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19-576: 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 ( Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn ). The Bettmerhorn summit station offers impressive views on

38-604: Is located in the eastern Bernese Alps in the most glaciated region of the Alps. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site ( Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch ) in 2001 and further expanded in 2007. Its name comes from the Aletsch Glacier and the two summits of the Jungfrau and Bietschhorn , which constitute some of the most impressive features of the site. The actual site (after the extension) includes other large glacier valleys such as

57-551: Is not centered inside the range but lies close (10 to 15 km) to the Rhône on the south. This makes a large difference between the south, where the lateral short valleys descend abruptly into the deep trench forming the valley of the Rhône and the north, where the Bernese Alps extends through a great part of the canton of Bern ( Bernese Oberland ), throwing out branches to the west into the adjoining cantons of Vaud and Fribourg . There

76-621: Is the most central of the major passes through the main chain. It also marks the separation between two distinct sections of the Bernese Alps: the chain west of Gemmi Pass, consisting mainly of foothills with a few large glacier-covered mountains (notably Dent de Morcles, Grand Muveran , Diablerets , Wildhorn and Wildstrubel ) around 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), and the chain east of Gemmi Pass, consisting mainly of summits around 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) on several subranges, with large valley glaciers between them. The latter section, contrary to

95-647: The Bietschhorn by the Lötschental and the Lötschenlücke . To this again succeeds the deep trench through which the lower part of the Aletsch Glacier flows down to the Rhône, enclosed by the minor ridge that culminates at the Eggishorn . It is in the central and eastern portions of the range only that crystalline rocks make their appearance; the western part is composed almost exclusively of sedimentary deposits , and

114-626: The Fiescher Glacier and the Aar Glaciers . The chief peaks of the Bernese Alps are: Main glaciers : The chief passes of the Bernese Alps are: Grand Muveran The Grand Muveran is a mountain of the Bernese Alps , located on the border between the cantons of Vaud and Valais . At 3,051 metres, it is the highest summit of the group lying between the Rhone knee and the Pas de Cheville and

133-734: The Pennine Alps in the south; the upper Rhône valley separates them from the Lepontine Alps to the southeast; the Grimsel Pass and the Aare valley separates them from the Uri Alps in the east, and from the Emmental Alps in the north; their northwestern edge is not well defined, describing a line roughly from Lake Geneva to Lake Thun . The Bernese Alps are drained by the river Aare and its tributary

152-611: The Saane in the north, the Rhône in the south, and the Reuss in the east. The Bernese Alps are amongst the three highest major subranges of the Alps, together with the Pennine Alps and the Mont Blanc massif . One of the most prominent Alpine ranges, the Bernese Alps extend from the gorge of Saint-Maurice , through which the Rhône finds its way to Lake Geneva, to the Grimsel Pass or, depending on

171-425: The Alps, the names of Grindelwald , Lauterbrunnen , and Interlaken have become famous. 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 . They have explored most of the mountain ranges not very difficult to access, and have climbed most of

190-609: The Bernese Alps and the Aletsch Glacier , the largest in the Alps . The view also extends to the Lepontine and Pennine Alps ( Dom , Matterhorn , Weisshorn ). This article about a mountain, mountain range, or peak located in Valais is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Bernese Alps The Rhône valley separates them from the Chablais Alps in the west and from

209-630: The activity of their predecessors, the members of the English Alpine Club have found scope for further exploits, amongst which may be reckoned the first ascents of the Aletschhorn and the Schreckhorn , and the still more arduous enterprise of crossing the range bypasses, such as the Jungfraujoch and Eigerjoch , which are considered among the most difficult in the Alps. The Jungfrau-Aletsch area

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228-680: The channels of great glaciers. Thus the Tschingel Glacier and the Kander Glacier , separate the portion of the main range lying between the Gemmi Pass and the Mittaghorn from the equally high parallel range of the Doldenhorn and Blümlisalp on its northern side. To the south, the same portion of the main range is divided from the still higher parallel range whose summits are the Aletschhorn and

247-540: The definition, to the river Reuss (thus including the Uri Alps ). The principal ridge, a chain that runs 100 kilometres (62 mi) from west ( Dent de Morcles ) to east ( Sidelhorn ), whose highest peak is the Finsteraarhorn , forms the watershed between the cantons of Bern and Valais . Except for the westernmost part, it is also the watershed between the Rhine ( North Sea ) and the Rhône ( Mediterranean Sea ). This chain

266-429: The former, has very few foothills and is the most glaciated part of the Alps . A characteristic in the orography of the Bernese Alps is, that whereas the western portion of that chain consists of a single series of summits with comparatively short projecting buttresses, the higher group presents a series of longitudinal ridges parallel to the axis of the main chain, and separated from each other by deep valleys that form

285-528: The higher summits. In 1841, Louis Agassiz , with several scientific friends, established a temporary station on the Unteraar Glacier , and, along with scientific observations on the glaciers, started a series of expeditions. Several mountains in the area are named after Agassiz and the other explorers . The works of Desor and Gottlieb Studer have been followed by several other publications that bear testimony to Swiss mountaineering activity. Notwithstanding

304-463: The mountains progressively become lower and disappear into the hilly Swiss Plateau . The Bernese Alps have a large influence on the climate of Switzerland: while their north side is very exposed to weather, their south side is protected from it. As a consequence, agriculture consists essentially of dairy farming and cattle breeding on the northern foothills, while on the sunnier southern foothills (Rhone Valley) it also consists of vineyards. Gemmi Pass

323-461: The secondary ridges extending through Bern and the adjoining cantons are formed of jurassic , cretaceous , or eocene strata . The beauty of the scenery and the facilities offered to travellers by the general extension of mountain railways make the northern side of the range, the Bernese Oberland , one of the portions of the Alps most visited by tourists. Since strangers first began to visit

342-928: The southwest the Dent de Morcles and the Dent Favre , and to the northeast the Tête à Pierre Grept and the Haut de Cry . The Muverans are the second highest massif of the canton of Vaud, after the Diablerets , and one of the four distinct and glaciated massifs of the Bernese Alps that lie between the Rhone elbow and the Gemmi Pass. The normal route to the summit starts from the Rambert Hut (2,582 m), above Ovronnaz. [REDACTED] Media related to Grand Muveran at Wikimedia Commons This article about

361-535: The westernmost three-thousander of the Bernese Alps. The closest localities are Les Plans-sur-Bex (municipality of Bex , Vaud) and Ovronnaz (Valais). It is accompanied by the smaller peak of Petit Muveran . Overlooking the Rhone valley from a height of about 2,600 metres, the Grand Muveran is the high point of a group (referred to as the Muverans ) composed of several summits approaching 3,000 metres, including to

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