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28-532: The Giétro Glacier lies on the northern side of the Pennine Alps in the Swiss canton of Valais . It is located in the upper Bagnes Valley , south of Martigny and Verbier . The length of the glacier is 4.45 km (2017) and its area is 5.3 km (2017). The glacier is fed by the snows of Mont Blanc de Cheilon (3,870 m) and La Ruinette (3,875 m). On the upper part, the glacier is relatively flat. It descends to

56-401: A hole through the ice. The work began one day later. A tunnel was drilled from the two sides, about 20 metres above the level of the lake. An avalanche of ice occurred on 18 May but without any casualties. A secondary tunnel was then drilled for safety reasons. A week later the level of the lake reached 10 metres below the tunnel. On 27 May an enormous piece of ice detached itself from the cone in

84-701: Is drained by the rivers Dora Baltea , Sesia and Toce , tributaries of the Po . The Swiss side is drained by the Rhône . The Great St Bernard Tunnel , under the Great St Bernard Pass , leads from Martigny, Switzerland to Aosta . The main chain ( watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Adriatic Sea ) runs from west to east on the border between Italy (south) and Switzerland (north). From Mont Vélan ,

112-604: 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

140-576: 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 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

168-408: 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 is the most central of the major passes through the main chain. It also marks the separation between two distinct sections of

196-675: 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 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

224-647: 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

252-651: The Regional park of Binn valley (15,891 ha - Valais , CH), have been established on both sides of the main water divide . Bernese Alps The Bernese Alps are a mountain range of the Alps located in western Switzerland . Although the name suggests that they are located in the Berner Oberland region of the canton of Bern , portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Valais , Fribourg and Vaud ,

280-846: The Valais Alps (which are just the Northern Swiss part of the Pennine Alps), are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps . They are located in Italy (the Aosta Valley and Piedmont ) and Switzerland ( Valais ). The Pennine Alps are amongst the three highest major subranges of the Alps, together with the Bernese Alps and the Graian Alps that include the Mont Blanc massif . The Italian side

308-425: 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

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336-532: 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 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

364-495: 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

392-526: The Dranse de Bagnes, a tributary of the Rhone . The Giétro Glacier is known to have caused many deaths in the valley during historical times. The earliest known glacial lake outburst flood was recorded in 1595, and caused 140 deaths. More recently in 1818 a similar lake outburst flood occurred killing 44 people. In the latter case a hole was drilled through the glacier to limit the level of waters. After an increase of

420-630: 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

448-680: 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

476-433: 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 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

504-470: The first high summit east of St Bernard Pass , the chain rarely goes below 3000 metres and contains many four-thousanders such as Matterhorn or Monte Rosa . The valleys are quite similar on both side of the border, being generally oriented perpendicular to the main chain and descending progressively into the Rhône Valley on the north and the Aosta Valley on the south. Unlike many other mountain ranges,

532-429: 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

560-439: The glacier during the " Year Without a Summer ", an ice cone started to form in 1816 in the valley. It was created by the accumulation of the falling seracs of the terminus. A lake was formed but it emptied on 27 May 1817 without causing any fatalities. In April 1818 the lake measured about 2 km in length. On 10 May 1818, the engineer Ignaz Venetz was called by the canton. To stop the rapid rise of waters, he decided to drill

588-720: The heights of Fionnay. Finally, at 16:30, the dam broke and 18 million m of water invaded the valley. Half an hour later the lake was empty. The flood reached the village of Bagnes 10 minutes later; the alert was given to Martigny before 18:00, but too late. The wave invaded Martigny-Bourg a few minutes later. The rise of the waters was observed along the Rhone, at 19:00 in Saint-Maurice and at 23:00 on Lake Geneva . Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps ( French : Alpes Pennines , German : Walliser Alpen , Italian : Alpi Pennine , Latin : Alpes Poeninae ), sometimes referred to as

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616-642: The higher peaks are often located outside the main chain and found themselves between the northern valleys ( Grand Combin , Weisshorn , Mischabel , Weissmies ). The chief peaks of the Pennine Alps are: Main glaciers : The chief passes of the Pennine Alps are: Some regional nature parks , like the Parco Naturale Alta Valsesia (6,511 ha - Piedmont , IT), the Riserva Naturale Mont Mars (390 ha - Aosta Valley , IT) and

644-528: 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

672-408: The hole by the waterfall. Some water also ran out from the base of the cone. Only two men stayed in place; Venetz warned the inhabitants of the valley of the danger. On the morning of 16 June, terrible noises and violent detonations were heard. The cone began to crack. A group of British tourists and a drawer from Lausanne visited the place with Venetz. In the afternoon, Venetz and the workers escaped to

700-411: The lake and floated to the surface while making terrible noise; everybody escaped. They went back to work two days later. The 198 metre-long hole was completed on 4 June. Other large pieces of ice detached from the cone and floated back. The waters finally reached the level of the hole on 13 June, 22:00. They continued to rise until 14 June, when the level of the lake began to fall because of the erosion of

728-513: The latter being usually named Fribourg Alps and Vaud Alps respectively. The highest mountain in the range, the Finsteraarhorn , is also the highest point in the canton of Bern. The Rhône valley separates them from the Chablais Alps in the west and from the Pennine Alps in the south; the upper Rhône valley separates them from the Lepontine Alps to the southeast; the Grimsel Pass and

756-608: The north on the side of Mont Rouge du Giétro and then curves to the west between Le Pleureur and Mont Rouge. On the lower part, the glacier reaches a steepness of 40% forming a large number of crevasses . The terminus is located at about 2,750 metres. Part of the glacier is linked to the Cheilon Glacier through the Col du Cheilon (3,243 m). The water generated by the glacier ends in the Lake Mauvoisin (artificial lake) and then reaches

784-461: 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

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