Mountain·Switzerland

Balmhorn

3,690m

Gletscherhorn-Blümlisalp-Balmhorn Group

Bgvr · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 3,690m
Prominence: 1,013m
Isolation: 12km
Relief: 2,328mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 58°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
Summit: 46.4250°N, 7.6933°E

Mountain in Switzerland

Balmhorn is a mountain in the Gletscherhorn-Blümlisalp-Balmhorn Group (Switzerland). Its summit stands 3,690 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 1,013 m, and the nearest higher ground is 12 km away.

From the lowest point within 5 km (1,362 m), it rises 2,328 m. The steepest side is the east face: 46° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 58° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Leukerbad, 7 km away at 1,383 m: 2,307 m below the summit.

Balmhorn for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

9.8/10

Difficulty to the top

Mountain walk

Most path sections around the top are T3 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

2.5/2.580 waymarked routes and 134 path sections nearby
1.5/1.511 huts and shelters
2.0/22,307 m of ascent from the valley
1.3/1.51,013 m of prominence
1.5/1.56 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
1.0/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

9.5/10

3.5/4144 km of downhill runs
1.5/1.566 ski lifts
1.5/1.51,903 m between the lowest and highest lift station
3.0/37 months of snow at about 2,140 m

Runs by difficulty

Easy 56 km
Intermediate 62 km
Difficult 20 km
Freeride 4 km

Snow season on the slopes (estimate)

Around 2,140 m, in the middle of the ski area: snow from November to May (some years from October to May).

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

66 lifts · lift stations from 1,188 to 3,091 m · 57 km cross-country

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

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Snow

When there is snow on Balmhorn

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit3,690 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up2,536 msnow from October to June	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Leukerbad1,383 msnow from December to April (some years from November to April)	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow some of the time	Snow on the ground all month

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Balmhorn, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average July afternoon the summit reaches about 4 °C; on January nights it falls to about -23 °C. In 8 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In July the 0 °C line climbs to about 4,330 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, February is the driest month (67 mm) and August the wettest (132 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Leukerbad high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-16	-23	-1	1,270	85	12	3.3
February	-15	-23	0	1,380	67	12	4.4
March	-11	-19	4	1,950	84	14	5.5
April	-6	-15	9	2,770	83	15	6.3
May	-2	-11	13	3,430	130	18	6.6
June	2	-6	18	4,070	122	18	8.5
July	4	-5	19	4,330	125	17	8.9
August	4	-5	19	4,290	132	16	7.9
September	0	-9	15	3,700	84	14	6.9
October	-4	-13	11	3,100	87	13	5.0
November	-10	-18	5	2,100	87	14	3.1
December	-15	-22	0	1,440	92	14	2.6

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 1,550 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. Heights drawn 2× taller than lengths, so the shape can be seen.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Balmhorn

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

A lift reaches Hockenhorngrat at 3,091 m — just 599 m below the summit.

11mountain huts and shelters
Stock (1,832 m), Winteregghütte (1,897 m), Gfellalphütte (1,849 m), Üeschinenhütte (1,890 m) and 7 more
12cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
Luftseilbahn Wiler-Lauchernalp, Luftseilbahn Kandersteg-Sunnbüel, Leukerbad - Rinderhütte, Gemmibahn and 8 more
11ski areas
Lauchernalp, Leukerbad (Torrent), Jeizinen, Kandersteg and 7 more
80waymarked hiking routes
Lötschentaler Höhenwanderweg, Käsmilchbrücke - Eggenschwand, Eggenschwand - Gastern/Waldhaus, Gastern/Waldhaus - Waldhaus and 76 more
26via ferratas
Via Ferrata Dauberhorn, Kleiner Klettersteig Daubenhorn, Klettersteig Kandersteg-Allmenalp and 23 more
8climbing crags and routes
Kletterfelsen Oeschiwald, Kletterfelsen Wildi, Klettergebiet Ueschenen, Klettergebiet Tolen and 4 more
17named glaciers
Joligletscher, Balmhorngletscher, Lötschgletscher, Fulegletscher and 13 more
23viewpoints
Jegertosse, Gratsattel, Gällihore, Alpschelenhubel and 19 more
5campsites
Stellplatz Lämmlis, Camping Sportarena Leukerbad, Camping Rendez-vous, Kandersteg International Scout Centre and 1 more
124hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Hotel Hari, Blümlisalp, Gemmi-Lodge Backpackers, Rössli and 120 more
89restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

134 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2T3T4T5

T1 hiking
T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Leukerbad7 km · 1,383 m
Kandersteg8 km · 1,172 m
Adelboden13 km · 1,328 m
Gampel13 km · 637 m
Leuk13 km · 744 m
Varen14 km · 759 m
Turtmann14 km · 635 m
Raron15 km · 644 m

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OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Balmhorn altels — Heavyuser · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-16	-15	-11	-6	-2	2	4	4	0	-4	-10	-15
2020	+2.4	+3.4	+1.0	+3.4	+1.3	−1.9	+0.6	+0.7	+1.3	−2.5	+3.3	−0.4
2021	−1.6	+3.1	+0.1	−1.6	−2.6	+1.3	−0.9	−1.4	+1.8	−0.3	−0.3	+1.0
2022	+1.2	+1.8	+2.5	+0.4	+2.5	+3.4	+3.2	+3.2	−0.1	+4.0	+0.9	+1.3
2023	+0.2	+3.1	+2.7	−1.4	+0.3	+1.6	+2.0	+2.0	+4.9	+3.2	−0.9	+1.5
2024	+2.0	+4.7	+1.8	−0.4	−0.3	+0.1	+1.7	+2.8	−1.2	+1.2	+2.1	+1.2
2025	+1.7	+2.9	+2.0	+2.6	+0.1	+4.0	−0.8	+1.7	+0.6	−1.0	+0.2	+2.4

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

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About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q15294) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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