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Pocket Switzerland

Wetterhorn

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Summit · canton of Bern · 3692 m

Rocky pyramid watching over Grindelwald, the first great climb of the mountaineering pioneers.

From the basket

Above Grindelwald, the Wetterhorn is the peak that closes the valley to the east, a prow of pale limestone that seems to drop straight onto the village roofs. From the balloon you soon realise it is not alone: the Grindelwald “Wetterhorn” is the most visible point of a small family of three, the Wetterhörner. Behind it hide the Mittelhorn, the highest of the siblings at 3702 metres, and the Rosenhorn, almost as tall.

Go round by the north and another country opens up: the Rosenlaui valley, wilder, at the foot of the same massif. On the south side, glaciers run down between the rocks towards Grindelwald, and the Eiger, very close to the west, shows the ridge that leads to its summit.

This corner of the mountains has seen some astonishing things. From 1908 to 1915, at the foot of the Wetterhorn, a cabin hung from cables was already hauling travellers up the face: it was the first passenger cable car in Switzerland. And it was here again that in 1874 Meta Brevoort made the first winter ascent, at a time when almost nobody climbed in winter, still less a woman.

The name itself speaks of weather: “Wetterhorn”, the horn of the weather. If a plume clings to its tip while you pass, it may be time to head back down to the meadows.

Sources: Wikipedia, “Wetterhorn” (French and German editions).

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