The valley of ‘hidden treasures’ – Stockhorn (2,610 metres)

Rudi picks me up the next morning for our first ski tour starting in the nearby hamlet of Imfeld (also known as Fäld) at 1,519m. The village was home to 50 people before the tunnel was built. Now, there are only five. We stop to allow a herd of cows to slowly plod across the road, their bells tinkling in the cold early morning air. There are probably more cows living here now, I think.

Parked outside a closed restaurant, we prepare our skis with climbing skins ready for the ascent. It’s been a while since I’ve been at altitude, so I start off quite sluggishly. We head up an icy walker’s path until we reached a shallow gully which, in summer, is the Lengenbach mineral quarry where children can come and hunt for crystals.

“270 varieties of crystals have been discovered in the valley, more than 100 in the Lengenbach mineral quarry”

The Binntal valley isn’t just known as the  “valley of hidden treasures” for its historical villages. 270 varieties of crystals have been discovered in the valley, more than 100 in the Lengenbach mineral quarry. More than a dozen of the rocks have also never been found anywhere else in the world, so have been named after the region (see the lengenbachite or the wallisite).

The area was so renowned for its minerals that crystal hunters would travel here in the 1850s. Famers, meanwhile, would find and sell the minerals to top up their family income. Until the First World War, there were around 40 people here looking for crystals. Nowadays though, the professional hunters are rare.

We continue to wind our way through an icy forest path, using our ski crampons until we break out into a sun-drenched plateau. Here we take a short break, before quickly setting off again. After a few more hours making a much less technical ascent above the tree line, we reach an impressive ridge. With the north wind whipping up around us, we take our skis off and bootpack up the last few metres to the summit.

There are many stunning views of various peaks from the top of the Stockhorn at 2,610 metres but I’ve got my head down. I’m not listening to Rudi’s seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of the panorama as I’m too cold, and I can’t hear a thing in the wind.

Thanks to the bitingly cold conditions, the snow ends up being some of the softest powder I’ve experienced in a long time. My light touring skis have no problems bouncing over and through the superb conditions.

Safely back in Fäld, we pop into the local mineral museum which was set up by the crystal hunter and collector Andre Gorsatt.

“Andre’s been collecting crystals in the Binntal valley for 46 years and is responsible for finding almost all of the stones in the museum”

Andre’s been collecting crystals in the Binntal valley for 46 years and is responsible for finding almost all of the stones in the museum. Despite being quite valuable, Andre has never had any interest in selling them. Instead, he’s built up his own Binntal collection in the basement of his house. In 2011, he decided to set up the foundation so the minerals could stay in the valley indefinitely.

Over the years, the museum has expanded with minerals from the Lengenbach pit added to the collection. Factor in the other exclusive pieces from the valley, and it’s easy to see why this is considered the richest display of Binntal minerals in the world.

Returning to our hotel, we enjoy a beer in the sun where Rudi tells us that this season he’s had even more work than normal. Usually, in winter he works as a ski instructor on Valais’ 2,000km of slopes. This year however his clients, who are nearly all Swiss, want to go ski touring.

“With 45 out of the Alps’ 82 4,000m peaks here, there is – I think – probably no better training ground for mountain lovers”

I ask him why he chose to be a mountain guide. Growing up in Ernen, Rudi tells me that he started out as a carpenter and that it was his brother who wanted to be a mountain guide. When he saw what the guides were doing though he changed his mind, and has been guiding now for 40 years. With 45 out of the Alps’ 82 4,000m peaks here, there is – I think – no better training ground for mountain lovers. Its terrain certainly goes some way to explaining why the region now has around 450 mountain guides.

Hypnotising ascents – Mittelberg Cima Orientale (2,891 metres)

I head to bed early that night, worried about my (lack of) fitness and wanting to be well rested. With almost 1,500m of climbing ahead on a tour around the mountains of the Schinhorn, it’s clearly going to be a very long day.

We start at the same spot in Fäld, but end up taking a more technical path; scrambling through the trees. Breaking through the trees, we skirt an edge above the valley trying to keep high, then begin a long gradual ascent above the treeline and into the alpine. Soon after this, we reach a plateau with the 2,939m Grosses Schinhorn to our left.