How to Hike Mt. Pilatus

The first thing I heard about hiking Mount Pilatus was that I might die.

Mount Pilatus looms majestically over the small alpine city of Lucerne. A small restaurant and hotel complex atop the summit is visible on sunny days. The most popular trailhead and gondola ride is easily accessible by riding the #1 bus from the Lucerne Banhof (train and bus station), and walking 5 minutes following the dragon signs.

The trail from Kriens is divided in 3 sections: Krienseregg, Fräkmüntegg, and Pilatus Kilm. Each of these stops have bathrooms, food and attractions. Krienseregg and Fräkmüntegg are child-friendly, the latter offering a tree-top rope and zipline park, and a toboggan run. The gondola services each stop. Hiking up from Kriens takes 3-5 hours for the average healthy person. The trail from Alpnachstad is a more direct way up, shorter, taking 2-4 hours.

A friend warned me that at least 5 people fell to their death hiking the mountain trails this season, the trails were challenging, and I better take the gondola ride up. Skeptical of this, I went home and poked around online, finding very little in the way of helpful logistical info (in English). It was difficult to draw any conclusions because accidents happen and people hike irresponsibly all the time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people in flip-flops or cocktail-party clothing. I continued searching for information about the difficulty of the trails, and came across the T-raking system for hiking trails, from the casual T1 to Alpine T6 which demands “excellent navigation skills, proven alpine experience and equipment”.

https://www.bergfreunde.eu/alpine-grades-calculator/

Again, hard to say whether my life would be at risk on a T3 or T4 trail. I’ve hiked Tunnel Mountain in Banff and Wheeler Peak in New Mexico on my own, but somehow my first Alpine encounter intimidated me.

Later that evening, I shared my hiking plans with my host family. The husband is a former Olympic rower and hikes the mountain weekly. He goes up in 2 hours (insane, but no surprising for an Olympian) and rides the gondola down. When I expressed my safety concerns, he said I would have no problems going up, only down. Apparently most fatal accidents happen when overly ambitious and unprepared people hike the segment down from the summit (Pilatus Kilm) to Fräkmüntegg. There’s a good stretch of loose rock that demands steady footing which I found to be both mentally and physically challenging on the way up. After 4 miles of hiking uphill you’re exhausted, probably dehydrated, and mental exhausted. The only moment I felt unsafe on the way up was when my head was foggy from exhaustion.

Pilatus Hiking Tips:

-Bring lots of water and refill often

-Bring snacks for the journey and destination- food is expensive on top of the mountain!

-Bring money- it’s 36$ to ride the gondola down from the summit to Kriens

-Don’t hike down from the summit (Pilatus Kilm) to Fräkmüntegg. Just don’t, it’s not worth it. It’s dangerous- take this advice from an Olympic Athlete.

-Actually, don’t hike down at all if you can help it. Pay the 36$ to not destroy your legs and your mood.

-The last cable car leaves the summit at 5:45pm. There’s often a long line so be sure to budget enough time that you don’t risk missing or not getting on to the last ride down.

-If you don’t make it to Fräkmüntegg by 4pm, turn around or you’ll be hiking the whole way down, which I once again don’t recommend.

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