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Pocket Switzerland

Weisshorn

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Summit · canton of Valais · 4506 m

Pyramid of snow above Randa and Zinal, often called the most elegant summit in Valais.

From the basket

Between the valley that climbs to Zermatt and the Anniviers valley, the Weisshorn can be recognised from very far away: an almost geometric shape resting on three regular ridges that rise to a snowy point. Seen from the balloon it is a perfect tetrahedron, cut as if with a ruler, and few mountains in the Alps have such presence.

Approach from the north-east and you will understand its name: “Weisshorn”, the white horn. This side is covered in glaciers, while the other faces show more rock, a gneiss of a very soft green. To the west, below the face, spreads a glacier that bears its name; to the south-east, the Schali; to the north-east, the Bis. A sharp eye will spot, on the east flank, a hanging glacier that overlooks the void.

Make a wide circle around Zinal, at the head of the Anniviers valley. You are then flying over the “imperial crown”, five giants above four thousand metres arranged around the village: the Weisshorn, the Bishorn, the Zinalrothorn, the Ober Gabelhorn and the Dent Blanche. At 4506 metres the Weisshorn is its king, and no summit in French-speaking Switzerland rises higher.

At the top stands a metal cross. To reach it, climbers most often take the Schaligrat, to the south-west. Simply let the wind take you from one ridge to the next, following the clean lines that shape the mountain.

Sources: Wikipedia, “Weisshorn” and “John Tyndall”.

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