Ober Gabelhorn
Encyclopedia
The Ober Gabelhorn is a mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

 in the Pennine
Pennine Alps
The Pennine Alps are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland and Italy...

 Alps
Swiss Alps
The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....

 in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, located between Zermatt
Zermatt
Zermatt is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a population of about 5,800 inhabitants....

 and Zinal
Zinal
Zinal is a village located in the municipality of Anniviers in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It lies at an altitude of 1,675 metres in the Swiss Alps in the Val d'Anniviers, a valley running from the Zinal Glacier, north of Dent Blanche to the village of Ayer...

.

Geography

The Ober Gabelhorn lies in the Swiss canton of Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...

 at the southern end of the Zinal valley (part of the Val d'Anniviers
Val d'Anniviers
The val d'Anniviers is a Swiss alpine valley, situated in the district of Sierre in Valais, which extends south of the Rhône Valley. The valley was home to six municipalities: Ayer, Chandolin, Grimentz, Saint-Jean, Saint-Luc, Vissoie, Vercorin and Zinal. The citizens of those municipalities agreed...

). It rises, together with the Dent Blanche
Dent Blanche
The Dent Blanche is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. With its high summit, it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps.-Naming:...

 (west) and the Zinalrothorn
Zinalrothorn
The Zinalrothorn is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. Its name comes from the village of Zinal lying on the north side and from the German word Rothorn which means Red Peak...

 (north), above the Zinal Glacier
Zinal Glacier
The Zinal Glacier is a long glacier situated in the Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of . The glacier gives birth to the Navissence River, which runs through a cave.-External links:*...

. On the south side lies the Zmutt Glacier
Zmutt Glacier
The Zmutt Glacier is a long glacier situated in the Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of .-External links:*...

 in the valley of Zmutt, which extends west of Zermatt.

The Ober Gabelhorn has a pyramidal shape, similar to the nearby Matterhorn
Matterhorn
The Matterhorn , Monte Cervino or Mont Cervin , is a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Its summit is 4,478 metres high, making it one of the highest peaks in the Alps. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points...

 but on a smaller scale. Only the smooth north face is completely glaciated, the other faces being mostly rocky. The south-west ridge is called the Arbengrat while the north-north-west ridge is the Arête du Coeur. The south-east ridge looking over the Ober Gabeljoch (3,597 m) is the Gabelhorngrat. The Wellenkuppe
Wellenkuppe
The Wellenkuppe is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland.-External links:*...

 is a lower prominence on the north-east ridge; it is usually climbed as part of the normal route.

Huts serving the peak are the Rothorn Hut (3,198 m), the Grand Mountet Hut
Grand Mountet Hut
The Grand Mountet Hut is a mountain hut located in the Pennine Alps near Zinal in the canton of Valais in Switzerland...

 (2,886 m) and the Arben Bivouac (3,224 m).

Climbing history

The first ascent was by A. W. Moore
Adolphus Warburton Moore
Adolphus Warburton Moore was a British civil servant and mountaineer.-Life:The son of Major John Arthur Moore and Sophia Stewart Yates,, Moore was an India Office official from 1858–1887, holding the role of Assistant Secretary, Political Department from 1875–1885...

, Horace Walker
Horace Walker
Horace Walker was an English mountaineer who made many notable first ascents, including Mount Elbrus and the Grandes Jorasses.-Alpinism:...

 and Jakob Anderegg on 6 July 1865, via the east face.

The second ascent of the peak, and the first by the north-north-west ridge, was made one day later by Lord Francis Douglas
Lord Francis Douglas
Lord Francis William Bouverie Douglas was a novice, British mountaineer. After sharing in the first ascent of the Matterhorn, he died in a fall on the way down from the summit.-Early life:...

, Peter Taugwalder and Joseph Vianin on 7 July 1865. At the time of their ascent they were not aware of Moore and party's success on the previous day. Douglas and Taugwalder made several attempts before they reached the summit. P. Inäbnit accompanied them on the first attempt from the south-east ridge. They didn't have enough time to go higher than the base of the mountain. On the second attempt they reached the Wellenkuppe
Wellenkuppe
The Wellenkuppe is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland.-External links:*...

 (3,900 m) on the north-east ridge (the normal route today) but they considered that the ridge above was too difficult to continue. They finally reached the summit on their third attempt (Inäbnit having been replaced by Viennin). They were disconcerted to see some footprints on the east face (made by Moore, Walker and Anderegg on the previous day), but were relieved that no traces were visible on the summit. Not aware of the dangers that might have made the previous expedition turn back, they sat down on the summit to have lunch. Suddenly an avalanche started and everything on the summit began to fall away from them. Douglas and Taugwalder were swept away, but they were roped to Viennin who was a little distance below the summit. Viennin was able to belay Taugwalder and Douglas with the rope, which didn't break. Francis Douglas returned to Zermatt, and was killed a week later on 14 July on the first ascent of the Matterhorn.
The Arbengrat was first climbed in 1874 by H. S. Hoare and E. Hulton with guides J. von Bergen, P. Rubi and J. Moser. The route on the Gabelhorngrat was opened three years later by J. Walker Hartley, W. E. Davidson, P. Rubi and J. Juan.

The north face, similar to but 'rather steeper' than the north-east face of the Lenzspitze
Lenzspitze
The Lenzspitze is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. It is the southernmost peak on the Nadelgrat, a high-level ridge running roughly north–south, north of Dom in the Mischabel range, above the resort of Saas Fee to the east, and the Mattertal to the west.It was first climbed in August...

, was first climbed on 30 July 1930 by H. Kiener and R. Schwarzgruber. They started from Zermatt at midnight and made a direct 2,000-metre ascent to the Triftjoch. They reached the base of the north face after having traversed the crevasses of the Ober Gabelhorn Glacier and successfully climbed it. This route was repeated only once until 1951.

Christian Klucker
Christian Klucker
Christian Klucker was a Swiss mountain guide who made many first ascents in the Alps, particularly in the Bernina Range, the Bregaglia and the Pennine Alps.Amongst his first ascents were:...

and L. Norman-Neruda made the first ascent of the east-north-east ridge on 1 August 1890. Nowadays most of the climbers use this route, starting at the Rothorn Hut (above Zermatt) and passing over the summit of the Wellenkuppe. The major obstacle, the Klucker tower, is equipped with ropes since 1918.

External links

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