.
There’s no sign of a trail, but he seems unfazed, and I’m curious enough to keep going. We pause at a small clearing where a scatter of bones lies bleached in the sun. “Was that your last client?” I quip. A curved horn still clings to the skull – unmistakeably ibex. Beat raises an eyebrow, then cracks a small smile before continuing on, calmly clearing the path with a saw he’s somehow produced from his pack.
Eventually, we reach the foot of a sandy cliff. I’m a little sweaty, slightly bewildered, but very much along for the ride. Beat silently pulls out harnesses and starts flaking a rope onto the ground. The evening air hums with the scent of pine and alpine herbs, birds calling from the shadows. Then he speaks, casually reading from a weathered note.
“This is the Hunter’s Trail. In the past, people used to travel this route – with animals, no protection, and heavy packs.” He glances up. “There were a few accidents,” he says with a shrug, then gives me a sideways grin. “But not today.”
The glint in his eye says: trust me, you’re going to love this. And just like that, the soft clink of quickdraws marks the start of our journey along a little-known via ferrata above Saas-Balen.
Saas-Fee/Saastal in Summer: A Quieter Kind of High
I’m in the Saas Valley, in the heart of Switzerland’s Valais region. It’s mid-June, and the temperatures have recently spiked – just in time for three days of hiking, biking, and via ferrata across the four main villages: Saas-Balen, Saas-Grund, Saas-Almagell, and Saas-Fee. The latter, the best known, is a winter hub for high-altitude snowsports. But in summer, the town transforms into something quieter and greener, brimming with unexplored adventure.
Saas-Fee itself sits at 1,800m, ringed by snowcapped giants. The Dom – Switzerland’s highest mountain that sits entirely within the country’s borders – towers above it at 4,545m. From the charming, car-free village, you can clearly see the layers of elevation: lush meadows, rocky flanks, the jaws of the glacier, and the pristine white peaks above. In summer, the glacier attracts ski racers and freestyle teams, while the valley is home to a treasure trove of hiking and biking trails that wind their way straight up into the high alpine.
