1.
Summit
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A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a maximum in elevation. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak, and zenith are synonymous, the UIAA definition is that a summit is independent if it has a prominence of 30 metres or more, it is a mountain if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres. This can be summarised as follows, A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top, Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the western United States, the term refers to the highest point along a road, highway. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit while the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit, geoid Hill List of highest mountains Maxima and minima Nadir Summit accordance Peak finder
2.
Topographic isolation
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The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum great-circle distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and islands as well as for major mountain peaks, the following sortable table lists the Earths 40 most topographically isolated summits. The nearest peak to Germanys highest mountain, the 2, 962-metre-high Zugspitze, the distance between the Zugspitze and this contour is 25.8 km, the Zugspitze is thus the highest peak for a radius of 25.8 km around. Its isolation is thus 25.8 km, because there are no higher mountains than Mount Everest, it has no definitive isolation. Many sources list its isolation as the circumference of the earth over the poles or – questionably, after Mount Everest the Aconcagua, highest mountain of the American continents, has the greatest isolation of all mountains. There is no land for 16,534 kilometres when its height is first exceeded by Tirich Mir in the Hindu Kush. Mont Blanc is the highest mountain of the Alps, the geographically nearest higher mountains are all in the Caucasus. The Kukurtlu, which rises near the Elbrus, is the peak for Mont Blanc. com Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia peakbagger. com peaklist. org peakware. com World Mountain Encyclopedia summitpost. org
3.
Finsteraarhorn
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The Finsteraarhorn is the highest mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland 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 the most elevated, prominent and isolated mountain of both the Bernese Alps and the canton of Berne, 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, to its west lies the Fiescher Glacier, the second longest in the Alps, and to 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 Berne, politically, it is split between the municipalities of Fieschertal and Guttannen. The Valais–Berne border is also the watershed between the Rhône and Rhine 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 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, the summit itself is composed of amphibolites. The tectonic uplift of the massif occurred late in the alpine orogeny, the inelastic deformation of rocks led to many fractures and formation of hydrothermal crystals by 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, guided by the locals Kaspar Huber, Arnold Abbühl, Joseph Bortes and Aloys Volker. Bortes and Volker, guiding Meyers father and uncle, had been the first to climb the Jungfrau the previous year. They approached the mountain via the Oberaarjoch, Studer glacier, and south-east ridge, Meyer became exhausted and remained behind after reaching the ridge, perhaps near P.3883. Huber kept him company, while the three other guides went on and purportedly reached the summit after three hours, on 19 August 1828, Franz Joseph Hugi, a geologist from Solothurn, made another attempt with seven local climbers. 4, 080-metre saddle on the north-west ridge, but had to retreat because of bad weather after Hugi, the next year Hugi organized another expedition via the same route. Hugi stayed behind somewhat above the saddle not daring to cross a steep slope, on the way back Hugis ankle played up and Leuthold, Währen and Joseph Zemt took turns carrying him down the glacier. Hugis 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 the Meyer expedition had been successful, the fifth ascent took place on August 13,1857
4.
Canton of Bern
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The canton of Bern is the second largest of the 26 Swiss cantons by both surface area and population. Located in west-central Switzerland, it borders the canton of Jura, to the west lie the canton of Neuchâtel, the canton of Fribourg and Vaud. To the south lies the canton of Valais, east of the canton of Bern lie the cantons of Uri, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Lucerne and Aargau. The canton of Bern is bilingual and has a population of 1,017,483, as of 2007, the population included 119,930 foreigners. The cantonal capital, also the capital of Switzerland, is Bern. Bern joined the Swiss Confederation in 1353 and was between 1803 and 1814 one of the six directorial cantons of the Napoleonic Swiss Confederation and these caves were used at various times during the last ice age. The first open-air settlement in the area is an upper paleolithic settlement at Moosbühl in Moosseedorf, during the warmer climate of the mesolithic period, increasing forest cover restricted the movement of hunters, fishers and gatherers. Their temporary settlements were built along lake and marsh edges, which remained free of trees due to fluctuations in water level, important mesolithic sites in the Canton are at Pieterlenmoos and Burgäschisee lake along with alpine valleys at Diemtig and Simmental. During the neolithic period, there were a number of settlements on the shores of Lake Biel, several of these sites are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the best explored neolithic sites is at Twann, in the Twannbach delta there were about 25 Cortaillod culture and Horgen culture villages that existed between 3800 and 2950 BC. One of the oldest examples of bread from Switzerland, a sourdough from 3560–3530 BC, simple copper objects were already in use in the 4th millennium BC, including a copper pin from Lattrigen from 3170 BC and a knife blade from Twann. Shortly before 2000 BC bronze production entered the area and brought about a surge in development, settlements began to spread into the pre-Alpine and Alpine areas. The area between Lake Thun and the Niedersimmental were densely settled, Late Bronze Age settlements along Lake Biel have yielded up a wealth of items. During the early Iron Age changes in climate forced them to settlements along many waterways and in the valley floors and move to the plateaus. With increased trade contacts across the Alps, the influence of the Mediterranean grew in the area. Evidence of this include a hydria which was discovered in Grächwil. Burial rituals and social classes became more developed during this time, the so-called princely graves became more common, many of the burial mounds were over 30 m in diameter and 4 m high and richly outfitted with grave goods. In a grave mound in Bützberg the first burial in the mound was followed by later burials
5.
Valais
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The canton of Valais is widely known for the Matterhorn and resort towns such as Crans-Montana, Saas Fee and Zermatt. It is composed of 13 districts and its capital is Sion, the Romans called the upper Rhône valley Vallis Poenina. According to a tradition which can be traced back to the middle of the 8th century, from 888 onwards the lands were part of the kingdom of Jurane Burgundy. Valais formed part of the kingdom of Transjurane Burgundy, which fell to the Holy Roman Empire in 1032 and it became part of the duchy of Burgundia Minor, which was held from the emperors by the house of Zähringen. About the middle of the 13th century, the large communities began to develop independence, the name Zenden or tithings probably came from a very ancient division of the bishops manors for administrative and judicial purposes. In the same century the part of the valley was colonized by Germans from Hasli in the Canton of Bern. The locals became German speaking, though many Romance local names still remain, in 1354 the liberties of several of the seven Zenden were confirmed by the Emperor Charles IV. By the late 14th century, the counts of Savoy acquired the bishopric of Sion, the Zenden resisted his attempts to gather both spiritual and secular power in the valley. In 1375-76, Zenden forces crushed the army of the house of La Tour-Chatillon, and in 1388 utterly defeated the forces of the bishop, the German-speaking Zenden spread further into the valley. Starting in 1384 the Morge stream was recognized as the boundary between Savoyard, French-speaking Lower Valais and German-speaking episcopal Upper Valais, during the Raron affair rebellion in 1414 to 1420, some cantons of the Swiss Confederation took sides in the Valais. Lucerne, Uri and Unterwalden supported the Upper Valais rebels, while Bern supported the noble Raron family, the uprising was successful in driving out the Rarons, and almost brought the Confederation to civil war. Following the violence of the Raron affair, the canton was the location of the Valais witch trials between 1428 and 1447 in which at least 367 men and women were put to death and this event marks one of the earliest witch scares in late medieval Europe. The phenomenon later spread to parts of the contintent. With the election of Walther von Supersax of Conches as bishop in 1457, at the outbreak of the Burgundian War in 1475 the bishop of Sion and the Zenden made a treaty with Bern. In November of the year they seized all Lower or Savoyard Valais up to Martigny. In March 1476, after the victory of Grandson, they advanced and captured St Maurice, Évian, Thonon and they had to give up the last three districts in 1477, but won them again in 1536. In the treaty of Thonon in 1569, Monthey, Val-dllliez and these conquered districts in the Lower Valais were always ruled as subject lands by the bishop and Zenden of the Upper Valais. On March 12,1529, Valais became a member of the Swiss Confederation
6.
Mountain range
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A mountain range is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains. A mountain system or system of ranges, sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically related. Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys, individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earths land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide Belt. The Andes is 7,000 kilometres long and is considered the worlds longest mountain system. The Alpide belt includes Indonesia and southeast Asia, through the Himalaya, the belt also includes other European and Asian mountain ranges. The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, mountain ranges outside of these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a range is stretched to include underwater mountains. The mountain systems of the earth are characterized by a tree structure, the sub-range relationship is often expressed as a parent-child relationship. For example, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Blue Ridge Mountains are sub-ranges of the Appalachian Mountains, equivalently, the Appalachians are the parent of the White Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, and the White Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains are children of the Appalachians. The position of mountains influences climate, such as rain or snow, when air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools producing orographic precipitation. As the air descends on the side, it warms again and is drier. Often, a shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to forces which work to tear them down. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted and long after until the mountains are reduced to low hills, rivers are traditionally believed to be the principle erosive factor on mountain ranges, with their ability of bedrock incision and sediment transport. The rugged topography of a range is the product of erosion. The basins adjacent to a mountain range are filled with sediments which are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example and this mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift
7.
Bernese Alps
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The Bernese Alps are a mountain range of the Alps, located in western Switzerland. The highest mountain in the range, the Finsteraarhorn, is also the highest point in the canton of Bern, the Bernese Alps are drained by the river Aare and its tributary the Saane in the north, the Rhône in the south, and the Reuss in the east. The principal ridge, a chain that runs 100 kilometres from west to east, whose highest peak is the Finsteraarhorn, except for the westernmost part, it is also the watershed between the Rhine and the Rhone. This chain is not centered inside the range but lies close to the Rhone on the south, there the mountains progressively become lower and disappear into the hilly Swiss Plateau. The main chain west of Gemmi Pass consists mainly of a few large prominent summits slightly above 3,000 metres, on the eastern part, the main chain became suddenly wider and the peaks reach over 4,000 metres, in the most glaciated part of the Alps. To the south the same portion of the range is divided from the still higher parallel range whose summits are the Aletschhorn and the Bietschhorn by the Lötschental. To this again succeeds the deep trench through which the part of the Aletsch Glacier flows down to the Rhone. Since strangers first began to visit the Alps, the names of Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, 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 the brother Meyer of Aarau and Franz Joseph Hugi and they have explored most of the mountain ranges not very difficult of access, and, further than this, have attained most of the higher summits. The works of Desor and Gottlieb Studer have been followed by other publications that bear testimony to Swiss mountaineering activity. The Jungfrau-Aletsch area is located in the eastern Bernese Alps in the most glaciated region of the Alps and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 and further expanded in 2007. Its name comes from the Aletsch Glacier and the two summits of the Jungfrau and Bietschhorn, which some of the most impressive features of the site. The actual site includes other large glacier valleys such as the Fiescher Glacier and the Aar Glaciers
8.
Limestone
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Limestone is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate, about 10% of sedimentary rocks are limestones. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions leads to karst landscapes, most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. The first geologist to distinguish limestone from dolomite was Belsazar Hacquet in 1778, like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of organisms such as coral or foraminifera. Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids, peloids, intraclasts and these organisms secrete shells made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these shells behind when they die. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or siliceous skeletal fragment, some limestones do not consist of grains at all, and are formed completely by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite, i. e. travertine. Secondary calcite may be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters and this produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is oolitic limestone, which can be recognized by its granular appearance, the primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. Some of these organisms can construct mounds of rock known as reefs, below about 3,000 meters, water pressure and temperature conditions cause the dissolution of calcite to increase nonlinearly, so limestone typically does not form in deeper waters. Limestones may also form in lacustrine and evaporite depositional environments, calcite can be dissolved or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors, including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility, in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. Impurities will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces, Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock, when conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures. Travertine is a banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams, particularly there are waterfalls. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the leaves a solution supersaturated with the chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls, coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of pieces of coral or shells. During regional metamorphism that occurs during the building process, limestone recrystallizes into marble
9.
Mountain
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A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area, usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is steeper than a hill. Mountains are formed through tectonic forces or volcanism and these forces can locally raise the surface of the earth. Mountains erode slowly through the action of rivers, weather conditions, a few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in huge mountain ranges. High elevations on mountains produce colder climates than at sea level and these colder climates strongly affect the ecosystems of mountains, different elevations have different plants and animals. Because of the less hospitable terrain and climate, mountains tend to be used less for agriculture and more for resource extraction and recreation, the highest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest in the Himalayas of Asia, whose summit is 8,850 m above mean sea level. The highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System is Olympus Mons on Mars at 21,171 m, there is no universally accepted definition of a mountain. Elevation, volume, relief, steepness, spacing and continuity have been used as criteria for defining a mountain, whether a landform is called a mountain may depend on local usage. The highest point in San Francisco, California, is called Mount Davidson, notwithstanding its height of 300 m, similarly, Mount Scott outside Lawton, Oklahoma is only 251 m from its base to its highest point. Whittows Dictionary of Physical Geography states Some authorities regard eminences above 600 metres as mountains, in addition, some definitions also include a topographical prominence requirement, typically 100 or 500 feet. For a while, the US defined a mountain as being 1,000 feet or taller, any similar landform lower than this height was considered a hill. However, today, the United States Geological Survey concludes that these terms do not have technical definitions in the US, using these definitions, mountains cover 33% of Eurasia, 19% of South America, 24% of North America, and 14% of Africa. As a whole, 24% of the Earths land mass is mountainous, there are three main types of mountains, volcanic, fold, and block. All three types are formed from plate tectonics, when portions of the Earths crust move, crumple, compressional forces, isostatic uplift and intrusion of igneous matter forces surface rock upward, creating a landform higher than the surrounding features. The height of the feature makes it either a hill or, if higher and steeper, major mountains tend to occur in long linear arcs, indicating tectonic plate boundaries and activity. Volcanoes are formed when a plate is pushed below another plate, at a depth of around 100 km, melting occurs in rock above the slab, and forms magma that reaches the surface. When the magma reaches the surface, it builds a volcanic mountain. Examples of volcanoes include Mount Fuji in Japan and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, the magma does not have to reach the surface in order to create a mountain, magma that solidifies below ground can still form dome mountains, such as Navajo Mountain in the US
10.
Swiss Alps
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The Swiss Alps extend over both the Western Alps and the Eastern Alps, encompassing an area sometimes called Central Alps. The Swiss Alps comprise almost all the highest mountains of the Alps, such as Dufourspitze, the Dom, the Liskamm, the Weisshorn, the other following major summits can be found in this list of mountains of Switzerland. Since the Middle Ages, transit across the Alps played an important role in history, the region north of St Gotthard Pass became the nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the early 14th century. The Alps cover 65% of Switzerlands total 41,285 square kilometres surface area, making it one of the most alpine countries. The glaciers of the Swiss Alps cover an area of 1,220 square kilometres — 3% of the Swiss territory, the Swiss Alps are situated south of the Swiss Plateau and north of the national border. The limit between the Alps and the runs from Vevey on the shores of Lake Geneva to Rorschach on the shores of Lake Constance, passing close to the cities of Thun. The not well defined regions in Switzerland that lie on the margin of the Alps, the Swiss Prealps are mainly made of limestone and they generally do not exceed 2,500 metres. The Alpine cantons are Valais, Bern, Graubünden, Uri, Glarus, Ticino, St. Gallen, Vaud, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Schwyz, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Fribourg, Lucerne and Zug. The countries with which Switzerland shares mountain ranges of the Alps are, France, Italy, Austria, the Alps are usually divided into two main parts, the Western Alps and Eastern Alps, whose division is along the Rhine from Lake Constance to the Splügen Pass. The western ranges occupy the greatest part of Switzerland while the more numerous eastern ranges are smaller and are all situated in the canton of Graubünden. The latter are part of the Central Eastern Alps, except the Ortler Alps which belong to the Southern Limestone Alps, the Pennine, Bernese and Bernina Range are the highest ranges of the country, they contain respectively 38,9 and 1 summit over 4000 metres. The lowest range is the Appenzell Alps culminating at 2,500 metres, Western Alps Eastern Alps The north side of the Swiss Alps is drained by the Rhône, Rhine and Inn while the south side is mainly drained by the Ticino. The rivers on the empty into the Mediterranean, North and Black Sea. The major triple watersheds in the Alps are located within the country, they are, Piz Lunghin, Witenwasserenstock, between the Witenwasserenstock and Piz Lunghin runs the European Watershed separating the basin of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. The European watershed lies in fact only partially on the main chain, Switzerland possesses 6% of Europes fresh water, and is sometimes referred to as the water tower of Europe. Since the highest dams are located in Alpine regions, many mountain lakes are artificial and are used as hydroelectric reservoirs. Some large artificial lakes can be found above 2,300 m, the melting of low-altitude glaciers can generate new lakes, such as the 0.25 km² large Triftsee which formed between 2002–2003. The following table gives the area above 2000 m and 3000 m
11.
Eiger
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The Eiger is a 3, 970-metre mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m, constituting one of the most emblematic sights of the Swiss Alps. The most notable feature of the Eiger is its 1, 800-metre-high north face of rock and ice, named Eigerwand or Nordwand and this huge face towers over the resort of Kleine Scheidegg at its base, on the homonymous pass connecting the two valleys. The first ascent of the Eiger was made by Swiss guides Christian Almer and Peter Bohren and Irishman Charles Barrington, the north face, considered amongst the most challenging and dangerous ascents, was first climbed in 1938 by an Austrian-German expedition. The Eiger has been publicized for the many tragedies involving climbing expeditions. Since 1935, at least sixty-four climbers have died attempting the face, earning it the German nickname Mordwand. They are both part of the Jungfrau Railway line, running from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch, between the Mönch and the Jungfrau, at the highest railway station in Europe, the two stations within the Eiger are Eigerwand and Eismeer, at around 3,000 metres. The Eiger is mentioned in records dating back to the 13th century, the three mountains of the ridge are commonly referred to as the Virgin, the Monk, and the Ogre. The name has been linked to the Latin term acer, meaning sharp or pointed, the Eiger is located within the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern, between the valleys and municipalities of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. It is located 2.2 km northeast of the Mönch and 5.6 km northeast of the Jungfrau, the nearest settlements are Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and Wengen. The Eiger has three faces, north, west and southeast, the east ridge from the summit to the Ostegg, named Mittellegi, is the longest on the Eiger. The north face overlooks the pass and resort of Kleine Scheidegg, or more precisely the region east of it, the latter mountain pass lies between the valleys of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald and connects the lower Männlichen-Tschuggen range to the Eiger. All the aforementioned localities are connected to Interlaken via mountain railways, consequently, all sides of the mountain feed the same river, the Lütschine, through the Weisse Lütschine on the west side and through the Schwarze Lütschine on the east side. Although the north face of the Eiger is almost free of ice, on the east side, the Eismeer flows from the Mönch down to 1,300 m through the Lower Grindelwald Glacier system, which feeds the Schwarze Lütschine. The massive wall of the Jungfrau, Mönch and Eiger itself constitutes an emblematic sight of the Swiss Alps and is visible from many places on the Swiss Plateau. The higher Finsteraarhorn and Aletschhorn, which are located about 10 km to the south, are less visible. The whole area, the Jungfrau-Aletsch, comprising the highest summits, in July 2006, a piece of the Eiger amounting to approximately 700,000 cubic metres of rock fell from the east face. As it had been noticeably cleaving for several weeks and fell into an area, there were no injuries
12.
Jungfrau
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The Jungfrau at 4,158 metres is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Berne and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Jungfrau forms a wall overlooking the Bernese Oberland. The summit was first reached on August 3,1811 by the Meyer brothers of Aarau, the ascent followed a long expedition over the glaciers and high passes of the Bernese Alps. It was not until 1865 that a direct route on the northern side was opened. Along with the Aletsch Glacier to the south, the Jungfrau is part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, politically, the Jungfrau is split between the municipalities of Lauterbrunnen and Fieschertal. It is the third-highest mountain of the Bernese Alps after the nearby Finsteraarhorn and Aletschhorn and this, and the extreme steepness of the north face, secured for it an early reputation for inaccessibility. The Jungfrau is the westernmost and highest point of a gigantic 10 km wall dominating the valleys of Lauterbrunnen, the Jungfrau is approximately 6 km from the Eiger, with the summit of the Mönch between the two mountains,3.5 km from the Jungfrau. The wall is extended to the east by the Fiescherwand and to the west by the Lauterbrunnen Wall, the difference of altitude between the deep valley of Lauterbrunnen and the summit is particularly visible from the area of Mürren. From the valley floor, west of the massif, the gain is more than 3 km for a horizontal distance of 4 km. The landscapes around the Jungfrau are extremely contrasted, instead of the vertiginous precipices of the north-west, the south-east side emerges from the upper snows of the Aletsch Glacier at around 3,500 metres. The 20 km long valley of Aletsch on the south-east is completely uninhabited, the whole area constitutes the largest glaciated area in the Alps as well as in Europe. After the Guttannen porter was sent back alone over the Lötschenlücke and they then recrossed the two passes named to their point of departure in Valais, and went home again over the Grimsel. The journey was a most extraordinary one for the time, to settle these another expedition was undertaken in 1812. In this the two sons, Rudolf and Gottlieb, of Johann Rudolf Meyer, played the chief parts. Next day the party attempted the ascent of the Finsteraarhorn from the Studer névé on the east by way of the southeast ridge. The following day the party crossed the Grünhornlücke to the Aletsch Glacier, at a bivouac, probably just opposite the present Konkordia Hut, the rest of the party, having come over the Oberaarjoch and the Grünhornlücke, joined the Finsteraarhorn party. Gottlieb, Rudolfs younger brother, had more patience than the rest and remained longer at the huts near the Märjelensee, where the adventurers had taken refuge. He could make the ascent of the Jungfrau, the Rottalsattel being reached from the east side as is now usual
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