Stockhorn

Summit · canton of Bern · 2190 m

Summit in the Simmental, prized for its view over Lake Thun and the Bernese Alps.

From the basket

When you follow the Aare valley up towards the Oberland, one peak catches the eye before the others: the Stockhorn, west of Lake Thun. Its outline is so distinctive that you recognise it from far off. From the balloon you see why: its top is a great slab of rock standing almost vertical.

It is the highest peak of a small range that bears its name, and the high point of the Thun region. Far off to the south-east rise the great peaks of the Oberland. Beneath the summit small mountain lakes lie in the pastures. Farther down, to the south, the Simmental valley stretches away.

Since 1969 a cable car has climbed from Erlenbach to just below the top, with a stop halfway up. Up there, a seventy-metre tunnel cut into the rock leads to a viewing platform. A large calcite crystal found in the region is on display.

On a clear day the view is immense: Lake Thun at your feet, the Plateau, then the Jura and even, far away, the Vosges and the Black Forest. Make a full circle above the slab: you will pass from the Plateau to the great peaks in a single glance.

Did you know?

The name says what you see depending on where you look from. Because its top is a standing slab of rock, it looks as broad as a stick, a “Stock”, from one angle, and as pointed as a horn, a “Horn”, from another.

Sources: Wikipedia, “Stockhorn” (German and English editions).

All around

• Lake Thun, 8 km to the north-east
• Interlaken, 25 km to the east
• Lake Brienz, 27 km to the east