Weisshorn (Valais)
| Weisshorn | ||
|---|---|---|
 The Weisshorn in a drawing by ET Compton |
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| height | 4505 m above sea level M. | |
| location | Canton of Valais , Switzerland | |
| Mountains | Alps ( Walliser Alps , Weisshorn Group ) | |
| Dominance | 11.1 km → Dom | |
| Notch height | 1235 m ↓ Furggjoch | |
| Coordinates | 621 456 / 105580 | |
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| First ascent | August 19, 1861 by John Tyndall , Johann Josef Benet and Ulrich Wenger | |
| Normal way | East ridge (III) | |
The Weisshorn is 4505 m above sea level. M. high mountain in the Valais Alps with the shape of a regular pyramid formed by three sharp ridges . It is the main summit of the Weisshorn group .
Ascent history
The first ascent of the Weisshorn took place on August 19, 1861 by John Tyndall , Johann Josef Benet , called Bennen von Steinhaus VS and Ulrich Wenger over the east ridge, today's normal route.
The southwest ridge (Schaligrat), the most demanding of the three Weisshorn ridges, was first climbed on September 2nd, 1895 by mountain guides Josef Marie Biner and Ambros Imboden from St. Niklaus and the Englishman Edward Broome. Finally, the north ridge was first climbed on September 21, 1898 by H. Biehly and H. Burgener.
In the three large walls of the Weisshorn, the rock is often of poor quality. The flanks, which are at risk of falling rocks and ice, are therefore rarely climbed. Only the Younggrat , a rib that pulls down from the gendarme of the north ridge to the west, is a reasonably safe route. It was named after the British alpinist Geoffrey Winthrop Young , who made the first ascent on September 7, 1900 with the guides Benoît and Louis Theytaz. In an early attempt to climb the west face, the famous Munich mountaineer Georg Winkler was killed in August 1888. Winkler remained missing until 1956 when the Weisshorn Glacier released his body.
Three-dimensional model of the Weisshorn
A three-dimensional model of the Weisshorn on a scale of 1: 625 can be found in the Mountain Guide Museum in St. Niklaus Dorf. The Weisshorn is regarded as one of the most beautiful mountains in the Mattertal and is particularly popular with alpinists.
Metal cross on the tip of the Weisshorn in 1978
On the occasion of the 100th birthday of Franz Lochmatter , who fell fatally in 1933 while descending from the Weisshornspitze over the east ridge (normal ridge) on the great gendarme, which is now called the Lochmatterturm , the mountain guides of the Mattertal continued on Saturday, 23 September 1978, a metal cross on the top of the Weisshorn. On Sunday, September 24, 1978, the blessing of the cross and a commemoration ceremony took place at the Weisshorn hut .
1983 helicopter accident
On the evening of July 31, 1983, Air Zermatt carried out a search flight on the south side of the Weisshorn with an Alouette III helicopter . Two alpinists were missing. In addition to the pilot, there was a flight assistant and a mountain guide in the helicopter. The helicopter hit the Schali Glacier and was destroyed. The flight assistant died of his injuries. The mountain guide and the pilot survived the accident, seriously injured. The two alpinists could later only be rescued dead.
Routes
East ridge
- Difficulty: ZS , III (Frz scale: AD; with III.. UIAA -degree rock climbing)
- Time required: 7 hours
- Starting point: Weisshornhütte (2,932 m)
- Valley location: Randa (1,408 m)
North-Northwest Ridge
- Difficulty: ZS + , III + (French scale: AD +; with III +. UIAA grade rock climbing)
- Time required: 8 hours
- Starting point: Cabane de Tracuit (3,256 m)
- Valley location : Zinal (1,675 m)
Southwest ridge or Schaligrat
- Difficulty: S , IV (French scale: D; with IV. UIAA grade rock climbing)
- Time required: 5 hours
- Starting point: Schalijochbiwak (3'780 m)
- Valley location : Zermatt (1,614 m)
From Zinalrothorn seen from
Weisshorn from the southeast with Schalihorn (left)
Weisshorn west face
North ridge with the big gendarme
literature
- Daniel Anker , Marco Volken (ed.): Weisshorn. The diamond of Valais (= mountain monograph. 16). AS-Verlag, Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-3-909111-84-8 .
Web links
- Weisshorn at 4000m - the four-thousanders of the Alps
- Weisshorn on GeoFinder.ch
- Weisshorn (4000 Summits)
- Weisshorn on MountWiki
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christian Imboden: Mountains - Profession, Vocation, Fate. The St. Niklaus mountain guides as pioneers of international alpinism. Rotten Verlag, Visp 2013, ISBN 978-3-907624-48-7 , pp. 62 and 179.
- ↑ Christian Imboden: Mountains - Profession, Vocation, Fate. The St. Niklaus mountain guides as pioneers of international alpinism. Rotten Verlag, Visp 2013, ISBN 978-3-907624-48-7 , p. 126.
- ↑ Final report ( memento of July 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 2.8 MB) of the Federal Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission.