Bellinzona
Bellinzona is the capital of the canton Ticino in Switzerland. The city is famous for its three castles that have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2000; the town lies east at the foot of the Alps. It stretches along the river valley, surrounded by the southern ranges of the Lepontine Alps to the east and west, by the Lugano Prealps to the south; the toponym is first attested in 590 in Latin by Gregory of Tours. The name is Lepontic in origin from belitio or belitione. During the medieval period, the name is found as Berinzona, Birizona and Belinzona; the German name of the town is Bellenz. A local folk etymology derives the name Bellinzona from zona bellica "war zone", making a connection to the Italian Wars; the blazon of the municipal coat of arms is an erect serpent in silver on a red field. The fabulous animal is called in Italian "Biscione"; this animal, which can be found on the arms of the Alfa Romeo car company, is linked with the Visconti family, who were feudal lords of Bellinzona in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Bellinzona has always occupied an important geographic location in the Alps. To the south, the Po valley is accessible by a lowland route down the valley of the Ticino river and by Lake Maggiore. To the north, the valley of the Ticino leads to the high alpine passes of Nufenen, St. Gotthard and San Bernardino. Although now little used, the San Jorio Pass to the east was important in Bellinzona's past. While the region has been occupied since the early Neolithic age it wasn't until the late 1st century BOT that a fort was built in the area during the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus. While the fort fell into disrepair in the following centuries, it was rebuilt and expanded in the 4th century AD. During the reign of Diocletian and Constantin a chain of castles and watchtowers were built to protect northern Italy from invasion. Bellinzona's location was recognized as a key point in the defenses and a large castle was built to protect the walls; the town that grew up around the fortifications was known as Bilitio.
Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire the successor states, which included the Ostrogoths around 500 AD, the eastern Byzantine Empire towards the middle of the 6th century, the Longobards from 568/70, all took control of Bellinzona and used the castle to assert control of the surrounding passes. Under the Longobards, Bellinzona became the site of a permanent garrison to protect the region from raids by the neighboring Frankish and Alemannic tribes. From Bellinzona the Longobards controlled the traffic on the important trade route from Varese over Ponte Tresa, the Monte Ceneri Pass and over the Lukmanier Pass into Chur; some researchers believe that Bellinzona may have been the capital of a county that included most of the valleys in Ticino. At around 774 the Frankish Kingdom gained control of the Ticino valley including Bellinzona. About two centuries the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, seeking to restore the power of glory of ancient Rome and expand into Italy, opened the Lukmanier and St. Bernard passes.
Control of Bellinzona was a key part of this expansion. The city was taken from Milan and given as a gift to the Bishop of Como, who supported the Ottonian dynasty. In 1002, following the death of Otto III, Marquis Arduino of Ivrea declared himself King of Italy and ratified the bishop's ownership of the Castelgrande and the city. Two years after Arduino had been defeated by Henry II the King of Germany, Henry II's man Enrico II reratified the gift of the Castlegrande on the Bishop of Como; the city is mentioned in medieval sources in 1218 as Bilizione. During the Investiture Controversy of the late 11th century the city of Bellinzona with its castle came under the control of the Hohenstaufens of Swabia. However, in 1180, Frederick I placed the city under the jurisdiction of the city of Como. In the following years Como tended to support the Pope in his conflicts with the Holy Roman Emperor. However, in 1239, Como sided with the Emperor Frederick II who moved forces into Bellinzona and strengthened the Castelgrande.
In 1242 Milan sent Guelph forces under the command of Simone di Orello to take Bellinzona. The city and castle were taken; however the town was back under the jurisdiction of Como in 1249. Conflicts in northern Italy continued, the Castelgrande was besieged several times in 1284, 1292 and 1303. During this time the Rusca family in Como, a Ghibelline or pro-Imperial family, fought the growing power of Milan under the pro-papacy House of Visconti with limited success. Around the end of the 13th century the Rusca family built another castle, Montebello, in Bellinzona, which they controlled; this was fortunate because by 1335 the Rusca family had been driven out of Como and had to retreat to Bellinzona. Five years in 1340, Milan besieged Bellinzona. Following a lengthy siege, the city fell to Milan. Pro-papacy Milan would dominate Bellinzona for the next one and a half centuries, though the pro-Imperial Rusca would occupy part of the city. Under the control of the Visconti, trade flourished and Bellinzona grew.
When an alternative route over the Alps, the Schöllenen bridge opened, traffic in the St. Gotthard increased to the highest levels ever. During the second half of the 14th century a long
Mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills ranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form and alignment that have arisen from the same cause an orogeny. Mountain ranges are formed by a variety of geological processes, but most of the significant ones on Earth are the result of plate tectonics. Mountain ranges are found on many planetary mass objects in the Solar System and are a feature of most terrestrial planets. Mountain ranges are segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not have the same geologic structure or petrology, they may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, volcanic landforms resulting in a variety of rock types. Most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earth's land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide Belt.
The Pacific Ring of Fire includes the Andes of South America, extends through the North American Cordillera along the Pacific Coast, the Aleutian Range, on through Kamchatka, Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, to New Zealand. The Andes is 7,000 kilometres long and is considered the world's longest mountain system; the Alpide belt includes Indonesia and Southeast Asia, through the Himalaya, Caucasus Mountains, Balkan Mountains fold mountain range, the Alps, ends in the Spanish mountains and the Atlas Mountains. The belt includes other European and Asian mountain ranges; the Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, 8,848 metres high and traverses the border between China and Nepal. Mountain ranges outside these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Great Dividing Range, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a mountain range is stretched to include underwater mountains the Ocean Ridges form the longest continuous mountain system on Earth, with a length of 65,000 kilometres.
The mountain systems of the earth are characterized by a tree structure, where mountain ranges can contain sub-ranges. The sub-range relationship is expressed as a parent-child relationship. For example, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Blue Ridge Mountains are sub-ranges of the Appalachian Mountains. Equivalently, the Appalachians are the parent of the White Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, the White Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains are children of the Appalachians; the parent-child expression extends to the sub-ranges themselves: the Sandwich Range and the Presidential Range are children of the White Mountains, while the Presidential Range is parent to the Northern Presidential Range and Southern Presidential Range. The position of mountains influences climate, such as snow; when air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools producing orographic precipitation. As the air descends on the leeward side, it warms again and is drier, having been stripped of much of its moisture.
A rain shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. Mountain ranges are subjected to erosional forces which work to tear them down; the basins adjacent to an eroding mountain range are filled with sediments which are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted until the mountains are reduced to low hills and plains; the early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example. As the uplift was occurring some 10,000 feet of Mesozoic sedimentary strata were removed by erosion over the core of the mountain range and spread as sand and clays across the Great Plains to the east; this mass of rock was removed as the range was undergoing uplift. The removal of such a mass from the core of the range most caused further uplift as the region adjusted isostatically in response to the removed weight. Rivers are traditionally believed to be the principal cause of mountain range erosion, by cutting into bedrock and transporting sediment.
Computer simulation has shown that as mountain belts change from tectonically active to inactive, the rate of erosion drops because there are fewer abrasive particles in the water and fewer landslides. Mountains on other planets and natural satellites of the Solar System are isolated and formed by processes such as impacts, though there are examples of mountain ranges somewhat similar to those on Earth. Saturn's moon Titan and Pluto, in particular exhibit large mountain ranges in chains composed of ices rather than rock. Examples include the Mithrim Montes and Doom Mons on Titan, Tenzing Montes and Hillary Montes on Pluto; some terrestrial planets other than Earth exhibit rocky mountain ranges, such as Maxwell Montes on Venus taller than any on Earth and Tartarus Montes on Mars, Jupiter's moon Io has mountain ranges formed from tectonic processes including Boösaule Montes, Dorian Montes, Hi'iaka Montes and Euboea Montes. Peakbagger Ranges Home Page Bivouac.com
Reuss (river)
The Reuss is a river in Switzerland. With a length of 164 kilometres and a drainage basin of 3,426 square kilometres, it is the fourth largest river in Switzerland; the upper Reuss forms the main valley of the canton of Uri. The course of the lower Reuss runs from Lake Lucerne to the confluence with the Aare at Brugg and Windisch; the Gotthardreuss rises in the Gotthard massif, emerging from Lago di Lucendro in the canton of Ticino and passing into the canton of Uri at Brüggboden. The Furkareuss rises east of Furka Pass from Schwärziseeli and forms the valley called Urseren, passing Realp at 1,540 m. Gotthardreuss and Furkareuss join at Hospental. Downstream of Andermatt the Reuss passes through Schöllenen Gorge and under the legendary Devil's Bridge. At Göschenen it is joined by the Göschenerreuss. From here it forms the main valley of the canton of Uri, passing below Wassen, Gurtnellen and through Erstfeld, past Attinghausen and Altdorf, joining the southernmost part of Lake Lucerne at Seedorf.
The Reuss leaves Lake Lucerne some 20 km to the north-west, at the city of Lucerne. Notable bridges in Lucerne are the Kapellbrücke, first built 1333, rebuilt 1993 and Spreuerbrücke, built 1408. A needle dam just upstream from the Spreuerbrücke) maintains the water level, it receives the Kleine Emme from Entlebuch at Emmen. From here, it flows north-east through Buchrain, Root and Honau, downstream of Honau leaves the canton of Lucerne, now forming the border between Aargau and Zug, passing Dietwil, Risch-Rotkreuz, Oberrüti and Sins, Hünenberg and Mühlau, it receives the Lorze from Lake Zug downstream of Maschwanden. Downstream of this confluence, the Reuss forms the border between Aargau and Zürich, passing Merenschwand and Ottenbach, enters Aargau downstream of Ottenbach. Within Aargau, the Reuss flows past Aristau, Rottenschwil, Hermetschwil-Staffeln, here forming Flachsee, onward to Zufikon, Bremgarten; the Reussbrücke at Bremgarten was first built c. 1270, first mentioned 1281. From Bremgarten, the Reuss meanders between the villages of Eggenwil, Fischbach-Göslikon, Künten, Niederwil, to Stetten, flowing past Tägerig, Birrhard, Mülligen and between Windisch and Gebenstorf joining the Aare just downstream of Brugg, at 327 m.
After the confluence the river continues as the Aare. The catchment area of 3,426 km2 covers Central Switzerland; the catchment area of the upper Reuss includes the entire canton of Uri (with the exception of the Urner Boden, in the uppermost part of the Gotthardreuss a portion of Ticino. The highest point of the drainage basin is the summit of Dammastock, at elevation 3,630 m; the basin of the lower Reuss adds the catchment areas of other tributaries of Lake Lucerne as well as that of the Kleine Emme, including most of Nidwalden and Obwalden, parts of Schwyz and Zug. Downstream of Lucerne, further tributaries add other parts of Zug as well as parts of Zürich and Aargau. Reuss and its tributaries, with length and catchment area, from mouth to source: Reuss - 164 km - 3,426 km² Mülibach - 8 km² Jonen - 46 km2 Lorze - 390 km2 Haselbach Rigi-Aa - 18.6 km2 Hüribach - 12.8 km2 Sinserbach - 16 km2 Ron - 22.5 km2 Kleine Emme - 58 km - 477 km2 Ränggbach Rümlig Wigger Fontannen Entlen Grosse Entlen - 16 km Eibach Rotbach Kleine Entlen Headwaters Wiss Emme Waldemme Lake Lucerne - 113.6 km2 - 2,238 km² Würzenbach - 7.7 km - 39 km2 Sarner Aa/Dreiwässerkanal/Aa/Lauibach - 28 km - 267 km2 Grosse Schliere - 17 km - 28.8 km2 Grosse Melchaa Melbach - 18 km2 Engelberger Aa - 50 km - 230 km2 Muota - 316 km2 Isitalerbach - 60 km2 Altdorfer Dorfbach Upper Reuss - 832 km2 Schächen - 109 km2 Alpbach - 32 km2 Kärstelenbach - 116 km2 Meienreuss - 71 km2 Göschenenalpreuss - 92 km2 Voralpreuss Unteralpreuss Oberalpreuss Headwaters at Hospental: Furkareuss - 12 km Witenwasserenreuss Muttenreuss Tiefenbach Sidelenbach Gotthardreuss Ptolemy records the river's pre-Germanic name as Silana.
The Germanic name is attested as Rusa, Rusia from the 9th century, from an early Germanic *Rūsi, oblique *Rūsjō-. Greule interprets the name as an Old European hydronym, directly cognate with Riß; because of Ptolemy's record of the pre-Germanic name Silana, it is possible that only part of the river was known as *Rūsi in antiquity. Until the 13th century, the Schöllenen Gorge was impassable, separating Urseren from Uri. Urseren was accessible via Furka and Oberalp, was under the influenc
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was a loose confederation of independent small states within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerland, it formed during the 14th century, from a nucleus in what is now Central Switzerland, expanding to include the cities of Zürich and Berne by the middle of the century. This formed a rare union of rural and urban communes, all of which enjoyed imperial immediacy in the Holy Roman Empire; this confederation of eight cantons was politically and militarily successful for more than a century, culminating in the Burgundy Wars of the 1470s which established it as a power in the complicated political landscape dominated by France and the Habsburgs. Its success resulted in the addition of more confederates, increasing the number of cantons to thirteen by 1513; the confederacy pledged neutrality in 1647, although many Swiss served as mercenaries in the Italian Wars and during the Early Modern period. After the Swabian War of 1499 the confederacy was a de facto independent state throughout the early modern period, although still nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire until 1648 when the Treaty of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War.
The Swiss Reformation divided the confederates into Reformed and Catholic parties, resulting in internal conflict from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The Swiss Confederacy fell to invasion by the French Revolutionary Army in 1798, after which it became the short-lived Helvetic Republic; the adjective "old" was introduced after the Napoleonic era with Ancien Régime, retronyms distinguishing the pre-Napoleonic from the restored confederation. During its existence the confederacy was known as Eidgenossenschaft or Eydtgnoschafft, in reference to treaties among cantons. Territories of the confederacy came to be known collectively as Schweiz or Schweizerland, with the English Switzerland beginning during the mid-16th century. From that time the Confederacy was seen as a single state known as the Swiss Republic after the fashion of calling individual urban cantons republics; the nucleus of the Old Swiss Confederacy was an alliance among the valley communities of the central Alps to facilitate management of common interests and ensure peace along trade routes through the mountains.
The foundation of the Confederacy is marked by the 1315 Pact of Brunnen. Since 1889, the Federal Charter of 1291 among the rural communes of Uri and Unterwalden has been considered the founding document of the confederacy; the initial pact was augmented by pacts with the cities of Lucerne, Zürich, Berne. This union of rural and urban communes, which enjoyed the status of imperial immediacy within the Holy Roman Empire, was engendered by pressure from Habsburg dukes and kings who had ruled much of the land. In several battles with Habsburg armies, the Swiss were victorious. From 1353 to 1481, the federation of eight cantons—known in German as the Acht Orte —consolidated its position; the members enlarged their territory at the expense of local counts—primarily by buying judicial rights, but sometimes by force. The Eidgenossenschaft, as a whole, expanded through military conquest: the Aargau was conquered in 1415 and the Thurgau in 1460. In both cases, the Swiss profited from weakness in the Habsburg dukes.
In the south, Uri led a military territorial expansion that would by 1515 lead to the conquest of the Ticino. None of these territories became members of the confederacy. At this time, the eight cantons increased their influence on neighbouring cities and regions through additional alliances. Individual cantons concluded pacts with Fribourg, Schaffhausen, the abbot and the city of St. Gallen, Rottweil and others; these allies became associated with the confederacy, but were not accepted as full members. The Burgundy Wars prompted a further enlargement of the confederacy. In the Swabian War against Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, the Swiss were victorious and exempted from imperial legislation; the associated cities of Basel and Schaffhausen joined the confederacy as a result of that conflict, Appenzell followed suit in 1513 as the thirteenth member. The federation of thirteen cantons constituted the Old Swiss Confederacy until its demise in 1798; the expansion of the confederacy was stopped by the Swiss defeat in the 1515 Battle of Marignano.
Only Berne and Fribourg were still able to conquer the Vaud in 1536. The Reformation in Switzerland led to doctrinal division amongst the cantons. Zürich, Basel and associates Biel, Neuchâtel and the city of St. Gallen became Protestant. In Glarus, Appenzell, in the Grisons and in mo
Swiss Alps
The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main physiographic regions. The Swiss Alps extend over both the Western Alps and the Eastern Alps, encompassing an area sometimes called Central Alps. While the northern ranges from the Bernese Alps to the Appenzell Alps are in Switzerland, the southern ranges from the Mont Blanc massif to the Bernina massif are shared with other countries such as France, Italy and Liechtenstein; the Swiss Alps comprise all the highest mountains of the Alps, such as Dufourspitze, the Dom, the Liskamm, the Weisshorn and the Matterhorn. The other following major summits can be found in this list of mountains of Switzerland. Since the Middle Ages, transit across the Alps played an important role in history; the region north of St Gotthard Pass became the nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the early 14th century.
The Alps cover 65% of Switzerland's total 41,285 square kilometres surface area, making it one of the most alpine countries. Despite the fact that Switzerland covers only 14% of the Alps total 192,753 square kilometres area, 48 out of 82 alpine four-thousanders are located in the Swiss Alps and all of the remaining 34 are within 20 kilometres of the country's border; the glaciers of the Swiss Alps cover an area of 1,220 square kilometres — 3% of the Swiss territory, representing 44% of the total glaciated area in the Alps i.e. 2,800 square kilometres. The Swiss Alps are situated south of the Swiss north of the national border; the limit between the Alps and the plateau runs from Vevey on the shores of Lake Geneva to Rorschach on the shores of Lake Constance, passing close to the cities of Thun and Lucerne. The not well defined regions in Switzerland that lie on the margin of the Alps those on the north side, are called the Swiss Prealps; the Swiss Prealps are made of limestone and they do not exceed 2,500 metres.
The Alpine cantons are Valais, Graubünden, Glarus, Ticino, St. Gallen, Obwalden, Schwyz, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Fribourg and Zug; the countries with which Switzerland shares mountain ranges of the Alps are: France, Italy and Liechtenstein. The Alps are divided into two main parts, the Western Alps and Eastern Alps, whose division is along the Rhine from Lake Constance to the Splügen Pass; the western ranges occupy the greatest part of Switzerland while the more numerous eastern ranges are much smaller and are all situated in the canton of Graubünden. The latter are part of the Central Eastern Alps, except the Ortler Alps which belong to the Southern Limestone Alps; the Pennine and Bernina Range are the highest ranges of the country, they contain 38, 9 and 1 summit over 4000 metres. The lowest range is the Appenzell Alps culminating at 2,500 metres. Western Alps Eastern Alps The north side of the Swiss Alps is drained by the Rhône, Rhine and Inn while the south side is drained by the Ticino.
The rivers on the north empty into the Mediterranean and Black Sea, on the south the Po empty in the Adriatic Sea. The major triple watersheds in the Alps are located within the country, they are: Piz Lunghin, Witenwasserenstock and Monte Forcola. Between the Witenwasserenstock and Piz Lunghin runs the European Watershed separating the basin of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea; the European watershed lies in fact only on the main chain. Switzerland possesses 6% of Europe's fresh water, is sometimes referred to as the "water tower of Europe". Since the highest dams are located in Alpine regions, many large mountain lakes are artificial and are used as hydroelectric reservoirs; some large artificial lakes can be found above 2,300 m, but natural lakes larger than 1 km2 are below 1,000 m. The melting of low-altitude glaciers can generate new lakes, such as the 0.25 km2 large Triftsee which formed between 2002–2003. The following table gives the surface area above 2000 m and 3000 m and the respective percentage on the total area of each canton whose high point is above 2000 metres.
The composition of the great tectonic units reflects the history of the formation of the Alps. The rocks from the Helvetic zone on the north and the Austroalpine nappes – Southern Alps on the south come from the European and African continent respectively; the rocks of the Penninic nappes belong to the former area of the Briançonnais microcontinent and the Tethys Ocean. The closure of the latter by subduction under the African plate preceded the collision between the two plates and the so-called alpine orogeny; the major thrust fault of the Tectonic Arena Sardona in the eastern Glarus Alps gives a visible illustration of mountain-building processes and was therefore declared a UNESCO World Heritage. Another fine example gives the Alpstein area with several visible upfolds of Helvetic zone material. With some exceptions, the Alps north of Rhône and Rhine are part of the Helvetic Zone and those on the south side are part of the Penninic nappes; the Austroalpine zone concerns only the Eastern Alps, with the n
Gotthard Tunnel
The Gotthard Tunnel is a 15.003-kilometre-long railway tunnel and forms the summit of the Gotthard Railway in Switzerland. It connects Göschenen with Airolo and was the first tunnel through the Saint-Gotthard Massif in order to bypass the St Gotthard Pass, it is built as standard gauge tunnel. When opened in 1882, the Gotthard Tunnel was the longest tunnel in the world; the tunnel rises from the northern portal at Göschenen and the highest point is reached after 8 kilometres. After two more kilometers, the border between the cantons of Uri and Ticino is passed; the trip takes about seven to eight minutes by train. Services are operated by the Swiss Federal Railways; the Gotthard Railway Company was founded in 1871 under the stewardship of the Swiss industrialist Alfred Escher, who had created the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt in 1856. Despite initial difficulties to finance the project, resulting costs of about 11% over budget, the financing was shared among private and public investors from Switzerland and the German Empire.
The bidding war between an engineering company from Geneva and Italy was fought, the Swiss engineer Louis Favre won the project with an estimated cost of 2830 Swiss francs per meter. Because of his low bid, the extra costs during construction, Favre found himself at odds with Swiss politicians and investors alike; the tunnel was built from 1871 to 1881 and marked the first large-scale use of dynamite, patented in 1867. Construction was supervised by the Swiss engineer Louis Favre, who suffered a fatal heart attack inside the tunnel in 1879. Construction was difficult due to financial and geological issues, the latter of which led to the death of around 200 workers due to water inrushes. There were serious health issues caused by an epidemic of hookworm infection. Medical investigations led to "major advances in parasitology, by way of research into the aetiology and treatment of ancylostomiasis". A strike of the workers in 1875 was crushed by the Swiss Army, killing four and wounding 13. A memorial for the dead workers was erected in 1932 near the station building at Airolo.
The memorial contains a relief by Vincenzo Vela from 1882/1883, titled "Vittime del lavoro". The tunnel was opened for traffic in 1882, operated by the private railway company Gotthardbahn, which ran from Lucerne to Chiasso at the Italian border; the Gotthardbahn was integrated into the Swiss Federal Railways in 1909. In 1920, the first electric trains were run through the Gotthard Tunnel; the voltage had to be reduced from the desired 15 kilovolts to 7.5 kV, because the grime deposited on the insulators by the steam locomotives encouraged excessive arcing. However, in May the next year, steam was replaced by electric traction, the problem of soot and grime was eliminated; until the opening of the Gotthard Road Tunnel in 1980, the Swiss Federal Railways offered piggyback services for cars and trucks through the Gotthard Tunnel. Today, that service exists as the rolling highway from the German to the Italian border and aims to reduce truck traffic on Swiss expressways. An improvisational piggyback service from Göschenen to Airolo was offered during the two-month closure of the Gotthard Road Tunnel in 2001.
The adjacent ramps include several turn tunnels. The nearby Gotthard Road Tunnel was opened in 1980. A second railway tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, much longer and at a lower elevation than the Gotthard Tunnel, opened on 1 June 2016. Saint-Gotthard Massif St Gotthard Pass Gotthard Base Tunnel Gotthard Road Tunnel NRLA Gautier, Adolphe. "The St. Gothard Tunnel". Nature. 21: 581–6. Doi:10.1038/021581a0
Summit
A summit is a point on a surface, higher in elevation than all points adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex and zenith are synonymous; the term top is used only for a mountain peak, located at some distance from the nearest point of higher elevation. For example, a big massive rock next to the main summit of a mountain is not considered a summit. Summits near a higher peak, with some prominence or isolation, but not reaching a certain cutoff value for the quantities, are considered subsummits of the higher peak, are considered part of the same mountain. A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top. Summit may refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route; the highest summit in the world is Everest with height of 8844.43 m above sea level. The first official ascent was made by Sir Edmund Hillary, they reached the mountain`s peak in 1953. Whether a highest point is classified as a summit, a sub peak or a separate mountain is subjective; the UIAA definition of a peak is.
Otherwise, it's a subpeak. In many parts of the western United States, the term summit refers to the highest point along a road, highway, or railroad. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit and the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit. A summit climbing differs from the common mountaineering. Summit expedition requires: 1+ year of training, a good physical shape, a special gear. Although a huge part of climber’s stuff can be left and taken at the base camps or given to porters, there is a long list of personal equipment. In addition to common mountaineers’ gear, Summit climbers need to take Diamox and bottles of oxygen. There are special requirements for crampons, ice axe, rappel device, etc. Geoid Hill – Landform that extends above the surrounding terrain Nadir Summit accordance Peak finder Summit Climbing Gear List
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