Plasselb – Le Cousimbert – La Berra – Charmey | Mountain hiking | Swiss Alpine Club SAC
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Plasselb – Le Cousimbert – La Berra – Charmey La Berra 1719 m

  • Difficulty
    T2
  • Ascent
    4 h, 1100 m
  • Descent
    2:30 h, 1070 m

From Röstigraben to spa

This is a tour across several summits to La Berra, a first-class viewpoint. Formerly it was also called Birrenberg. There is an invisible line separating the French speaking from the German speaking part of Switzerland, the "Röstigraben" ("Rösti ditch"), and it goes right through La Berra.

Route description

Plasselb – Chrüzflue – Le Cousimbert / Käsenberg
At Plasselb descend south-westward to the Ärgera. Before the bridge (815 m) turn left to follow the creek into Plasselbschlund. Cross the next bridge, follow the road for a short while, then branch off to a trail on the left-hand side. It follows the Ärgera and finally turns northward to cross the road through the gorge. The hiking trail continues northward in pastures and through the forest and past the Birbaumli hut to reach the ridge and finally Chrüzflue (1263 m), an unobtrusive summit. Continue south-westward, at first through the forest, then in pastures to reach Buvette Crau-Rappo (ca. 1305 m) and a road. Leave the road as soon as you can to reach the ridge. Follow the trail on the ridge. Further up you exit the forest and continue on the hiking trail past the mountain restaurant at Gros Cousimbert (1571 m) to reach the summit cross at Le Cousimbert/Käsenberg (1632 m).
Variant 1: ascent to Le Cousimbert / Käsenberg from La Roche
From the Le Stoutz bus stop on the southern edge of La Roche follow the road towards the village until the hiking trail branches off to the right. Ascend steeply through the forest to Sur le Bey and the road giving access to the La Berra skiing area. Follow the road to the holiday homes at Montsoflo, then take the hiking trail to Le Brand (ca. 1040 m, unnamed on the map), the bottom station of the ski-lifts. Follow the hiking trail via Le Cousimbert à Remy to reach the grassy ridge. Follow it to the summit cross on Käsenberg / Le Cousimbert (1632 m); La Roche – Le Cousimbert/ Käsenberg: 2¾ h.
Le Cousimbert / Käsenberg – La Berra – Gîte d'Allières
There is a marked hiking trail on the ridge via Supiletta (1584 m) to Buvette La Berra and directly up to La Berra (1719 m). You can descend on the ascent route back to Buvette La Berra and continue on a wide trail southward to Gîte d’Allières. However, there is a shortcut: pathless, descend south-westward on the grassy summit slope to reach the forest edge. Traverse the forest to the wide trail on the west face. On this trail continue to descend to Gîte d’Allières (1485 m).
Variant 2: access to Gîte d'Allières from Vanil des Cours
Switch from the «Broc-Fabrique – Vanil des Cours» tour: from Vanil des Cours descend northward to La Guille (1269 m) and past the La Chia knoll (ca. 1364 m) to reach a col (P. 1334 m). The hiking trail to La Berra goes north-eastward via Le Solitou (1381 m) to reach another col (1376 m). Now leave the hiking trail to take a path on the ridge. Follow this path, at first in the forest, then along the forest edge to reach Mont aux Oies (P. 1474, unnamed on the map). In the pasture descend south-eastward to reach the hiking trail, which you meet, where it disappears in the forest. It descends to a saddle (ca. 1429 m), traverses a knoll (P. 1456) and finally ends at Gîte d’Allières (1485 m) close to La Berra; T1-T2, Vanil des Cours – Gîte d'Allières ca. 2 h.
Gîte d’Allières – La Valsainte – Charmey
The descent from Gîte d’Allières follows the south ridge until ca. 1270 m, where the trail turns sharply left to reach P. 1239 on the road. Follow the road, then a trail to La Cierne. From there go eastward to the La Valsainte monastery (1015 m). It is the only Carthusian monastery in Switzerland (closed to the public). Pass the monastery on the east, cross Le Javro (965 m) and ascend to the road. For a short while follow the road, then the trail on the hillside to Les Ciernes. From here do not follow the hiking route on the left-hand side, but the road straight ahead to the St-Jean chapel and the Bains de la Gruyère of Charmey (open daily all year round). There are two bus stops nearby: Village and Corbettaz.
Variant 3: descent from Gîte d'Allières to La Roche
Descend on the hiking trail from Gîte d’Allières via La Berguerite and La Maule to the Le Stoutz bus stop at La Roche; Gîte d’Allières – La Roche ca.1½ h.
Variante 4: descent from La Berra to Schwarzsee Bad
From La Berra follow the ridge to the east which in constant ups and downs goes across La Berra Est (1688 m, summit cross, unnamed on the map) and Parc des Fayes (ca. 1572 m, unnamed on the map) and finally bypasses a nameless knoll to reach the L‘Auta Chia d’Amont mountain restaurant (1456 m, also spelled „Hauta Chia“). Ascend to La Patta (1616 m) on its west ridge, then descend to the saddle at P.1487. Re-ascend to the south summit of Schwyberg (1627 m). Now descend either pathless via P. 1595 and the south-east ridge to reach the hiking trail, which leads from Guglervorsass to Schwarzsee Bad, or across Güger to Schwarzsee Gypsera; T1-T2, Gîte d'Allières - La Patta - Schwyberg Süd - Schwarzsee Bad ca. 3¼ h.

Additional information

Departure point

Plasselb, Dorf (856 m)

An der tpf-Buslinie Fribourg - Tafers - Plaffeien - Schwarzsee.

End point

Charmey (Gruyère), village (880 m)

Stop on the tpf-bus-line Bulle - Charmey - Jaun - Jaunpass - Boltigen.

Time

Total hiking time: 6½ h

Plasselb – Chrüzflue: 2 h

Chrüzflue – Le Cousimbert/ Käsenberg 1½ h

Le Cousimbert/ Käsenberg – La Berra: 45 min

La Berra – Gîte d’Allières: 15 min

Gîte d’Allières – La Valsainte: 1 h

La Valsainte – Charmey: 1 h

Difficulty / Material

The difficulty is T2 on the descent from the La Berra summit. Short passages (avoidable) are pathless. The major part is on marked hiking trails.

Waypoints

La Valsainte, Couvent (1015 m)

La Roche FR, Le Stoutz (752 m)

Departure and endpoint Variant.

Schwarzsee Bad (FR) (1055 m)

Endpoint Variant.

Catering and overnight stay
Neighbor summit

Kapberg (1442 m)

The Kapberg (1442 m) is a grass hill in the Plasselbschlund surrounded by the Ärgera and the Höllbach streams, the N foot of which is mined (quarry). Accessible, for example, from the mountain restaurant Auta Chia d'Amont. The descent to Plasselb on the official hiking trails is boring. It is therefore better to descend via Chli Bösingerhubel to Chli Hammerboden and take a path via Gross Hammerboden to the Ärgera, which is crossed on a suspension bridge; After a 20-minute walk on the Schlundstrasse you reach the marked footpath.

Authors

Daniel Anker

Daniel Anker is a Bernese author and photographer. The historian has written around 40 ski tour, hiking, via ferrata and mountain bike guide books as well as detailed monographs on individual peaks in Switzerland.

Oliver Neumann

Oliver Neumann is an SAC tour guide and author for the SAC-Tourenportal. His area of work includes mountain and alpine hiking in the Freiburg Alps as well as snowshoe tours in the Jura, Bernese, Freiburg and Vaud Alps.

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