Falkengrat (Arête des Faucons) - Berner Jura

A winter drytooling session on the Falkengrat, the Arête des Faucons, in the Swiss Jura. The ridge that in summer is a friendly bit of rock above Le Paradis, this time under cold conditions and with tools in hand.

Falkengrat / Arête des Faucons, 854 m / South wall · Arête du Faucon

UIAA ~IV (pitches 3b–4c) / ~2 h / 120 m ↗ / Gear: helmet, slings, 10 quickdraws, twin 60 m ropes for the rappel

The route in summer is the Arête du Faucon, a low-grade rock ridge (UIAA ~4, pitches 3b–4c) climbed as an alpine-style traverse. In winter, iced-up and with tools, it becomes a different animal, and the grade quoted here is the summer rock line, not what the frozen holds actually demanded.

Short day, no fuss. Helmet on for the loose sections, down through the forest at the end.

Logistics

Parking

From Biel head toward Delémont/Moutier, exit at La Heutte/Péry, then turn onto the Chemin du Paradis to the parking area.

Approach

About 10 minutes on foot from the parking to the foot of the south wall.