Schweiz / Wallis - Ober Gabelhorn (4.063 m), Wellenkuppe (3.898 m) and Zinalrothorn (4,.221 m)
seen on the way from Riffelsee to Riffelalp
gesehen auf dem Weg vom Riffelsee zur Riffelalp
The Ober Gabelhorn (4063 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland, located between Zermatt and Zinal.
Geography
The Ober Gabelhorn lies in the Swiss canton of Valais at the southern end of the Zinal valley (part of the Val d'Anniviers). It rises, together with the Dent Blanche (west) and the Zinalrothorn (north), above the Zinal Glacier. On the south side lies the Zmutt Glacier in the valley of Zmutt, which extends west of Zermatt.
The Ober Gabelhorn has a pyramidal shape, similar to the nearby Matterhorn 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 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 (2,886 m) and the Arben Bivouac (3,224 m).
Climbing history
The first ascent was by A. W. Moore, Horace Walker 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, 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 (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 They finally reached the summit on their third attempt (Inäbnit having been replaced by Viennin).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, 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 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.
(Wikipedia)
The Wellenkuppe is a mountain of the Swiss Pennine Alps, located west of Zermatt in the canton of Valais. It lies on the range separating the Val d'Anniviers from the Mattertal, just east of the Ober Gabelhorn.
(Wikpedia)
The Zinalrothorn (4,221 m) 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. When it was first climbed in 1864 the mountain was known locally as Moming.
Geography
The Zinalrothorn is one of the high summits separating the Matter valley on the east and the Val d'Anniviers (or more precisely the Val de Zinal) on the west. The summit of the Weisshorn (4,505 m) is located 5 km to the north and the Dent Blanche 7 km to the west. At the western foot of the mountain lies the large Zinal Glacier and, on the northern side, the Moming Glacier. L'Epaule (the shoulder) is a minor summit lying at the base of the northern ridge.
The villages of Täsch and Zermatt are the closest while Zinal on the north-west is located further (9 km).
Climbing history
The first ascent was made on 22 August 1864 via the north ridge by Leslie Stephen and Florence Crauford Grove with guides Jakob Anderegg and Melchior Anderegg (AD). They left Zinal at 1 a.m. and ascended the Zinal Glacier. They reached the shoulder from the ridge connecting the Blanc de Moming at the base of the northern ridge at 9 a.m. The traverse of the ridge to the summit took them 2 hours, Stephen wrote later that it was 'the nastiest piece of climbing I have ever accomplished'.
The slightly less difficult normal route, the south-east ridge, was first climbed by the combined parties of Clinton Thomas Dent with guide Alexander Burgener, and George Augustus Passingham, with guides Ferdinand Imseng and Franz Andermatten on 5 September 1872.
The first winter and ski ascent was by Marcel Kurz and T. Theytaz on 7 February 1914.
In the 1880s Mrs Aubrey Le Blond, the first president of the Ladies' Alpine Club, left her detachable skirt by mistake up the Zinalrothorn. To preserve her modesty, she made the decision to climb the mountain a second time to retrieve it rather than return to Zermatt in trousers.
(Wikipedia)
Das Ober Gabelhorn (oft auch Obergabelhorn, jedoch nicht Gabelhorn) ist ein Viertausender in den Walliser Alpen.
Ausgangsorte für eine Besteigung sind Zermatt über das Mattertal oder Zinal über das Val d’Anniviers.
Besteigungsgeschichte
Die Erstbesteigung wurde am 6. Juli 1865 durch Adolphus Warburton Moore, Horace Walker und Jakob Anderegg unternommen. Schon am nächsten Tag folgten die Verlierer beim Rennen um den Gipfel, Francis Douglas, Peter Taugwalder und Joseph Viennin bei ihrem dritten Anlauf. Francis Douglas kam eine Woche später bei der Erstbesteigung des Matterhorns ums Leben.
Der Normalweg führt von der Rothornhütte (3198 m) über den Triftgletscher zur Schulter der Wellenkuppe (3898 m), über diese in leichter Kletterei (III-) hinweg und den ausgeprägten Ostnordostgrat folgend über den grossen Gendarm (Kluckerturm, Fixseile) zum Gipfel. Es handelt sich um eine kombinierte Hochtour (III+, Eis bis 50°, ZS / AD). Weitere interessante Anstiege sind der Arbengrat (Westsüdwestgrat, III+, ZS / AD) und die stark vergletscherte, selten begangene Nordwand (Eis 55°, S / D).
(Wikipedia)
Die Wellenkuppe ist ein 3898 m ü. M. hoher Berg im Kanton Wallis, Schweiz. Er liegt nordöstlich des Ober Gabelhorns und südlich des Zinalrothorns auf dem Grat, welcher das Mattertal vom Val d’Anniviers trennt.
(Wikipedia)
Das Zinalrothorn ist ein 4221 m ü. M. hoher Berg bei Zermatt in den Walliser Alpen. Im Gegensatz zu vielen Gipfeln dieser Höhe handelt es sich beim Zinalrothorn um einen reinen Felsgipfel, mit drei Graten in festem Fels.
Den Namen hat es vom Ferienort Zinal im Val d’Anniviers, das sich in der Nähe befindet. Bis zum Aufkommen des Alpentourismus trug der Berg jedoch nach dem Mominggletscher, der an der Nordflanke seinen Anfang nimmt, den Namen Moming. Das Zinalrothorn befindet sich nur 4 km südlich des Weisshorns (4505 m ü. M.). Vom Gipfel hat man einen hervorragenden Blick auf das Matterhorn und das Monte-Rosa-Massiv.
Die Erstbesteigung erfolgte durch Leslie Stephen und Florence Crauford Grove mit den Führern Melchior und Jakob Anderegg aus Zinal über den Nordgrat (ZS, III) am 22. August 1864.
Die drei Grate bieten Anstiege im mittleren Schwierigkeitsbereich. Neben dem Weg der Erstersteiger über den Nordgrat gibt es noch den etwas weniger anspruchsvollen Südostgrat (ZS, III (Stellen), sonst II und I) und den Rothorngrat (ZS+, Südwestgrat, IV (kurze Stelle), III+), einer der schönsten Felsanstiege in der Gegend von Zermatt. Ausgangspunkt für den Südostgrat ist die Rothornhütte auf einer Höhe von 3198 m ü. M., für den Nordgrat die Mountethütte auf 2886 m ü. M. Der Südwestgrat kann von der Rothorn- oder der Mountethütte erreicht werden.
(Wikipedia)
