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50-876: The Rhône valley separates them from the Chablais Alps in the west and from the Pennine Alps in the south; the upper Rhône valley separates them from the Lepontine Alps to the southeast; the Grimsel Pass and the Aare valley separates them from the Uri Alps in the east, and from the Emmental Alps in the north; their northwestern edge is not well defined, describing a line roughly from Lake Geneva to Lake Thun . The Bernese Alps are drained by

100-463: A 149 km (93 mi) section of the Rhône was made navigable for small ships up to Seyssel . As of 2017 , the part between Lyon and Sault-Brénaz is closed for navigation. The Saône, which is also canalized, connects the Rhône ports to the cities of Villefranche-sur-Saône , Mâcon and Chalon-sur-Saône . Smaller vessels (up to CEMT class I ) can travel further northwest, north and northeast via

150-498: A huge toothed "claw"wheel 6.5 metres (21 ft) across to grip the river bed in the shallows to supplement the paddle wheels. In the 20th century, powerful motor barges propelled by diesel engines were introduced, carrying 1,500 tonnes (3,300,000 lb). In 1933, the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR) was established to improve navigation and generate electricity, also to develop irrigated agriculture and to protect

200-691: A prominent double-tower (ca. 3,744 m (12,283 ft)) and the quadruple-tower pt 3,716 m (12,192 ft). The Aletschhorn was first climbed almost 50 years after the first ascent of the Jungfrau . When the Jungfrau was first climbed, the climbers used base camps on the Aletschfirn, at the foot of the Aletschhorn. The Aletschhorn was climbed first in 1859 by Francis Fox Tuckett , J. J. Bennen, V. Tairraz and P. Bohren . The party passed

250-597: A series of dams and diversion canals, with a navigation lock beside the hydroelectric power plant on each of these canals. The locks were up to 23 metres (75 ft) deep. After building the Génissiat dam on the Upper Rhône (with no lock) in 1948, designed to meet the electricity needs of Paris, twelve hydroelectric plants and locks were built between 1964 and 1980. With a total head of 162 m (531 ft), they produce 13 GWh of electricity annually, or 16% of

300-583: Is 251 cubic metres per second (8,900 cu ft/s). Below the dam, the Rhône receives the waters of the Arve , fed by the Mont Blanc massif, with a visibly higher sediment load and much lower temperature. After a total of 290 kilometres (180 mi) in Switzerland, the Rhône continues west, entering France and the southern Jura Mountains . It turns toward the south, past Lac de Bourget , which

350-821: Is a mountain in the Alps in Switzerland , lying within the Jungfrau-Aletsch region, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO . The mountain shares part of its name with the Aletsch Glacier lying at its foot. The Aletschhorn, the second highest mountain of the Bernese Alps after the Finsteraarhorn , is the only one of the higher peaks that lies completely in Valais . It

400-713: Is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea ( Gulf of Lion ). At Arles , near its mouth, the river divides into the Great Rhône (French: le Grand Rhône ) and the Little Rhône ( le Petit Rhône ). The resulting delta forms the Camargue region. The river's source

450-929: Is the Rhône Glacier , at the east edge of the Swiss canton of Valais . The glacier is part of the Saint-Gotthard Massif , which gives rise to three other major rivers: the Reuss , Rhine and Ticino . The Rhône is, with the Po and the Nile , one of the three Mediterranean rivers with the largest water discharge . The name Rhône continues the Latin Rhodanus name ( Greek Ῥοδανός Rhodanós ) in Greco-Roman geography . The Gaulish name of

500-576: Is the culminating point of a chain running parallel with the dividing ridge, and surpassing it in the height of its principal peaks. Standing thus between the principal range of the Bernese Alps and the Pennine chain , it shares with the Bietschhorn the advantage of occupying a central position in relation to the high peaks around it. The Aletschhorn is often thought to command the finest of all

550-626: The Aletsch Glacier and the two summits of the Jungfrau and Bietschhorn , which constitute some of the most impressive features of the site. The actual site (after the extension) includes other large glacier valleys such as the Fiescher Glacier and the Aar Glaciers . The chief peaks of the Bernese Alps are: Main glaciers : The chief passes of the Bernese Alps are: Rh%C3%B4ne (river) The Rhône ( / r oʊ n / ROHN , French: [ʁon] )

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600-875: The Centre -Loire-Briare and Loing Canals to the Seine , via the Canal de la Marne à la Saône (recently often called the " Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne ") to the Marne , via the Canal des Vosges (formerly called the "Canal de l'Est – Branche Sud") to the Moselle and via the Canal du Rhône au Rhin to the Rhine . The Rhône is infamous for its strong current when the river carries large quantities of water: current speeds up to 10 km/h (6.2 mph) are sometimes reached, particularly in

650-399: The Grimsel Pass or, depending on the definition, to the river Reuss (thus including the Uri Alps ). The principal ridge, a chain that runs 100 kilometres (62 mi) from west ( Dent de Morcles ) to east ( Sidelhorn ), whose highest peak is the Finsteraarhorn , forms the watershed between the cantons of Bern and Valais . Except for the westernmost part, it is also the watershed between

700-454: The Rhine ( North Sea ) and the Rhône ( Mediterranean Sea ). This chain is not centered inside the range but lies close (10 to 15 km) to the Rhône on the south. This makes a large difference between the south, where the lateral short valleys descend abruptly into the deep trench forming the valley of the Rhône and the north, where the Bernese Alps extends through a great part of the canton of Bern ( Bernese Oberland ), throwing out branches to

750-611: The Schreckhorn , and the still more arduous enterprise of crossing the range bypasses, such as the Jungfraujoch and Eigerjoch , which are considered among the most difficult in the Alps. The Jungfrau-Aletsch area is located in the eastern Bernese Alps in the most glaciated region of the Alps. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site ( Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch ) in 2001 and further expanded in 2007. Its name comes from

800-757: The Swiss Alps , at an altitude of approximately 2,208 metres (7,244 ft). From there it flows southwest through Gletsch and the Goms, the uppermost valley region of the Valais before Brig . In the Brig area, it receives the waters of the Massa from the Aletsch Glacier , the longest glacier of the Alps, and shortly after, it receives the waters of the Vispa , the longest affluent in Valais. After that, it flows onward through

850-534: The Aletschhorn, despite its height, is less frequently visited and less well known than the summits of the Jungfrau and the Eiger , which lie about 10 km on the north. The Aletschorn has four significant sub-peaks: the Kleines Aletschhorn (3,745 m (12,287 ft)) is situated west of the main-summit. In the south-ridge are located the southeast-ridge-gendarm pt 3,948 m (12,953 ft),

900-659: The Alps. From Lyon, the Rhône flows south, in its large valley between the Alps and the Massif Central . At Arles , the Rhône divides into two major arms forming the Camargue delta , both branches flowing into the Mediterranean Sea, the delta being termed the Rhône Fan. The larger arm is called the "Grand Rhône", the smaller the "Petit Rhône". The average annual discharge at Beaucaire is 1,700 m /s (60,000 cu ft/s). The main tributaries of

950-791: The Morge and Hermance, the lake is divided by the two countries along its centreline, with the left bank in France. The remainder of the lake is Swiss, including the entire right (north) bank. Here, the tributaries are the Veveyse , the Venoge , the Aubonne , the Morges , among other smaller rivers. Lake Geneva ends in the city of Geneva , where the lake level is controlled by the Le Seujet dam  [ fr ] . The average discharge from Lake Geneva

1000-654: The Rhône are, from source to mouth: The Rhône has been an important highway since the times of the Greeks and Romans . It was the main trade route from the Mediterranean to east-central Gaul . As such, it helped convey Greek cultural influences to the western Hallstatt and the later La Tène cultures. Celtic tribes living near the Rhône included the Seduni , Sequani, Segobriges , Allobroges , Segusiavi , Helvetii , Vocontii and Volcae Arecomici . Navigation

1050-624: The Rhône drains via the Canal de Savières . Continuing generally westward, the Rhône then receives the waters of the Valserine , enters the reservoir created by the Génissiat Dam , and is then joined by the Ain . Reaching Lyon , the most populous city on its course, the Rhône receives its biggest tributary, the Saône , with an average flow of 473 m /s (16,700 cu ft/s), compared to

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1100-602: The Rhône's 600 m /s (21,000 cu ft/s) at this point. From this confluence, the Rhône follows a southward course. Along the Rhône Valley, it is joined on the right (western) bank by the rivers Eyrieux , Ardèche , Cèze , and Gardon coming from the Cévennes mountains ; and on the left bank by the rivers Isère , (with an average discharge of 333 m /s (11,800 cu ft/s)), Drôme , Ouvèze , and Durance (188 m /s (6,600 cu ft/s)) from

1150-492: The adjective derived from the river is rhodanien , as in le sillon rhodanien (literally "the furrow of the Rhône"), which is the name of the long, straight Saône and Rhône river valleys, a deep cleft running due south to the Mediterranean and separating the Alps from the Massif Central . Before railroads and highways were developed, the Rhône was an important inland trade and transportation route, connecting

1200-539: The area are named after Agassiz and the other explorers . The works of Desor and Gottlieb Studer have been followed by several other publications that bear testimony to Swiss mountaineering activity. Notwithstanding the activity of their predecessors, the members of the English Alpine Club have found scope for further exploits, amongst which may be reckoned the first ascents of the Aletschhorn and

1250-468: The brother Meyer of Aarau and Franz Joseph Hugi . They have explored most of the mountain ranges not very difficult to access, and have climbed most of the higher summits. In 1841, Louis Agassiz , with several scientific friends, established a temporary station on the Unteraar Glacier , and, along with scientific observations on the glaciers, started a series of expeditions. Several mountains in

1300-465: The chain east of Gemmi Pass, consisting mainly of summits around 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) on several subranges, with large valley glaciers between them. The latter section, contrary to the former, has very few foothills and is the most glaciated part of the Alps . A characteristic in the orography of the Bernese Alps is, that whereas the western portion of that chain consists of a single series of summits with comparatively short projecting buttresses,

1350-443: The cities of Arles , Avignon , Valence , Vienne and Lyon to the Mediterranean ports of Fos-sur-Mer , Marseille and Sète . Travelling down the Rhône by barge would take three weeks. By motorized vessel, the trip now takes only three days. The Rhône is classified as a Class V waterway for the 325 km-long (202-mile) section from the mouth of the Saône at Lyon to the sea at Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône . Upstream from Lyon,

1400-521: The country's total hydroelectric production (20% if the Upper Rhône schemes are added). There have been significant benefits for agriculture throughout the Rhône valley. With the Lower Rhône project completed, CNR turned its attention to the Haut-Rhône (Upper Rhône), and built four hydropower dams in the 1980s: Sault-Brénaz, Brégnier-Cordon, Belley-Brens and Chautagne. It also drew up plans for

1450-467: The high-capacity Rhine-Rhône Waterway, along the route of the existing Canal du Rhône au Rhin , but this project was abandoned in 1997. In the period from 2005 to 2010, navigation locks of small barge dimensions (40 by 6 m) were built to bypass the last two, forming a navigable waterway network with Lake Bourget, through the Canal de Savières . Cities and towns along the Rhône include: Aletschhorn The Aletschhorn (4,194 m (13,760 ft))

1500-733: The higher group presents a series of longitudinal ridges parallel to the axis of the main chain, and separated from each other by deep valleys that form the channels of great glaciers. Thus the Tschingel Glacier and the Kander Glacier , separate the portion of the main range lying between the Gemmi Pass and the Mittaghorn from the equally high parallel range of the Doldenhorn and Blümlisalp on its northern side. To

1550-633: The historical region of Chablais . It then enters Lake Geneva near Le Bouveret , where the water flows west. On the left (south) bank of Lake Geneva, the river Morge joins at the village of Saint-Gingolph , and also marks the French-Swiss border. Westward, the Dranse (unrelated to the Drance) enters the lake with its preserved delta , and then the Hermance marks another French-Swiss border. Between

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1600-433: The large glaciers of the massifs of Monte Rosa , Dom , and Grand Combin , but also from the steeper slopes of the Bernese Alps to the north, and the Mont Blanc massif to the west. As a result, the Rhône Valley experiences a drier climate than the rest of Switzerland , being sheltered by the three highest ranges of the Alps, making Valais the driest and largest wine region of the country. At Martigny, where it receives

1650-591: The night in some holes in the rocks above the Mittel Aletsch Glacier (on the east side of the mountain), and on the following morning, on 18 June, started the ascent and reached the snow arête connecting the Dreieckhorn with the main peak. The passage along this arête at a so early period of the year, before the snow has become well consolidated, involved some risk and a slope of névé lying at an angle of 50°, required care and good step-cutting. But

1700-561: The northern foothills, while on the sunnier southern foothills (Rhone Valley) it also consists of vineyards. Gemmi Pass is the most central of the major passes through the main chain. It also marks the separation between two distinct sections of the Bernese Alps: the chain west of Gemmi Pass, consisting mainly of foothills with a few large glacier-covered mountains (notably Dent de Morcles, Grand Muveran , Diablerets , Wildhorn and Wildstrubel ) around 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), and

1750-724: The panoramic views from Alpine summits. On its northern flank lies the Aletschfirn, which is part of the Aletsch Glacier . On the southwest lies the Oberaletsch Glacier and, on the southeast, lies the Mittelaletsch Glacier . Both are in the catchment area of the Massa river, which originates in the Aletsch Glacier and ends up in the Rhone river. Its remote location in the middle of glaciers means that

1800-414: The range only that crystalline rocks make their appearance; the western part is composed almost exclusively of sedimentary deposits , and the secondary ridges extending through Bern and the adjoining cantons are formed of jurassic , cretaceous , or eocene strata . The beauty of the scenery and the facilities offered to travellers by the general extension of mountain railways make the northern side of

1850-401: The range, the Bernese Oberland , one of the portions of the Alps most visited by tourists. Since strangers first began to visit the Alps, the names of Grindelwald , Lauterbrunnen , and Interlaken have become famous. But unlike many other Alpine regions, which have been left to be explored by strangers, this region has been long visited by Swiss travellers and men of science. Among them were

1900-438: The reconstructed Gaulish name is masculine, as is French le Rhône . This form survives in the Spanish/Portuguese and Italian namesakes, el/o Ródano and il Rodano , respectively. German has adopted the French name but given it the feminine gender, die Rhone . The original German adoption of the Latin name was also masculine, der Rotten ; it survives only in the Upper Valais ( dialectal Rottu ). In French,

1950-416: The river Aare and its tributary the Saane in the north, the Rhône in the south, and the Reuss in the east. The Bernese Alps are amongst the three highest major subranges of the Alps, together with the Pennine Alps and the Mont Blanc massif . One of the most prominent Alpine ranges, the Bernese Alps extend from the gorge of Saint-Maurice , through which the Rhône finds its way to Lake Geneva, to

2000-449: The river was * Rodonos or * Rotonos (from a PIE root * ret- "to run, roll" frequently found in river names). Names in other languages include German : Rhone [ˈroːnə] ; Walser : Rotten [ˈrotən] ; Italian : Rodano [ˈrɔːdano] ; Arpitan : Rôno [ˈʁono] ; Occitan : Ròse [ˈrɔze, ˈʀɔze] ; and Romansh : Rodan . The Greco-Roman as well as

2050-443: The riverside towns and land from flooding. Some progress was made in deepening the navigation channel and constructing scouring walls, but World War II brought such work to a halt. In 1942, following the collapse of Vichy France , Italian military forces occupied southeastern France up to the eastern banks of the Rhône, as part of the Italian Fascist regime's expansionist agenda. In 1948, the French government started construction of

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2100-426: The south, the same portion of the main range is divided from the still higher parallel range whose summits are the Aletschhorn and the Bietschhorn by the Lötschental and the Lötschenlücke . To this again succeeds the deep trench through which the lower part of the Aletsch Glacier flows down to the Rhône, enclosed by the minor ridge that culminates at the Eggishorn . It is in the central and eastern portions of

2150-416: The stretch below the last lock at Vallabrègues and in the relatively narrow first diversion canal south of Lyon. The 12 locks are operated daily from 5:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. All operation is centrally controlled from one control centre at Châteauneuf. Commercial barges may navigate during the night hours by authorisation. The Rhône begins as the meltwater of the Rhône Glacier in Valais , in

2200-422: The summit could be reached without too much difficulty. Like many other climbers, Tuckett took with him a barometer and made scientific observations. He noted the icy temperature and the very strong wind, blowing the snow and threatening to knock over the climbers. After they reached the summit, Tuckett separated from Bennen and descended via the north face with Bohren and Tairraz. He wanted to descend directly to

2250-412: The upper river used barques du Rhône , sailing barges, 30 by 3.5 metres (98 by 11 ft), with a 75-tonne (165,000 lb) capacity. As many as 50 to 80 horses were employed to haul trains of five to seven craft upstream. Goods would be transshipped at Arles into 23-metre (75 ft) sailing barges called allèges d'Arles for the final run down to the Mediterranean. The first experimental steam boat

2300-430: The valley which bears its name and runs initially in a westerly direction about thirty kilometers to Leuk , then southwest about fifty kilometers to Martigny . Down as far as Brig , the Rhône is a torrent; it then becomes a great mountain river running southwest through a glacial valley. Between Brig and Martigny , it collects waters mostly from the valleys of the Pennine Alps to the south, whose rivers originate from

2350-421: The waters of the Drance on its left bank, the Rhône makes a sharp turn towards the north. Heading toward Lake Geneva ( French : Le Léman ), the valley narrows near Saint-Maurice , a feature that has long given the Rhône valley strategic importance for the control of the Alpine passes. The Rhône then marks the boundary between the cantons of Valais (left bank) and Vaud (right bank), separating two parts of

2400-406: The west into the adjoining cantons of Vaud and Fribourg . There the mountains progressively become lower and disappear into the hilly Swiss Plateau . The Bernese Alps have a large influence on the climate of Switzerland: while their north side is very exposed to weather, their south side is protected from it. As a consequence, agriculture consists essentially of dairy farming and cattle breeding on

2450-433: Was built at Lyon by Jouffroy d'Abbans in 1783. Regular services were not started until 1829 and they continued until 1952. Steam passenger vessels 80 to 100 metres (260–330 ft) long made up to 20 km/h (11 kn) and could do the downstream run from Lyon to Arles in a day. Cargo was hauled in bateau-anguilles , boats 157 by 6.35 metres (515.1 by 20.8 ft) with paddle wheels amidships, and bateaux crabes ,

2500-404: Was difficult, as the river suffered from fierce currents, shallows, floods in spring and early summer when the ice was melting, and droughts in late summer. Until the 19th century, passengers travelled in coches d'eau (water coaches) drawn by men or horses, or under sail. Most travelled with a painted cross covered with religious symbols as protection against the hazards of the journey. Trade on

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