Bouldering in Southeast Switzerland

The big three top bouldering destinations in Switzerland are all located in the southeast of the country, these being Magic Wood, Cresciano, and Chironico. The excellent rock, geography and climate of the southern Swiss valleys and mountain passes, has made this area one of the top European bouldering hotspots. 

The bouldering areas in Southeast Switzerland are often located in a mixture of beautiful woodland settings, open meadows or alongside rivers. Due to the variety of altitudes it is possible to boulder in Switzerland throughout the year. For low level areas such as Cresciano the best time of the year is from September to April, whilst high altitude areas such Gottardo are ideal during the summer.

Magic Wood is a world famous bouldering destination. The bouldering is located in an ancient conifer wood, high in the mountains next to a rushing river, close to the village of Ausserferrera. All the bouldering at Magic Wood is on excellent quality granite rock that is both fine-grained and rough, often with positive sharp holds.  There are more than 1,400 boulder problems across a wide range of grades (Fb3 to Fb8c), with many problems graded over Fb8a. Furthermore, the boulders are situated on an old talus slope and generally the landings are poor that require multiple pads and spotters to make it safe.  At an altitude of 1,200m, the best time to boulder at Magic Wood is from May to October.  In summer Magic Wood is known to be one of the coolest bouldering areas in Europe.

A dedicated guidebook for the bouldering at Magic Wood is called “Magic Wood – Bloc” that is available to buy from our shop.

Cresciano will forever be linked with the iconic Dreamtime boulder problem that was graded as the World’s first 8c problem (later downgraded to 8b+). Today Cresciano attracts boulderers from all over the World due to its easy access, and the excellent quality of the granite rock. There are over 1,800 problems here across a wide range of grades, many of which have good landings. The wide variety of styles has everything from slabs to overhangs, and many crimpy walls. 

Though it is possible to boulder all year-round the best time to boulder at Cresciano is from September to April.

The Cresciano Bouldering Guidebook is the comprehensive guidebook that is available to buy from our shop.

Chironico is located in a beautiful woodland setting and features all manner of styles and heights of problem on superb solid granite gneiss rock.  This rough rock provides wonderful friction, with a wide variety of styles from slabs, vertical walls with small edges, to overhangs.  The climbing is usually technical, but many of the problems also require a good amount of finger strength.

There are over 2,100 problems across a wide range of grades (fb5 to fb9a) in 37 different sectors in the Chironico area.  The best time to boulder at Chironico is from the autumn through to the spring, though there is a risk of snow during the winter.

The Chironico and Sobrio Bouldering Guidebook is the comprehensive guidebook that is available to buy from our shop.

Brione Verzasca is a small village that is surrounded by Gneiss boulders. They are strewn along the river, in the forests, and throughout the meadows making Brione Verzasca an extremely popular and much visited bouldering area. The boulders are of compact gneiss that offers a variety of bouldering styles from slabs and crimpy faces, to overhangs. The best time to boulder at Brione Verzasca is in the spring and autumn, as some sectors are banned from the end of March and mid-October for agricultural reasons.

The Verzasca Bouldering Guidebook is the comprehensive guidebook that is available to buy from our shop.

There are a couple of other bouldering guidebooks available that cover the bouldering in Southeast Switzerland that are available from our shop. The Swiss Bloc 1 guidebook covers the Magic Wood area plus Gottardo, Grimsel, Sustenpass, and Engelberg. The Alpen en Bloc 1 bouldering guidebook covers the Magic Wood area plus Murgtal, Sustenpass and Gottardo.