Hike Höhi Wispile – Lauenensee: with the fondue backpack over Stock & Stein

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Do you know that – those excursion ideas that have been in your head for a long time, but you don’t implement them because something always comes up? I have countless such “I want to” projects. For a long time, this also included the hike Höhi Wispile-Lauenensee. I had already considered the hiking classic in the Saanenland several times, but in the end different tours made the race.

And so we have already hiked some beautiful routes around Gstaad, such as the round trip to the Geltenschuss or from the Col du Pillon to Lake Arnen. Only the Wispile – the local mountain of Gstaad – I passed over every time. This summer season I finally tackled the hike and ticked off two bucket list items at once: hiking from the Wispile to Lake Lauenen and preparing an outdoor fondue in the middle of the most beautiful mountain world.

Hiking classics in the Saanenland

I am a morning person and like to start my day trips early. So on a Friday morning at 6 o’clock in the morning we set off from Zurich towards the Saanenland. Depending on the connection, you can change to the RegioExpress Lötschberger in Bern or Spiez, which takes you directly to Zweisimmen. Here we have to change trains a second time before we reach our destination – Gstaad – thirty minutes later. It’s now 9 o’clock and my stomach is rumbling. Breakfast time! It won’t be long until the nut summit in the Wispile mountain restaurant. But first we head for the Gstaad dairy. Here our pre-ordered fondue backpack was waiting for us. The ready-to-pack backpack contains all the ingredients you need to enjoy a fondue in the middle of nature.

In wise foresight, I left my own backpack at home and now shoulder the nostalgic fondue backpack. The Gstaad dairy is conveniently located on the way to the valley station of the Gstaad-Wispile gondola, with which we then comfortably overcome the altitude difference to the local mountain. At the top of the Berghaus there is the longed-for nut summit and then we are ready to hike. By the way, it’s worth taking a look inside the Berghaus – on the ground floor, funny and exciting topics about the cow are taken up under the title “Kuhl to know”.

Outside, we follow the signposted hiking trail along the ridge of the Wispile in the direction of Chrinetritt.

The path follows the gently sloping extensive alpine meadows. At every turn, the fantastic panoramic view over the Saanenland accompanies us to the snow-capped three-thousand-metre peaks that tower up behind Lake Lauenen. After almost forty minutes of walking, we pass an oversized fondue caquelon. Three of them can be found scattered throughout the region and offer us fondue hikers a round table with a view. Up to eight people can be accommodated in the woody caquelon. A perfectly harmonious backdrop for an outdoor fondue! But it seems a bit too early for us and so we hike on towards Lake Lauenen after a short rest.

Up to the Chrinetritt, the hike runs as a high-altitude trail along the ridge of the Wispile. There, the path plunges 200 metres into the depths to the “Chrine”, only to climb again immediately afterwards. That would be the most strenuous part of the tour – apart from this short, steep climb, the hike is leisurely and also doable with children. Once the altitude has been mastered, the destination of the tour soon comes into view. Far below us, the deep blue Lake Lauenen glistens in the sunlight against an imposing mountain backdrop. Whether winter or summer – this end of the valley radiates a special power.

Fondue at Lake Lauenen

We look for a nice picnic spot on the shore of Lake Lauenen and then take a closer look at the contents of our fondue backpack. It feels like I’m opening a grab bag: a pack of Gstaad fondue mix, crusty bread, spices, a caquelon, a rechaud with fuel paste, plates, fork, matches and even napkins with a paper cut pattern – the outdoor fondue fun can begin!

Under the curious gaze of the day-trippers passing by, we transform the house blend of the Gstaad dairy into a creamy fondue. And while I thought “that’s way too little bread and way too much fondue” when I unpacked it, it finally works out perfectly! Afterwards we pack everything up, walk around Lake Lauenen to digest and then take the post bus back to Gstaad, where we return the fondue backpack.

The combination of the easy but panoramic hike from the Wispile to Lake Lauenen with the outdoor fondue in the middle of the magnificent mountain scenery results in a really harmonious excursion! True “pleasure hiking” – in my opinion.

Practical tips for the hike Wispile-Lauenensee

The following map shows the route of our hike from the Höhi Wispile to Lake Lauenen. The hiking classic starts at the Wispile mountain station and leads from there in just under 9 kilometres over the Chrinepass to Lake Lauenen. There are 200 meters of altitude uphill and 740 meters of altitude downhill. The pure hiking time is about 2.5 hours. Seating for fondue fun can be found in the oversized Fondue Caquelon at Vorderi Wispile and at Lake Lauenen. There is also a post bus stop here with an hourly connection to Gstaad (only between 12:40 and 14:40 the post bus stops for an hour). Alternatively, the hike to Lauenen can be extended by five kilometres.

Tip: if you reserve a fondue backpack, don’t take your own backpack with you, but pack your belongings in a jute bag or similar – so there are no logistical problems. And if you want to toast the fondue with a glass of white wine, you can also buy the wine at the dairy. The locations of the three fondue caquelon and two fondue huts in the Saanenland are described in detail on the website of Gstaad Tourism (reservation not possible).

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The fondue backpack can be pre-ordered the day before at the dairies Schönried, Gstaad and Zweisimmen as well as at Fromage & Pain Saanen and can be obtained during opening hours. You can choose from a fondue backpack with a “classic house mix” (CHF 18 per person) and a “house mix truffle” (CHF 21 per person). The price includes the rental of the complete fondue equipment. All further information can be found here: Fondueland Gstaad

And here you can find inspiration for other hiking routes in the region: Hiking & Nature

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