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The Rheinwaldhorn ( it, Adula) is the highest point in the
Swiss canton The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confe ...
of
Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
at 3,402 metres above sea level. It lies on the border between the cantons of Graubünden and Ticino, in the Adula massif, part of the St. Gotthard massif of the Lepontine Alps in southern Switzerland. The mountain is known under different names, ''Rheinwaldhorn'', ''Adula'' or ''Piz Valrhein''.Bergseen der italienischen Schweiz
laghettialpini.ch. Retrieved on 2010-02-09
The group of the snowy peaks lying between the two principal branches of the Rhine were known in the Middle Ages by the names ''Mons Aquila'' or ''Mons Avium''. From the Romansh form of the first comes the name ''Adula'', which is used to designate the north-eastern portion of the Lepontine Alps. John Ball, ''The Alpine guide, Central Alps'', 1866, London The
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
name "Rheinwaldhorn" comes from the
Rheinwald The Rheinwald (from Latin ''Rheni vallis'' meaning "Rhine Valley"; Romansh: ''Valrain'') is a valley in the Canton of Grisons in Switzerland, the first section of the Hinterrhein valley. The river Hinterrhein flows through three valleys in the G ...
region.


Geography

The Rheinwaldhorn is the culminating point of the eastern portion of the Lepontine Alps and the Adula group. In this area, the watershed between the Rhine and the
Po river The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. Th ...
has no determinate direction, and exhibits a dislocated appearance. The peaks of the Adula form an irregular group, all the highest lying in a cluster not more five kilometres distant from the centre, which may be fixed as the foot of the Rheinwald Glacier. From the central group a considerable range extends due south more than 15 kilometres, between Val Blenio and Val Calanca, gradually diminishing in height. A parallel ridge connected with the main massif divides the Val Calanca from Val Mesocco; it surpasses but in few points the height of 9,000 feet. The northern ridge, longer but less regular than the first-mentioned, extends fully 20 kilometres, from the central group to the Piz Nadils over
Sumvitg Sumvitg (; german: Somvix) is a municipality in the Surselva Region in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. History Sumvitg is first mentioned in 1175 as ''in Summovico''. Geography Sumvitg has an area, , of . Of this area, 24.8% is u ...
in the valley of the Vorderrhein. The valleys on the north-east side are significantly higher than those on the south-west side. About 7 km west of the Rheinwaldhorn are the localities of Dangio and Torre (Ticino), at around 800 metres above sel level. About 13 km east of the summit is the locality of Hinterrhein (Graubünden), at around 1,600 metres. Politically, the summit of the Rheinwaldhorn is split between two cantons and three municipalities. On the west side is the municipality of
Blenio Blenio is a municipality of the district of Blenio, in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. Blenio was created on 22 October 2006 when it incorporated the formerly autonomous municipalities of Aquila, Campo Blenio, Ghirone, Olivone and Torre of ...
(Ticino) and on the east side are the municipalities of
Vals Vals is the word for waltz in many European languages. Vals or VALS may also refer to: * Peruvian waltz * Venezuelan waltz * Vals (dance), a dance related to Argentine tango * VALS, "Values And Lifestyles," a psychographic segmentation tool Place ...
and Hinterrhein (Graubünden).


Climbing history

The summit of the Rheinwaldhorn was first reached in 1789 by
Placidus a Spescha Placidus a Spescha (December 8, 1752 – August 14, 1833) was a Benedictine monk and early Alpine explorer born in Trun, near Disentis, in the valley of the upper Rhine in Graubünden. He became a monk in 1774 in Disentis and went to Einsiedeln t ...
. For seventy years no attempts seems to have been made to repeat the ascent. In 1859, Weilenmann reached the summit alone. The next and third recorded ascent was made in 1861 by Coaz (a topographer who made the first ascent of Piz Bernina), with three companions, and a chamois-hunter named Peter Anton Jellier, of Vals. Coaz gave an account of the expedition in the ''Jahresbericht der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft Graubünden''. Sleeping at the Zapport Alps, they mounted to the spot named ''Paradies'', located below the
Paradies Glacier The Paradies Glacier (german: Paradiesgletscher) is a 2.27 km long glacier (2007) situated in the Lepontine Alps in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of 3.99 km2. See also *List of glaciers in Switzerland ...
. A faint sheep-tract was followed for some distance: they then took to the glacier, but after some time returned to its southern bank. The first stage of the ascent was completed when they gained the col (Lenta Pass) in the ridge between the Rheinwaldhorn and Güferhorn. From thence the way lay along the arête. This was very narrow, and in some places difficult, where steep rocks projected through the
névé Névé is a young, granular type of snow which has been partially melted, refrozen and compacted, yet precedes the form of ice. This type of snow is associated with glacier formation through the process of ''nivation''. Névé that survives a ...
. After overcoming the rocks, the travellers found the ridge wider, but also much steeper than below, and to reach the highest point it was necessary to wind round the north side of the peak, so that the final climb was made from the north-west. The summit is a ridge about 200 feet long, running from north to south, and in one part bare of snow. Here in the two following ascents were found some remains of the cairn erected there seventy years before by Placidus a Spescha. The peaks of the Adula group had not been frequented by foreign travellers until 1863, when Morshead made the first ascent of the Vogelberg. In the following year Freshfield, with two friends, reached the summit of the Rheinwaldhorn from the side of the Lenta Glacier, striking the shoulder of the peak above the lowest point in the ridge connecting it with the Güferhorn. The first winter solo ascent was made by Daniele Gianora in 1942.


See also

*
Nature parks in Switzerland Switzerland has eighteen official natural parks (and three candidate parks) classified in three categories (national parks, regional nature parks and nature experience parks).List of mountains of Ticino This is a list of mountains of the Swiss canton of Ticino. Ticino is a very mountainous canton and lies almost entirely within the Alps. It is also one of the nine cantons having summits above 3,000 metres. Topographically, the two most important ...
* List of mountains of Switzerland


References


External links


Rheinwaldhorn on Summitpost

Rheinwaldhorn on Hikr


(German) {{Authority control Mountains of Ticino Mountains of the Alps Alpine three-thousanders Geography of Switzerland Highest points of Swiss cantons Mountains of Graubünden Graubünden–Ticino border Lepontine Alps Mountains of Switzerland cs:Adulské Alpy