1.
Grosses Wannenhorn
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The Gross Wannenhorn is a 3906-metre mountain in the Bernese Alps, in the Swiss canton of Valais near the village of Fiesch. The mountain separates the Aletsch Glacier to the west from the Fiescher Glacier to the east, the mountain consists of twin peaks, the northern peak is rocky and the southern peak is somewhat flatter. The mountains east side is glaciated, while the west sideis a steep slope intermittently broken by ice fields. The mountain was first successfully climbed by Gottlieb Stuber and team in 1864, list of mountains of Switzerland Gross Wannenhorn on Hikr
2.
Valais
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The canton of Valais is widely known for the Matterhorn and resort towns such as Crans-Montana, Saas Fee and Zermatt. It is composed of 13 districts and its capital is Sion, the Romans called the upper Rhône valley Vallis Poenina. According to a tradition which can be traced back to the middle of the 8th century, from 888 onwards the lands were part of the kingdom of Jurane Burgundy. Valais formed part of the kingdom of Transjurane Burgundy, which fell to the Holy Roman Empire in 1032 and it became part of the duchy of Burgundia Minor, which was held from the emperors by the house of Zähringen. About the middle of the 13th century, the large communities began to develop independence, the name Zenden or tithings probably came from a very ancient division of the bishops manors for administrative and judicial purposes. In the same century the part of the valley was colonized by Germans from Hasli in the Canton of Bern. The locals became German speaking, though many Romance local names still remain, in 1354 the liberties of several of the seven Zenden were confirmed by the Emperor Charles IV. By the late 14th century, the counts of Savoy acquired the bishopric of Sion, the Zenden resisted his attempts to gather both spiritual and secular power in the valley. In 1375-76, Zenden forces crushed the army of the house of La Tour-Chatillon, and in 1388 utterly defeated the forces of the bishop, the German-speaking Zenden spread further into the valley. Starting in 1384 the Morge stream was recognized as the boundary between Savoyard, French-speaking Lower Valais and German-speaking episcopal Upper Valais, during the Raron affair rebellion in 1414 to 1420, some cantons of the Swiss Confederation took sides in the Valais. Lucerne, Uri and Unterwalden supported the Upper Valais rebels, while Bern supported the noble Raron family, the uprising was successful in driving out the Rarons, and almost brought the Confederation to civil war. Following the violence of the Raron affair, the canton was the location of the Valais witch trials between 1428 and 1447 in which at least 367 men and women were put to death and this event marks one of the earliest witch scares in late medieval Europe. The phenomenon later spread to parts of the contintent. With the election of Walther von Supersax of Conches as bishop in 1457, at the outbreak of the Burgundian War in 1475 the bishop of Sion and the Zenden made a treaty with Bern. In November of the year they seized all Lower or Savoyard Valais up to Martigny. In March 1476, after the victory of Grandson, they advanced and captured St Maurice, Évian, Thonon and they had to give up the last three districts in 1477, but won them again in 1536. In the treaty of Thonon in 1569, Monthey, Val-dllliez and these conquered districts in the Lower Valais were always ruled as subject lands by the bishop and Zenden of the Upper Valais. On March 12,1529, Valais became a member of the Swiss Confederation
3.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Konkordiaplatz
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The Konkordiaplatz or Concordia Place, is a large flat area of snow and ice lying just to the south of the Jungfrau in the Bernese Alps in the Swiss canton of Valais. Its notable feature is that it is the junction of four large glaciers coming down from the Aletschfirn, the Jungfraufirn, the Ewigschneefäld, the main Aletsch Glacier originates from Konkordiaplatz. The Konkordiaplatz Charter was signed by the municipalities located in the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area UNESCO World Heritage site, Concordia is the latin word for harmony, literally with heart. It was the name of the Roman goddess of agreement, understanding, a British mountaineer, John Frederick Hardy, gave to the convergence of the several glaciers, the name Place de la Concorde of Nature. The name Concordia was then given to places where two or more glaciers meet or large glaciated areas, such as Concordia in the Karakoram or Concordia Station in Antarctica. Konkordiaplatz is located at an altitude between 2,700 and 2,800 metres, covering an area of approximatively 2 km2, according to measurement made by the ETHZ the thickness of snow and ice is more than 900 metres. It is surrounded by the Dreieckhorn, the Fiescher Gabelhorn, the Grünhorn, at Konkordia the glacier has a speed of about 200 metres per year or 50 centimetres per day. The area is uninhabited but the Konkordia Hut lies above the glacier
6.
Massa (river)
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The Massa is a seven kilometre long river in the eastern Bernese Alps in the Swiss canton of Valais. It is mainly fed by the melt-water from the Aletsch Glacier and it passes through the Massa Gorge and flows into the Stausee Gibidum reservoir and onwards to its confluence with the Rhone. The whole area, including other glaciers is part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area, list of glaciers Retreat of glaciers since 1850 Swiss Alps
7.
Retreat of glaciers since 1850
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Studied by glaciologists, the temporal coincidence of glacier retreat with the measured increase of atmospheric greenhouse gases is often cited as an evidentiary underpinning of global warming. Glacier mass balance is the key determinant of the health of a glacier, Glaciers in retreat will have negative mass balances, and if they do not find an equilibrium between accumulation and ablation, will eventually disappear. The Little Ice Age was a period from about 1550 to 1850 when the world experienced relatively cooler temperatures compared to the present, subsequently, until about 1940, glaciers around the world retreated as the climate warmed substantially. Glacial retreat slowed and even reversed temporarily, in many cases, in locations such as the Andes of South America and Himalayas in Asia, the demise of glaciers in these regions has the potential to affect water supplies in those areas. The acceleration of the rate of retreat since 1995 of key outlet glaciers of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets may foreshadow a rise in sea level, the mass balance, or difference between accumulation and ablation, of a glacier is crucial to its survival. Climate change may cause variations in temperature and snowfall, resulting in changes in mass balance. A glacier with a negative balance loses equilibrium and retreats. A sustained positive balance is out of equilibrium and will advance to reestablish equilibrium. Currently, nearly all glaciers have a mass balance and are retreating. Glacier retreat results in the loss of the region of the glacier. Since higher elevations are cooler, the disappearance of the lowest portion decreases overall ablation, thereby increasing mass balance, methods for measuring retreat include staking terminus location, global positioning mapping, aerial mapping and laser altimetry. The key symptom of disequilibrium is thinning along the length of the glacier. This indicates a diminishment of the accumulation zone, the result is marginal recession of the accumulation zone margin, not just of the terminus. In effect, the no longer has a consistent accumulation zone. However, the Grinnell Glacier in Montana, U. S. will shrink at an increasing rate until it disappears. The difference is that the section of Easton Glacier remains healthy and snow-covered. Small glaciers with minimal altitude range are most likely to fall into disequilibrium with the climate, middle latitude glaciers are located either between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle, or between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle. Both areas support glacier ice from glaciers, valley glaciers and even smaller icecaps
8.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
9.
Glacier
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A glacier is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight, it forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. Glaciers slowly deform and flow due to stresses induced by their weight, creating crevasses, seracs and they also abrade rock and debris from their substrate to create landforms such as cirques and moraines. Glaciers form only on land and are distinct from the much thinner sea ice, between 35°N and 35°S, glaciers occur only in the Himalayas, Andes, Rocky Mountains, a few high mountains in East Africa, Mexico, New Guinea and on Zard Kuh in Iran. Glaciers cover about 10 percent of Earths land surface, continental glaciers cover nearly 13,000,000 km2 or about 98 percent of Antarcticas 13,200,000 km2, with an average thickness of 2,100 m. Greenland and Patagonia also have huge expanses of continental glaciers, Glacial ice is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth. Within high altitude and Antarctic environments, the temperature difference is often not sufficient to release meltwater. A large piece of compressed ice, or a glacier, appears blue as large quantities of water appear blue and this is because water molecules absorb other colors more efficiently than blue. The other reason for the color of glaciers is the lack of air bubbles. Air bubbles, which give a color to ice, are squeezed out by pressure increasing the density of the created ice. The word Glaceon is a loanword from French and goes back, via Franco-Provençal, to the Vulgar Latin glaciārium, derived from the Late Latin glacia, the processes and features caused by or related to glaciers are referred to as glacial. The process of establishment, growth and flow is called glaciation. The corresponding area of study is called glaciology, Glaciers are important components of the global cryosphere. Glaciers are categorized by their morphology, thermal characteristics, and behavior, cirque glaciers form on the crests and slopes of mountains. A glacier that fills a valley is called a valley glacier, a large body of glacial ice astride a mountain, mountain range, or volcano is termed an ice cap or ice field. Ice caps have a less than 50,000 km2 by definition. Glacial bodies larger than 50,000 km2 are called ice sheets or continental glaciers, several kilometers deep, they obscure the underlying topography. Only nunataks protrude from their surfaces, the only extant ice sheets are the two that cover most of Antarctica and Greenland. They contain vast quantities of water, enough that if both melted, global sea levels would rise by over 70 m
10.
Alps
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The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc, Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810 m is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4000 metres, the altitude and size of the range affects the climate in Europe, in the mountains precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m. Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era, a mummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established, Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800 Napoleon crossed one of the passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, in World War II, Adolf Hitler kept a base of operation in the Bavarian Alps throughout the war. The Alpine region has a cultural identity. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, at present, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. The English word Alps derives from the Latin Alpes, maurus Servius Honoratus, an ancient commentator of Virgil, says in his commentary that all high mountains are called Alpes by Celts. The term may be common to Italo-Celtic, because the Celtic languages have terms for high mountains derived from alp and this may be consistent with the theory that in Greek Alpes is a name of non-Indo-European origin. According to the Old English Dictionary, the Latin Alpes might possibly derive from a pre-Indo-European word *alb hill, Albania, a name not native to the region known as the country of Albania, has been used as a name for a number of mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman times, Albania was a name for the eastern Caucasus, in modern languages the term alp, alm, albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below the glaciers, not the peaks. An alp refers to a mountain pasture where cows are taken to be grazed during the summer months and where hay barns can be found. The Alps are a crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in a 800 km arc from east to west and is 200 km in width, the mean height of the mountain peaks is 2.5 km. The range stretches from the Mediterranean Sea north above the Po basin, extending through France from Grenoble, the range continues onward toward Vienna, Austria, and east to the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia. To the south it dips into northern Italy and to the north extends to the border of Bavaria in Germany
11.
Bernese Alps
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The Bernese Alps are a mountain range of the Alps, located in western Switzerland. The highest mountain in the range, the Finsteraarhorn, is also the highest point in the canton of Bern, the Bernese Alps are drained by the river Aare and its tributary the Saane in the north, the Rhône in the south, and the Reuss in the east. The principal ridge, a chain that runs 100 kilometres from west to east, whose highest peak is the Finsteraarhorn, except for the westernmost part, it is also the watershed between the Rhine and the Rhone. This chain is not centered inside the range but lies close to the Rhone on the south, there the mountains progressively become lower and disappear into the hilly Swiss Plateau. The main chain west of Gemmi Pass consists mainly of a few large prominent summits slightly above 3,000 metres, on the eastern part, the main chain became suddenly wider and the peaks reach over 4,000 metres, in the most glaciated part of the Alps. To the south the same portion of the range is divided from the still higher parallel range whose summits are the Aletschhorn and the Bietschhorn by the Lötschental. To this again succeeds the deep trench through which the part of the Aletsch Glacier flows down to the Rhone. Since strangers first began to visit the Alps, the names of Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, but unlike many other Alpine regions, which have been left to be explored by strangers, this region has been long visited by Swiss travellers and men of science. Among them were the brother Meyer of Aarau and Franz Joseph Hugi and they have explored most of the mountain ranges not very difficult of access, and, further than this, have attained most of the higher summits. The works of Desor and Gottlieb Studer have been followed by other publications that bear testimony to Swiss mountaineering activity. The Jungfrau-Aletsch area is located in the eastern Bernese Alps in the most glaciated region of the Alps and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 and further expanded in 2007. Its name comes from the Aletsch Glacier and the two summits of the Jungfrau and Bietschhorn, which some of the most impressive features of the site. The actual site includes other large glacier valleys such as the Fiescher Glacier and the Aar Glaciers
12.
ETH Zurich
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ETH Zurich is a science, technology, engineering and mathematics university in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. ETH Zurich is consistently ranked among the top universities in the world, twenty-one Nobel Prizes have been awarded to students or professors of the Institute in the past, the most famous of whom was Albert Einstein. It is a member of the IDEA League and the International Alliance of Research Universities. ETH was founded in 1854 by the Swiss Confederation and began giving its first lectures in 1855 as a polytechnic institute and it is locally still known as Poly, derived from the original name Eidgenössische polytechnische Schule, which translates to Federal Polytechnic School. ETH is an institute, whereas the University of Zürich is a cantonal institution. In the beginning, both universities were co-located in the buildings of the University of Zürich, from 1905 to 1908, under the presidency of Jérôme Franel, the course program of ETH was restructured to that of a real university and ETH was granted the right to award doctorates. In 1909 the first doctorates were awarded, in 1911, it was given its current name, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule. In 1924, another reorganization structured the university in 12 departments, however, it now has 16 departments. ETH Zurich, the EPFL, and four associated research institutes form the ETH Domain with the aim of collaborating on scientific projects, ETH Zurich is ranked among the top universities in the world. Historically, ETH Zurich has achieved its reputation particularly in the fields of chemistry, there are 21 Nobel Laureates who are associated with ETH. The most recent Nobel Laureate is Richard F, heck who was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2010. Albert Einstein is perhaps its most famous alumnus, in 2016, the QS World University Rankings placed ETH Zurich at 8th overall in the world. In 2015, ETH also ranked 6th in the world in Natural Sciences, ETH Zurich had an budget of 1.712 billion CHF in the year 2015 to support its cutting-edge research. For Swiss students, ETH is not selective in its admission procedures. Like every public university in Switzerland, ETH is obliged to grant admission to every Swiss resident who took the Matura, an applicant can be admitted to ETH even without any verifiable educational records by passing the comprehensive entrance exam. As at all universities in Switzerland, the year is divided into two semesters. Examinations are often held during examination sessions which are immediately before the beginning of the next semester, after the first year of study, bachelor students must pass a block examination of all courses taken in the first year, called the Basisprüfung. If the weighted average score is not sufficient, a student is required to retake the entire Basisprüfung which usually means having to re-sit the whole first year
13.
Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area
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The Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area is located in south-western Switzerland between the cantons of Berne and Valais. The Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area is the first World Natural Heritage site in the Alps, the Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area is located in the Swiss Alps between the Bernese Oberland and north-eastern Valais, about 25 km south of Interlaken and 20 km north of Brig. The site covers the whole Aar massif from the Oeschinensee in the west to the Grimselsee in the east, including the basins of the Aletsch, Fiescher, Aar and Grindelwald glaciers. The culminating point is the Finsteraarhorn which, with its 4,270 metres, is also the highest mountain in the Bernese Alps. 8 other summits above 4,000 metres are located in the area, Aletschhorn, Jungfrau, Mönch, Schreckhorn, Gross Fiescherhorn, the summit ridge separating the cantons of Valais and Berne is the main watersheds of Europe. The southern valleys drain into the southwest running valley of the Rhone which flows into the Mediterranean sea, the climate of the region is strongly influenced by the height of the mountains. They form a barrier between the wet climate of the north and the dryer climate of the south-facing Valais slopes. On the north side the rainfall exceeds 2,200 mm, most falling in summer, the Valais experiences a subcontinental climate at low and medium altitudes and is markedly semi-arid. Mean annual temperatures range from -8.5 °C at Jungfraujoch to 9.1 °C at Brig, the Jungfrau-Aletsch site is almost untouched, except for trails and mountain huts. About half of the area is higher than 2,600 metres, the total area covered by glacier is 35,000 ha, it constitutes the largest continuous area of ice in the Alps. The largest and longest glacier in the Alps, the Aletsch Glacier is 23 km long and has a thickness of 900 metres at Konkordiaplatz. Glaciers and barren rock constitute 80% of the area, 6% is forested,5. 2% is alpine meadow, altitude is the strongest factor influencing the distribution and diversity of the vegetation. Within the nominated area there are 1,800 species of plants and 700 mosses. The growing period decreases with altitude, but there are 529 species of phanerogams, broadleaf montane forest extends from 900 m to 1,300 m on north- facing slopes. On south-facing slopes the same zone is approximately 200 m higher, the subalpine zone lies between 1,300 m to 2,000 m, between the broadleaf and alpine zone. Characteristic species are the Swiss Pine and the Norway Spruce on the north and south side respectively, an example of Pinus cembra forest is the Aletsch Forest above the Aletsch Glacier and near the tree line. It developed on the moraine of the glacier after its extension in 1850. The zone directly above the line forms a girdle of moorland vegetation
14.
UNESCO
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris. It is the heir of the League of Nations International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, UNESCO has 195 member states and nine associate members. Most of its offices are cluster offices covering three or more countries, national and regional offices also exist. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs, education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and it is also a member of the United Nations Development Group. UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, on 18 December 1925, the International Bureau of Education began work as a non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development. However, the work of predecessor organizations was largely interrupted by the onset of World War II. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944, a prominent figure in the initiative for UNESCO was Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, the Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946—the date when UNESCOs Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state. The first General Conference took place between 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Dr. Julian Huxley to Director-General and this change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the CICI, in how member states would work together in the organizations fields of competence. In 1956, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO claiming that some of the organizations publications amounted to interference in the racial problems. South Africa rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, UNESCOs early work in the field of education included the pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, started in 1947. This project was followed by missions to other countries, including, for example. In 1948, UNESCO recommended that Member States should make free primary education compulsory, in 1990, the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, launched a global movement to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults. Ten years later, the 2000 World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, UNESCOs early activities in culture included, for example, the Nubia Campaign, launched in 1960. The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after construction of the Aswan Dam, during the 20-year campaign,22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including Mohenjo-daro, Fes, Kathmandu, Borobudur, the organizations work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976 and the first sites inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978, since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 and 2005
15.
World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
16.
Canton of Bern
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The canton of Bern is the second largest of the 26 Swiss cantons by both surface area and population. Located in west-central Switzerland, it borders the canton of Jura, to the west lie the canton of Neuchâtel, the canton of Fribourg and Vaud. To the south lies the canton of Valais, east of the canton of Bern lie the cantons of Uri, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Lucerne and Aargau. The canton of Bern is bilingual and has a population of 1,017,483, as of 2007, the population included 119,930 foreigners. The cantonal capital, also the capital of Switzerland, is Bern. Bern joined the Swiss Confederation in 1353 and was between 1803 and 1814 one of the six directorial cantons of the Napoleonic Swiss Confederation and these caves were used at various times during the last ice age. The first open-air settlement in the area is an upper paleolithic settlement at Moosbühl in Moosseedorf, during the warmer climate of the mesolithic period, increasing forest cover restricted the movement of hunters, fishers and gatherers. Their temporary settlements were built along lake and marsh edges, which remained free of trees due to fluctuations in water level, important mesolithic sites in the Canton are at Pieterlenmoos and Burgäschisee lake along with alpine valleys at Diemtig and Simmental. During the neolithic period, there were a number of settlements on the shores of Lake Biel, several of these sites are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the best explored neolithic sites is at Twann, in the Twannbach delta there were about 25 Cortaillod culture and Horgen culture villages that existed between 3800 and 2950 BC. One of the oldest examples of bread from Switzerland, a sourdough from 3560–3530 BC, simple copper objects were already in use in the 4th millennium BC, including a copper pin from Lattrigen from 3170 BC and a knife blade from Twann. Shortly before 2000 BC bronze production entered the area and brought about a surge in development, settlements began to spread into the pre-Alpine and Alpine areas. The area between Lake Thun and the Niedersimmental were densely settled, Late Bronze Age settlements along Lake Biel have yielded up a wealth of items. During the early Iron Age changes in climate forced them to settlements along many waterways and in the valley floors and move to the plateaus. With increased trade contacts across the Alps, the influence of the Mediterranean grew in the area. Evidence of this include a hydria which was discovered in Grächwil. Burial rituals and social classes became more developed during this time, the so-called princely graves became more common, many of the burial mounds were over 30 m in diameter and 4 m high and richly outfitted with grave goods. In a grave mound in Bützberg the first burial in the mound was followed by later burials
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Gemmi Pass
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Gemmi Pass is a high mountain pass across the Bernese Alps connecting Leukerbad in the canton of Valais with Kandersteg in the canton of Bern. The pass itself lies within the canton of Valais, at a height of 2,270 metres above sea level, the main trail reaches 2,322 metres. The pass lies between the Daubenhorn in the west and the Rinderhorn in the east, the pass is at the west end of the Aar Massif and at the east end of the Wildstrubel Massif. Near the pass is the Daubensee, which has no outlet above ground, the pass is mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes story The Final Problem. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson cross the pass on their way to Meiringen, the pass is described by Guy de Maupassant in his short-story LAuberge. Although the pass cannot be traversed by road, it is directly accessible by cablecar from Leukerbad. Alternatively, the pass can be reached by a two-hour dramatic hike on foot, from Kandersteg a cable car gives access to the Sunnbüel area,10 km north of the pass, allowing hikers to cross the pass on a wide and easy trail. The trail over the Gemmi Pass is very popular with both in summer and in winter. The pass itself is used as a vantage point, because of the view of some major peaks in the Pennine Alps, such as the Dom, Matterhorn, Weisshorn. List of mountain passes in Switzerland Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort
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Fiescher Glacier
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The Fiescher Glacier is a valley glacier on the south side of the Bernese Alps in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. 16 km in length, it is the second longest glacier in the Alps, the glacier covers an area of 33 km2. In the lower section, the Fiescher Glacier flows south through a valley between the Gross Wannenhorn and the Wasenhorn. In summer, when the snow melts, it has a grey colour as it is covered with rocks coming from the steep slopes of the mountains around. The end of glacier tongue is at around 1,700 m above sea level and this glacier is not to be confused with the like-named Grindelwald-Fieschergletscher on the north of the Fiescherhörner located near Grindelwald
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Finsteraarhorn
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The Finsteraarhorn is the highest mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland and the most prominent peak of Switzerland. The Finsteraarhorn is the ninth-highest mountain and third-most prominent peak in the Alps, in 2001 the whole massif and surrounding glaciers were designated as part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch World Heritage Site. Despite being the most elevated, prominent and isolated mountain of both the Bernese Alps and the canton of Berne, the Finsteraarhorn is less known and frequented than the nearby Jungfrau and Eiger. This is due to its location in one of the most remote areas in the Alps, to its west lies the Fiescher Glacier, the second longest in the Alps, and to the east lie the Great Aar Glaciers. The smaller Lower Grindelwald Glacier lies north of the massif, the Finsteraarhorn is surrounded by the summits of the Schreckhorn and Lauteraarhorn to the north, the Gross Fiescherhorn, Grünhorn and Gross Wannenhorn to the west and the Oberaarhorn to the east. The summit lies on the border between the cantons of Valais and Berne, politically, it is split between the municipalities of Fieschertal and Guttannen. The Valais–Berne border is also the watershed between the Rhône and Rhine rivers, the Finsteraarhorn is the culminating point of the Rhine drainage basin. The Finsteraarhorn was dethroned by Monte Rosa as the highest summit of Switzerland when Valais joined the Swiss Confederation in 1815, the Finsteraarhorn is the culminating point of the Aarmassif, a geologic crystalline massif which crops out in the eastern Bernese Alps and Urner Alps. The massif belongs to the Helvetic zone and consists of rocks from the European continent, the summit itself is composed of amphibolites. The tectonic uplift of the massif occurred late in the alpine orogeny, the inelastic deformation of rocks led to many fractures and formation of hydrothermal crystals by the deposition of the saturated water flowing inside. The first ascent was long a controversial matter, the first attempt was made on 16 August 1812 by the Aargau merchant Rudolph Meyer, guided by the locals Kaspar Huber, Arnold Abbühl, Joseph Bortes and Aloys Volker. Bortes and Volker, guiding Meyers father and uncle, had been the first to climb the Jungfrau the previous year. They approached the mountain via the Oberaarjoch, Studer glacier, and south-east ridge, Meyer became exhausted and remained behind after reaching the ridge, perhaps near P.3883. Huber kept him company, while the three other guides went on and purportedly reached the summit after three hours, on 19 August 1828, Franz Joseph Hugi, a geologist from Solothurn, made another attempt with seven local climbers. 4, 080-metre saddle on the north-west ridge, but had to retreat because of bad weather after Hugi, the next year Hugi organized another expedition via the same route. Hugi stayed behind somewhat above the saddle not daring to cross a steep slope, on the way back Hugis ankle played up and Leuthold, Währen and Joseph Zemt took turns carrying him down the glacier. Hugis account makes no mention of evidence of an earlier ascent, in articles of 1881 and 1908, the mountaineers and leading historians of Alpine exploration Gottlieb Studer and W. A. B. Coolidge, respectively, declared to be convinced that the Meyer expedition had been successful, the fifth ascent took place on August 13,1857
20.
Jungfrau
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The Jungfrau at 4,158 metres is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Berne and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Jungfrau forms a wall overlooking the Bernese Oberland. The summit was first reached on August 3,1811 by the Meyer brothers of Aarau, the ascent followed a long expedition over the glaciers and high passes of the Bernese Alps. It was not until 1865 that a direct route on the northern side was opened. Along with the Aletsch Glacier to the south, the Jungfrau is part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, politically, the Jungfrau is split between the municipalities of Lauterbrunnen and Fieschertal. It is the third-highest mountain of the Bernese Alps after the nearby Finsteraarhorn and Aletschhorn and this, and the extreme steepness of the north face, secured for it an early reputation for inaccessibility. The Jungfrau is the westernmost and highest point of a gigantic 10 km wall dominating the valleys of Lauterbrunnen, the Jungfrau is approximately 6 km from the Eiger, with the summit of the Mönch between the two mountains,3.5 km from the Jungfrau. The wall is extended to the east by the Fiescherwand and to the west by the Lauterbrunnen Wall, the difference of altitude between the deep valley of Lauterbrunnen and the summit is particularly visible from the area of Mürren. From the valley floor, west of the massif, the gain is more than 3 km for a horizontal distance of 4 km. The landscapes around the Jungfrau are extremely contrasted, instead of the vertiginous precipices of the north-west, the south-east side emerges from the upper snows of the Aletsch Glacier at around 3,500 metres. The 20 km long valley of Aletsch on the south-east is completely uninhabited, the whole area constitutes the largest glaciated area in the Alps as well as in Europe. After the Guttannen porter was sent back alone over the Lötschenlücke and they then recrossed the two passes named to their point of departure in Valais, and went home again over the Grimsel. The journey was a most extraordinary one for the time, to settle these another expedition was undertaken in 1812. In this the two sons, Rudolf and Gottlieb, of Johann Rudolf Meyer, played the chief parts. Next day the party attempted the ascent of the Finsteraarhorn from the Studer névé on the east by way of the southeast ridge. The following day the party crossed the Grünhornlücke to the Aletsch Glacier, at a bivouac, probably just opposite the present Konkordia Hut, the rest of the party, having come over the Oberaarjoch and the Grünhornlücke, joined the Finsteraarhorn party. Gottlieb, Rudolfs younger brother, had more patience than the rest and remained longer at the huts near the Märjelensee, where the adventurers had taken refuge. He could make the ascent of the Jungfrau, the Rottalsattel being reached from the east side as is now usual
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Grosses Fiescherhorn
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The Gross Fiescherhorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, located on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais, halfway between the Mönch and the Finsteraarhorn. At 4,049 metres above sea level, its summit culminates over the whole Fiescherhorn massif, from the north both are well hidden behind other mountains and can only been seen from the village of Grindelwald. The mountain is shared between the municipalities of Grindelwald and Fieschertal, ascents are usually made from one of these three popular routes, one starts from the Mönchsjoch Hut, one from the Konkordia Hut, and the third from the Finsteraarhorn Hut. The summit was first reached on 23 July 1862 by H. B, george and Adolphus Warburton Moore, with guides Christian Almer and Ulrich Kaufmann. They used what is now the route, the south-west ridge. The north side of the mountain was first climbed in 1926, on 13 August, W. Amstutz and P. von Schumacher reached the summit after a 15-hour ascent via the north ridge, which is the northern boundary of the Fiescherwand. The first direct ascent on the Fiescherwand was made by W. Welzenbach, Welzenbach was an expert climber, who disputed the common idea of his time that an ascent of the Fiescherwand was impossible. The previous year, in 1929, Welzenbach and Tillmann climbed the ridge in only 8.5 hours. The following year started the ascent of the Fiescherwand on the morning of 5 September 1930. They reached the top that evening, after a 12-hour ascent, Gross Fiescherhorn on SummitPost Gross Fiescherhorn
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Aletschhorn
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The Aletschhorn is a mountain in the Alps in Switzerland, lying within the Jungfrau-Aletsch region, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The mountain shares part of its name with the Aletsch Glacier lying at its foot, the Aletschhorn, the second highest mountain of the Bernese Alps after the Finsteraarhorn, is the only one of the higher peaks that lies completely in Valais. It is the point of a chain running parallel with the dividing ridge. The Aletschhorn is often thought to command the finest of all the views from Alpine summits. On its northern flank lies the Aletschfirn, which is part of the Aletsch Glacier, on the southwest lies the Oberaletsch Glacier and, on the southeast, lies the Mittelaletsch Glacier. Both are in the catchment area of the Massa river, which originates in the Aletsch Glacier, the Aletschhorn was first climbed almost 50 years after the first ascent of the Jungfrau. When the Jungfrau was first climbed, the climbers used base camps on the Aletschfirn, the Aletschhorn was climbed first in 1859 by Francis Fox Tuckett, J. J. Bennen, V. Tairraz and P. Bohren. But the summit could be reached without too much difficulty, like many other climbers, Tuckett took with him a barometer and made scientific observations. He noted the icy temperature and the strong wind, blowing the snow. After they reached the summit, Tuckett separated from Bennen and descended via the face with Bohren. He wanted to directly to the Lötschental, but soon after they began the descent. They cautiously went back and descended on the Mittelaletsch, Aletschhorn on Summitpost Photo Aletschhorn from Lötschenlücke Photo Aletschhorn from Mischabelhuts
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Firn
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Firn is partially compacted névé, a type of snow that has been left over from past seasons and has been recrystallized into a substance denser than névé. It is ice that is at a stage between snow and glacial ice. Firn has the appearance of wet sugar, but has a hardness that makes it resistant to shovelling. Its density generally ranges from 0.4 g/cm³ to 0.83 g/cm³, snowflakes are compressed under the weight of the overlying snowpack. Individual crystals near the point are semiliquid and slick, allowing them to glide along other crystal planes. Where the crystals touch they bond together, squeezing the air between them to the surface or into bubbles, in the summer months, the crystal metamorphosis can occur more rapidly because of water percolation between the crystals. By summers end, the result is firn, the minimum altitude that firn accumulates on a glacier is called the firn limit, firn line or snowline. USGS Glossary of Selected Glacier and Related Terminology Fundamentals of Physical Geography Firn definition on Encyclopædia Britannica /Greenland Meltwater Storage in Firn Limited
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Trugberg
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The Trugberg is a mountain in the Bernese Alps, located south of the Mönch in the canton of Valais. It is located above the Konkordiaplatz where the névé of the Jungfraufirn on the west side, debris accumulating on both sides of the mountain form one of the two important supraglacial moraines of the Aletsch Glacier. Eventually, they realized their error and decided to name the mountain Trugberg, the Trugberg was first climbed 13 July 1871 by Dr. Emil Burckardt from Basel, with the two local guides Peter Egger and Peter Schlegel. The route they took was by the east flank, list of mountains of Switzerland Trugberg on SummitPost Trugberg on Hikr
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Swiss German
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Swiss German is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy bordering Switzerland. Linguistically, Swiss German forms no unity, the linguistic division of Alemannic is rather into Low, High and Highest Alemannic, varieties of all of which are spoken both inside and outside of Switzerland. The only exception within German-speaking Switzerland is the municipality of Samnaun where a Bavarian dialect is spoken, the dialects of Swiss German must not be confused with Swiss Standard German, the variety of Standard German used in Switzerland. Most people in Germany do not understand Swiss German, therefore, when an interview with a Swiss German speaker is shown on German television, subtitles are required. Unlike most regional languages in modern Europe, Swiss German is the everyday language of all social levels in industrial cities. Using the dialect conveys neither social nor educational inferiority and is done with pride. There are a few settings where speaking Standard German is demanded or polite, e. g. in education, in multilingual parliaments and this situation has been called a medial diglossia, since the spoken language is mainly the dialect, whereas the written language is mainly Standard German. Swiss German speakers on TV or in films are usually dubbed or subtitled if shown in Germany. Dialect rock is a music genre using the language, many Swiss rock bands, however, the Swiss Amish of Adams County, Indiana and their daughter settlements also use Swiss German. Swiss German is a regional or political umbrella term, not a linguistic unity, for all dialects, there are idioms spoken outside Switzerland that are more closely related to them than some Swiss German dialects. Low Alemannic is only spoken in the northernmost parts of Switzerland, in Basel, High Alemannic is spoken in most of the Swiss Plateau, and is divided in an eastern and a western group. Highest Alemannic is spoken in the Alps, each dialect is separable into numerous local subdialects, sometimes down to a resolution of individual villages. Speaking the dialect is an important part of regional, cantonal and national identities, in the more urban areas of the Swiss plateau, regional differences are fading due to increasing mobility, and a growing population of non-Alemannic descent. Despite the varied dialects, the Swiss can still understand one another, but may particularly have trouble understanding Walliser dialects. Most Swiss German dialects, being High German dialects, have completed the High German consonant shift, that is, they have not only changed t to or and p to or, There are, however, exceptions, namely the idioms of Chur and Basel. Basel German is a Low Alemannic dialect, and Chur German is basically High Alemannic without initial or, North of the Benrath line up to the North Sea, this consonant shift did not happen. The Walser migration, going on between the 12th and 13th centuries, spread upper Wallis varieties towards the east and south, into Grisons and even further to western Austria and northern Italy. Informally, a distinction is made between the German-speaking people living in the canton of Valais, the Walliser, and the migrated ones, so, the Walser were pioneers of the liberalisation from serfdom and feudalism
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Konkordia Hut
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The Konkordia Hut is a mountain hut of the Swiss Alpine Club, located north of Fieschertal in the canton of Valais. The hut lies above Konkordiaplatz, the point of convergence of several glaciers in the great Aletsch Glacier system of the Bernese Alps and it is located at a height of 2,850 metres above sea level, at the foot of the Fülbärg. Because of its location, the hut is long way from villages, the shortest way starts at the Jungfraujoch railway station. All access routes are via glacier, the hut lies approximately 150 metres above the level of the ice. Swisstopo topographic maps Official website The Konkordia Hut on Mount Wiki
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Bettmeralp
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Bettmeralp is a municipality in the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Betten and Martisberg merged into the municipality of Bettmeralp, before the merger, Bettmeralp was the name of a village and ski resort in Betten. Bettmeralp is a car free village which can be reached by car from the Betten train station. From there another cable car leads near to the summit of Bettmerhorn, bettmersee is located above the village at 2006 m. The position of Bettmeralp allows good view over the Pennine Alps, particularly the summits of Weissmies, Dom, Betten is first mentioned in 1243 as Bettan. Martisberg is first mentioned in 1311 as Martisperg, the former municipalities that now make up Bettmeralp have a total combined area of 29.36 km2. The total population of Bettmeralp is 452, the main ski lifts are, The village, View from the village, Betten in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. Martisberg in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
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Oberaletsch Glacier
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The Oberaletsch Glacier is a valley glacier on the south side of the Bernese Alps, in the canton of Valais. It had a length of 9 km with a width of just under 1 km. The Oberaletsch Glacier system consists of two equal arms. The eastern one takes its starting point on the western flank of the Aletschhorn at around 3,700 m. Then the glacier flows to the south-east towards the Aletsch Glacier without reaching it, the glacier tongue ends at around 2,150 m. During the Little Ice Age in the middle of the 19th century the glacier was part of the Aletsch Glacier, the Swiss Alpine Club Oberaletschhütte is above the junction of the two glacier arms and has been accessible to hikers since 2005 with a new trail from Belalp. The area of the Oberaletsch Glacier, along with the Aletsch Glacier, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 2001, Oberaletsch glacier on Glaciers online Swiss glacier monitoring network
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Stausee Gibidum
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Not to be confused with Gebidumsee, a natural lake. Stausee Gibidum is a reservoir in the canton of Valais, Switzerland and its surface area is 0.21 km², shared by the municipalities of Naters and Riederalp. The construction of Gebidem dam was started in 1964 and completed by 1967, the arch dam has an elevation of 122 m and a crest length of 327 m. Swiss Dams, Gebidem
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Brig-Glis
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Brig, officially Brig-Glis is a historic town and a municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The current municipality was formed in 1972 through the merger of Brig, Brigerbad, together with other Alpine towns Brig-Glis engages in the Alpine Town of the Year Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention to achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc. Brig-Glis was awarded Alpine Town of the Year 2008, the official language of Brig is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. The name Brig is derived from Briva, or bridge, the prosperity of Brig is bound up with the Simplon Pass, so that it gradually supplanted the more ancient village of Naters opposite, becoming a separate parish in 1517. Its medieval name was Briga dives, Brig is first mentioned in 1215 as Briga. The first evidence of human habitation near Brig comes from a few Bronze Age objects, a bracelet, the area remained inhabited through the Latène era with scattered Walser settlements. During the Roman era the Roman influence was strongest along the Roman road on the valley floor, the area remained settled during the Iron Age, Migration Period and Early Middle Ages. The de Briga family is first mentioned in 1215, the family was probably a branch of the Mangoldi line which was first mentioned in 1181 and is probably identical to the de Curia family which appeared between 1308-35. The family seat was the Höllenburg, which was a tower above Brig, by the 17th Century the tower had been demolished. It is likely that the city was founded by the Bishop of Sion, the original tower was replaced with a new tower in the 13th Century, which was demolished in 1970. In the 14th Century, Brig was first mentioned as a town and it grew in importance and in 1518 became the capital of the Zenden of Brig. Together with the capital, it became the seat of the district court, the town hall is first mentioned in 1618. The city wall served as a flood wall to help protect the town from the Saltina. The nearby Rhône caused floods in 1469,1506,1640,1752,1775,1868 and 1920, in 1755 and again in 1855 an earthquake damaged the city. The plague decimated the population in 1465,1475,1485 and 1575, in 1799 French troops pillaged the city, burned the archives and inflicted great damage. Starting in the middle of the 13th Century, it was a storage, transshipment, by the early modern era a number of families were wealthy from trade and built palatial homes and public buildings in the city. The Renaissance tower of the Provincial Governor Kaspar Metz Elten was built in 1526, then, in 1658-78, Kaspar Stockalper built the Stockalper Palace with three towers, and arcaded courtyard and a park. The early modern city also featured the old Stockalper house, the Salzhof which served as a transshipment and storage point, outside the city, in 1677, Kaspar Stockalper built the Matteni manor house for Georg Christoph Mannhaft
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Belalp
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Belalp is a village and ski resort in the Swiss canton of Valais,2100 m above sea level, in the municipality of Naters. Belalp is a car free village which can be reached by car from the village of Blatten. Because of its altitude the place is also a vantage point offering view of Dom and Fletschhorn, close to the village are the summits of Nesthorn, Hohstock and Sparrhorn
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Riederalp
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Riederalp is a municipality in the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It was created in 2003 through the merger of Goppisberg, Greich, Riederalp has an area, as of 2011, of 21 square kilometers. Of this area,27. 7% is used for agricultural purposes, of the rest of the land,3. 0% is settled and 27. 3% is unproductive land. The mid-mountain resort sits on a terrace, south of the 23 km long Aletsch Glacier—Europes largest. The altitude of the village allows good view of the Pennine Alps with some of its highest summits such as the Fletschhorn, Dom, Riederalp has a population of 498. As of 2008,10. 6% of the population are resident foreign nationals, over the last 10 years the population has changed at a rate of -3. 9%. It has changed at a rate of -3. 9% due to migration, most of the population speaks German as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common and French is the third. As of 2008, the population was made up of 479 Swiss citizens and 57 non-citizen residents, as of 2000, children and teenagers make up 23. 9% of the population, while adults make up 59. 4% and seniors make up 16. 7%. As of 2009, the rate of new housing units was 9.3 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010, was 1. 33%, the entire villages of Goppisberg and Greich are designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 69. 21% of the vote, the next three most popular parties were the SVP, the FDP and the SP. In the federal election, a total of 290 votes were cast, in the 2009 Conseil dEtat/Staatsrat election a total of 269 votes were cast, of which 20 or about 7. 4% were invalid. The voter participation was 68. 3%, which is more than the cantonal average of 54. 67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 288 votes were cast, the voter participation was 72. 9%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59. 88%. As of 2010, Riederalp had an unemployment rate of 2%, as of 2008, there were 62 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 18 businesses involved in this sector. 9 people were employed in the sector and there were 4 businesses in this sector. 239 people were employed in the sector, with 37 businesses in this sector. In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 240, the number of jobs in the primary sector was 24, all of which were in agriculture
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Bettmerhorn
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The Bettmerhorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, located north of Bettmeralp in the Swiss canton of Valais. The summit can be reached with a 30-minute vertical hike after ascending most of the mountain by cable car from the car free village of Bettmeralp, Bettmeralp is accessible by cable car from the Betten train station. The Bettmerhorn summit station offers views on the Bernese Alps and the Aletsch Glacier. The view also extends to the Lepontine and Pennine Alps
34.
Eggishorn
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The Eggishorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, located north of Fiesch in the Swiss canton of Valais. A cable car station is located on a summit named Fiescherhorli,500 metres south of the main peak. The Eggishorn lies within the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn region, which has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, on its northern flank is the Aletsch Glacier. From the summit the view extends also to the Lepontine and Pennine Alps, list of mountains of Switzerland accessible by public transport Eggishorn on Summitpost Eggishorn on Hikr Eggishorn, the mountain of views Fiesch Eggishorn cable car
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Jungfraujoch
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Jungfraujoch is a notable saddle in the Bernese Alps, connecting the two four-thousander peaks Jungfrau and Mönch, at an elevation of 3,466 metres above sea level. The Jungfraujoch railway station, at an elevation of 3,454 metres is the highest in Europe and it lies east of the saddle, below the Sphinx station, and is connected to the Top of Europe building, which includes several panoramic restaurants and a post office. Several tunnels lead outside, where secured hiking trails on the glacier can be followed. The Sphinx Observatory, one of the highest astronomical observatories in the world and it can be reached by an elevator from the Jungfraujoch. The observatory houses one of the Global Atmosphere Watchs atmospheric research stations, the Jungfraujoch radio relay station, which is not accessible to the public, is installed west of the Jungfraujoch, on the Jungfrau ridge. It is Europes highest radio relay station, four such routes were found, with the Jungfraujoch and the Eigerjoch being among the most difficult passes in the Alps. The first passage of Jungfraujoch succeeded in July 1862, by a party of six English climbers and six Swiss guides, Leslie Stephen, F. J. Hardy, H. B. George, Living, Moore, and Morgan, with Christian Almer, Christian and Peter Michel, Ulrich Kauffmann, P. Baumann, the time of ascent from Wengernalp was nine hours. The party turned back on the first day at a bergschrund, returning on the day with a ladder 25 ft in length, carried by Peter Rubi. The way lay at first by the buttress of the Mönch, separating the Eiger. From the buttress the route descended a short distance in order to reach the Guggi Glacier and this halting place was reached in about three hours. Above the bergschrund was a second and smaller plateau which was situated immediately under the slopes of broken neve that lay below the saddle. The final and very arduous stage in the ascent was a patch of dark rocks jutted out from the snow in the ridge connecting the Jungfrau with the Mönch. At a point where the pathway thinned out nearly to a point, and was cut across by a transverse crevasse and this was the last serious obstacle, a moderate slope of névé, unbroken by crevasses, then led up to the summit of the saddle. After reaching the first patch of rocks, a way below the saddle on the south side. Kaufmann went down to the Eggishorn, while the remainder of the party returned to Grindelwald by the Mönchsjoch. Adolf Guyer-Zeller First thought of the idea of a tunnel in 1893, the building of the tunnel started on July 27,1896 and took 16 years to complete. The construction phase was troubled by problems including monetary shortages, inclement weather
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