
On the 23rd September 2006 I started at about 7 a.m. in the morning and at about 8 a.m. we bought some last snacks for the trip. Heading towards Zürs and Lech we finally reached Zug. It was hard to find a parking lot but while driving through the small town we spotted a fish pond with a large parking area. We had to pay 5 Euros for the whole day but the good thing was that the payment was just a credit note which can be used afterwards if you eat or drink something in the restaurant. A wonderful marketing idea we thought.
A few minutes away is the bus stop. The bus to the Formarinsee and Spullersee leaves every 30 minutes so you don’t have to wait very long.
At about 10 a.m. we were at the Formarinsee. A lot of the hikers just walk to the Freiburger Hütte or the Steinerne Meer which are nice day trips as well. But Michael and I had a other goal: the “Rote Wand”.
From the Formarinsee it takes you about 1.5 hours to the first col. It is a mostly grassy and later rocky path. At the col which is almost 2000 meters above sea level we made our first rest. After that we followed the small route on the backside of the mountain to get to the entry point for the west col. That is the only way to the top. You can reach this point from the Formarinsee like we did or you can also start at Marul.
The next big step is the rocky ridge to the top. On the way up you can see the glacier and the summit. I must admit that the last part of the ascent is not that easy, especially if you are not free from giddiness. The last meters where just slate and very slippy. But finally we made it to the summit and the impressive view was our reward. On clear days you have a fantastic panorama and you are just on top of a glacier.
We couldn’t stay at the summit as long as we wished because we calculated about 3 hours for our descent and the last bus started at 18:08 p.m from the Formarinsee. So we had a quick 30 minute rest at the top and headed back.

We managed to catch the last bus and back at Zug we converted our 5 euro credit at the fish pond. The goulash soup and bier tasted very good after our demanding 7 hour walk.
Some facts:
Time 7.5 h (with small rests)
Ascent 4 h
Altitude 900 meters
Pictures Click here