Hike to the SAC Sustli Hostel in the Meien Valley

This hike consists of a steep and challenging uphill and a steep and challenging downhill with a most amazing Alpine high trail in between! It is definitely a tour for those not afraid of a challenge.

Actually, with a due amount of care, the hike can be done by families with children, and the Swiss Alpine Club Hostel seems to be popular with families. There are several opportunities for learning to rock climb up here.

According to route markers, this hike should take less than three hours, but we found that the trail conditions were a bit difficult, mostly due to streams running along the trails, so we had to tread carefully, especially on the downhill section, which was very steep in some places and the trail quite rutted and overgrown. Our time to hike this was 3.5 hours.

But the fantastic view more than makes up for any difficult terrain. After a satisfying 1-hour uphill hike, the hostel is a great place to enjoy the sun, views, and a picnic, or homemade Rösti or Alpler Macaroni. From the Hostel you can see onto the Susten Pass and the Tierbergli Hostel at 2800m perched over the magnificent Steigletscher. And heading Southwest you are greeted with the shining green Meien Valley below.

The steep descent is very interesting as the vegetation is quite varied from bracken to heather to moor and various grasses.

The hike is actually classed T2 but I would class it a bit higher because of the difficult descent.

Note: If traveling with Public Transport, the bus runs only twice in each direction per day, so check the bus schedules carefully, or you might have to hitchhike out of the valley!