About us
Our history
It all began with a small sports store in Fiesch, which was founded by Anna and Sepp Volken-Volken. The mountains, nature and his homeland gave Sepp the idea of founding one of the first mountaineering schools in Switzerland in 1962. The Swiss Mountaineering School Fiesch.
In 1999, the Swiss Mountaineering School Fiesch was transformed into a public limited company consisting of local mountain guides. The mountaineering school was given a new name: Aletsch Mountaineering Center.
Today, 10 mountain guides work for the Aletsch Mountaineering Center and take numerous guests to our glaciers and mountains in the Valais Alps and nearby countries. In the fall and spring, we take you on treks all over the world.
Our philosophy
You, dear guest, are the focus of our attention. All our attention is focused on you, your wishes and, above all, your safety. Our local mountain guides are committed to your well-being. They do their utmost to offer you an unforgettable mountain experience.
We strive to keep the risk on our tours as low as possible. Our local professional mountain guides have years of experience and have learned to avoid tricky situations and to respect nature. The team spirit in our rope teams is very important to us. We attach great importance to a good atmosphere within the group. We welcome all feedback and take it very seriously. We are happy to incorporate your feedback in order to improve quality.
We would be delighted to welcome you to the AletschAreana.
The Aletsch Glacier
The Aletsch Mountaineering Center is the local provider of tours and treks on the longest glacier in the Alps. We would be happy to guide you up the natural giant.
A few figures about the Aletsch Glacier:
Length
23 km – making the Great Aletsch Glacier the longest ice flow in the Alps.
Surface area
86 km2; The Konkordiaplatz – the confluence of the Grosser Aletschfirn, Jungfraufirn, Ewig- schneefeldfirn and Grüneggfirn – is large enough to accommodate a city like Chur, Bellinzona or Frauenfeld.
Weight
27 billion tons, equivalent to the weight of 72.5 million jumbo jets.
Greatest ice thickness
Ice sheet more than 900 m thick at Konkordia Square.
Flow velocity
The ice formed in the nutrient zone of the glacier flows downhill like a viscous mass, constantly supplying ice to the glacier tongue. The distance covered by the ice is known as the flow velocity: On the Great Aletsch Glacier, it is 200 m/year at the height of Konkordiaplatz and 80 – 90 m/year at the height of Aletschwald.
Gigantic water reservoir
If the ice giant were to melt, every person on earth could be supplied with one liter of water a day for 4.5 years.