The view from the summit of the 3,437-metre-high Breithorn above the Simplon Pass stretches endlessly into the distance. This effect is familiar from most peaks, but due to its location far into the southern Valais Alps, the view from the Breithorn is in a different league.
It will be my first visit to this summit in the next two days - today alone, while tomorrow I want to go up again with Marina. I had actually only planned to climb a short distance, but as is sometimes the case, you go further, further - and a little further. Until you finally reach the point where it just doesn't make sense to turn back. So I walk to the summit after all. And although I once again have my well-known problem with getting enough food during a strenuous activity, I reach the highest point of the Breithorn in spring-like temperatures.
The Breithorn (3,437 m) on the Simplon Pass
I don't know exactly how many Breithorns there are in the Alps, but there are quite a few. If you add their more distant relatives such as the Breitenberg or similar namesakes, the number grows even more. The best known is certainly the Zermatt Breithorn, which has earned a place in the list of the highest mountains in the Alps thanks to its height of over 4,000 meters. At less than 3,500 m, the Breithorn on the Simplon Pass has to admit defeat here. But that doesn't make the mountain any less exciting.
In contrast to many other mountains, the Breithorn hides somewhat shyly behind the massive Hübschhorn, which dominates the Simplon Pass. At the same time, the Breithorn is outdone in terms of height by Monte Leone, which lies a little further to the east. Thanks to the varied ski route from the Simplon Pass, the summit is nevertheless a popular ski tour destination - especially in spring.
From the slush to the sulz
Marina and I arrived on the Simplon Pass by van in the early afternoon. While Marina works remotely from one of her highest workstations, I set off on my “short” exploration tour. However, this also means that now, at the summit, I already have most of the day behind me - and the bright sun has had plenty of time to turn the snow into a rather unpopular form for ski tourers: wet sulphur snow.
In the uppermost part of the summit, I first have to deal with nasty broken snow and wind-pressed snow, before a long, fortunately still relatively easy to ski western slope awaits me below the 3,334 m high Breithorn Pass, where the vertical meters just tumble. Below the north-west face of the Hübschhorn, however, I'm caught out: the snow gets warmer, wetter and more slushy, and the descent towards the Simplonhospiz, where the van is parked, is tough. The last three hundred meters of altitude are really no fun anymore. I get stuck all the time and hardly make any progress. But it's my own fault: if you start so late in late winter, you will be “rewarded” with snowy conditions. After all, there is no significant objective danger on the route from warming slopes with avalanche potential above the track. Nevertheless, I can't deny that I'm glad when I get back to the car.
Spontaneous change of campsite
We had actually planned to simply spend the night up here at the top of the pass. However, the relatively loud long-distance traffic on the route over the Simplon Pass, which is heavily used by trucks, makes us reconsider this idea. We spontaneously find a good plan B, which gives us a quiet night at the lovingly designed panorama campsite above Brig. From there, we drive up to the top of the pass again the next morning, this time to tackle the summit of the Breithorn together.
We set off much earlier the next day and reach yesterday's parking lot at the Simplonhospiz after a 20-minute drive in the early hours of the morning. The Simplonhospiz is quite an impressive building. It radiates a massive sense of peace and quiet, which probably gave every traveler a sense of security and protection in earlier times - in the middle of the rough surroundings of the 2,000 m high Simplon Pass. Between Brig in the Swiss canton of Valais, the Simplon Pass connects Domodossola in Italy via a well-built road. It is one of the few pass crossings in the Alps that can be used all year round, even in winter (except in extreme weather conditions).
The key to the key passage
The key section of the ski tour to the Breithorn is often the somewhat steeper traverse below the Hübschhorn. Around point 2,361 m, the exposed north-facing section can be quite challenging in hard snow. Today - and in this snowy winter season - we are lucky: thanks to good snow conditions and a perfect track, we slide over the passage within a few minutes and find ourselves on the long slope up towards the Homattu Pass.
We take a break in the morning sun near the Homattu Pass. You don't necessarily have to cross the actual pass at an altitude of 2,866 m, but it's certainly a good place to take a break and enjoy the views. We gaze thoughtfully at the mountains of the Valais Alps, which are so well covered in snow this winter. Exceptional amounts of snow at higher altitudes make for equally exceptional conditions, and in some cases routes are possible that can only rarely be attempted.
That's fine by us, because as this text is being written, it's March 2025 - almost exactly one year later - and the snow situation in the Alps looks relatively precarious. So we enjoy the here and now and after another, somewhat exhausting 500-metre ascent, we reach the Breithorn Pass, from where only around 100 meters separate us from the summit of the Breithorn.
Once again we ascend in wind-pressed, hard snow - the last few meters again on foot. Then we look down together from the 3,437 m high summit to the north side of the Fletschhorn and its colleagues further south: the Lagginghorn and the Weissmies. To the south, the Alps end and the haze of the Italian Po Valley dominates the panorama.
1,400 vertical meters descent to the Simplon Pass
After a short rest at the windy summit, we make our way back. Today, thanks to the earlier time of day, the snow conditions are slightly better - but our legs are a little more tired. We soon reach the traverse again via the almost crevasse-free Homattu Glacier and, after a few hundred meters of braking snow, our van, where another beautiful ski tour of the 2023/2024 winter season comes to an end.
In our opinion, the ski tour to the Breithorn from the Simplon Pass is a highly recommended tour with magnificent views. There are no other high mountains blocking the view of the wide, flat Italian landscape, especially to the south. You are practically in the middle of the southern main Alpine ridge and, at an altitude of just under 3,500 m, you have the perfect perspective for great views in all directions.
