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38-631: The Eiger does not lie in the ridge of the Bernese Alps which divides the basins of the Rhone and the Aar , but forms a promontory extending north-east from the Mönch, and is connected with it by a long and high arête , in which jagged teeth of rock project through a coating of ice. At the southern end, where this arete abuts against the shoulder of the Mönch, it overlooks the gently-sloping plateau which forms

76-543: A 7-foot pyramid to anchor a flagpole. Hugi stayed behind somewhat above the saddle not daring to cross a steep slope, partly because he had twisted an ankle four weeks earlier. On the way back Hugi's ankle played up and Leuthold, Währen and Joseph Zemt took turns carrying him down the glacier. Hugi's account makes no mention of evidence of an earlier ascent. In articles of 1881 and 1908, the mountaineers and leading historians of Alpine exploration Gottlieb Studer and W.A.B. Coolidge , respectively, declared to be convinced that

114-575: A fair prospect of success, resolved to attempt to pass from the Wengern Alp by the north and east sides of the peak of the Mönch. Starting at 4 a.m. they soon reached the Eiger Glacier , and ascended for some distance along the side nearest to the Eiger . On reaching the very much crevassed middle region of the glacier, some time was lost in the endeavour to force a direct way. The correct course

152-553: Is a mountain lying on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais . It is the highest mountain of the Bernese Alps and the most prominent peak of Switzerland . The Finsteraarhorn is the ninth-highest mountain and third-most prominent peak in the Alps . In 2001 the whole massif and surrounding glaciers were designated as part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch World Heritage Site. Despite being

190-621: Is split between the municipalities of Fieschertal (Valais) and Guttannen (Bern). The Valais–Bern border is also the watershed between the Rhône ( Mediterranean Sea ) and Rhine ( North Sea ) rivers. The Finsteraarhorn is the culminating point of the Rhine drainage basin . The Finsteraarhorn was dethroned by Monte Rosa as the highest summit of Switzerland when Valais joined the Swiss Confederation in 1815. The Finsteraarhorn

228-765: Is the culminating point of the Aarmassif , a geologic crystalline massif which crops out in the eastern Bernese Alps and Urner Alps . The massif belongs to the Helvetic zone and consists of rocks from the European continent, mainly granites and gneisses . The summit itself is composed of amphibolites . The tectonic uplift of the massif occurred late in the alpine orogeny, during the Oligocene , 30 to 40 million years ago. The inelastic deformation of rocks led to many fractures and formation of hydrothermal crystals by

266-770: 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: Finsteraarhorn The Finsteraarhorn (4,274 m (14,022 ft))

304-619: The Alpine Club . The most difficult route to the summit, the north-east face, was opened on 16 July 1904 by G. Hasler and his guide F. Amatter. The ascent marked the beginning of the épopée of the great north faces in the Bernese Alps. In fact the north-east face of the Finsteraarhorn was climbed only 11 times between 1904 and 1977. A third ascent was made on 3 September 1930 by Miriam O'Brien Underhill with guides A. and F. Rubi. She relates this dangerous ascent in her book Give Me

342-837: 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

380-462: 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

418-475: The Jungfrau the previous year. They approached the mountain via the Oberaarjoch, Studer glacier, and south-east ridge, which is a more difficult and longer route than the current normal route over the north-west ridge. Meyer became exhausted and remained behind after reaching the ridge, perhaps near P. 3883 ( Meyer's Peak ). Huber kept him company, while the three other guides went on and purportedly reached

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456-557: 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

494-612: 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

532-731: The Meyer expedition had been successful. However, John Percy Farrar concluded in 1913 in an article in the Alpine Journal that the guides in 1812 must have reached the 4,167 m high shoulder 200 m south of the true summit, which he considered nevertheless a feat half a century ahead of its time. The fifth ascent took place on August 13, 1857. It was the first British ascent, made by John Frederick Hardy, William Mathews , Benjamin St John Attwood-Mathews, John Clough Williams-Ellis and Edward Shirley Kennedy , accompanied by

570-539: 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

608-468: 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

646-466: 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,

684-558: The comparative shelter of the Kaulberg cave, and were forced to pass the night on some exposed rocks at the southern base of the Trugberg , where their position in case of bad weather would have been very critical. The Eggishorn was reached on the following morning about 9 a.m. in about 29 hours trom the Wengern Alp. Bernese Alps The Bernese Alps are a mountain range of the Alps located in western Switzerland . Although

722-453: The deposition of the saturated water flowing inside. The first ascent was long a controversial matter. The first attempt was made on 16 August 1812 by the Aargau merchant Rudolph Meyer  [ de ] , guided by the locals Kaspar Huber, Arnold Abbühl, Joseph Bortes and Aloys Volker. Bortes and Volker, guiding Meyer's father  [ de ] and uncle, had been the first to climb

760-602: The east lie the Great Aar Glaciers . The smaller Lower Grindelwald Glacier lies north of the massif. The Finsteraarhorn is surrounded by the summits of the Schreckhorn and Lauteraarhorn to the north, the Gross Fiescherhorn , Grünhorn and Gross Wannenhorn to the west and the Oberaarhorn to the east. The summit lies on the border between the cantons of Valais and Bern . Politically, it

798-624: The end approaching the Eiger the ridge is far easier of access, and this therefore was the first object of attack. On gaining the summit the travellers found themselves at the top of a tremendous precipice overlooking one arm of the Lower Grindelwald Glacier , while the arête to the right connecting them with the Mönch was broken through by so many jagged teeth of rock, and at the same time so narrow and difficult, that many hours would probably have been consumed in passing along it. It

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836-465: The glacier diagonally a third time to a sort of snow valley, where the crevasses were apparently filled up by avalanches from the Mönch. By this circuitous but not very difficult route the party reached the uppermost plateau of the glacier, lying immediately below the ridge connecting the two peaks. On the side nearest the Monch the ridge was accessible only by extremely long and steep slopes of hard snow. At

874-560: The guides Auguste Simond and Jean Baptiste Croz from Chamonix, Johann Jaun the Elder from Meiringen, Aloys Bortis from Fiesch and the porter Alexander Guntern from Biel in Goms. They left Konkordiaplatz at 2:30 pm, reaching the summit at exactly 11:53 pm. Before ascending the mountain, Mathews already mentioned his idea of a club for alpinists. On the summit of the Finsteraarhorn the climbers decided to found such an association, which would be named

912-733: 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

950-409: The most elevated , prominent and isolated mountain of both the Bernese Alps and the canton of Bern , the Finsteraarhorn is less known and frequented than the nearby Jungfrau and Eiger . This is due to its location in one of the most remote areas in the Alps , completely surrounded by un-inhabited glacial valleys. To its west lies the Fiescher Glacier , the second longest in the Alps, and to

988-477: The name suggests that they are located in the Berner Oberland region of the canton of Bern , portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Valais , Fribourg and Vaud , the latter being usually named Fribourg Alps and Vaud Alps respectively. The highest mountain in the range, the Finsteraarhorn , is also the highest point in the canton of Bern. The Rhône valley separates them from

1026-406: The north-west ridge, but had to retreat because of bad weather after Hugi and one of the guides (Arnold Dändler) nearly had fallen off the ridge. The next year Hugi organized another expedition via the same route. While an attempt on the 3rd of August faltered, on 10 August 1829 two of his guides, Jakob Leuthold and Johann Währen were able to reach the summit, where they spent three hours building

1064-561: 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

1102-581: The party to gain a patch of rock some way below the summit of the ridge, and more than an hour more was expended in reaching the desired goal. Turning to the right along the arête, they finally reached at 6 p.m. the point on the shoulder of the Mönch which forms the summit level of this pass, which was probably the Südliches Eigerjoch. In descending to the Aletsch Glacier the discoverers of this pass were benighted before they could reach

1140-415: 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

1178-467: 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

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1216-577: 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

1254-663: 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

1292-494: The summit after three hours. On 19 August 1828, Franz Joseph Hugi , a geologist from Solothurn , made another attempt with seven local climbers. Among these was Arnold Abbühl, who told Hugi about his ascent 16 years earlier, but Hugi scoffingly dismissed his account, partly because Abbühl misidentified the peak in the beginning of their approach. The group reached a ca. 4,080-metre (13,390-foot) saddle (the Hugisattel ) on

1330-478: The summit of the Mönchsjoch , and the descent on the side of the Aletsch Glacier presents no serious difficulty. The first crossing was made by Leslie Stephen and W. and G. S. Mathews, with Ulrich Lauener of Lauterbrunnen and J. B. Croz and M. Charlet of Chamonix. In August 1859, the three enterprising mountaineers above named, failing to perceive any route by which the Jungfraujoch could be attacked with

1368-407: 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

1406-404: Was therefore thought expedient to return, and to attempt the ascent by the ice-slope, as it should be called since the névé is so hard and slippery as to make stepcutting very laborious. Ulrich Lauener on that occasion displayed extraordinary strength and endurance, having in 5 hours of uninterrupted work cut 580 steps on an ice slope of from 50 to 52° inclination. That effort sufficed only to enable

1444-418: Was to cross to the southern bank below the rocks of the Mönch. After a short ascent the form of the crevasses made it expedient to cross back to the opposite side, nearly to the edge of the glacier, here held up by the great rocky buttress of the Eiger, so remarkable from the Wengern Alp. Further progress seemed to be barred by the menacing condition of the seracs; but the difficulties could be avoided by crossing

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