Weisshorn

Among the four-thousanders of the Swiss Alps, the Weisshorn is the one climbers most often name as the most beautiful. At 4,505 metres it rises between the Mattertal, the valley that leads up to Zermatt, and the Val d'Anniviers to the west, and its form is almost geometric: a pyramid of three sharp ridges meeting at a pointed summit, with steep glaciated faces between them — the Bis, Schali and Weisshorn glaciers. From almost every direction the top appears white, which is where the name comes from. Geologically it is the culminating point of the Dent Blanche nappe, one of the great thrust sheets of the Pennine Alps; most of the mountain is gneiss, with younger sedimentary rock on the west face.

The first ascent was made on 19 August 1861 by the physicist John Tyndall with the guides Johann Joseph Bennen and Ulrich Wenger, by the east ridge from Randa. That line is still the normal route: climbers walk up from the valley to the Weisshorn Hut of the Swiss Alpine Club at about 2,932 metres, a steep climb of roughly 1,500 metres of height. The other main approach runs from the Cabane de Tracuit above Zinal over the Bishorn and along the exposed north ridge with its Grand Gendarme. Both are long, committing routes for experienced alpinists. For everyone else, the hut path itself is the way to stand face to face with the south-east wall and a ring of other four-thousand-metre peaks across the valley.

Getting there

Sierre in the Rhône valley is about 25 km from the summit; the nearest airport in a straight line is Bern (BRN), about 92 km away, though larger Swiss airports are connected to the Valais by rail. The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn runs up the Mattertal to Randa station, where the path to the Weisshorn Hut begins; the hike takes around four to four and a half hours. On the west side, Zinal in the Val d'Anniviers is the base for the Tracuit hut.