Castor () is a mountain in the

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (, , , ), sometimes referred to as 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) an ...

on the border between

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and the

Aosta Valley The Aosta Valley ( ; ; ; or ), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Fr ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is the higher of a pair of twin peaks (), the other being Pollux, named after the

Gemini twins Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces) are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi. Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of ...

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to th ...

. Castor's peak is at an elevation of , and it lies between

Breithorn The Breithorn ( German for literally "broad horn"; 13,661 ft. or 4,160 m) is a mountain range of the Pennine Alps with its highest peak of the same name (but also called ''Breithorn (Western Summit)''), located on the border between Switze ...

and the

Monte Rosa Monte Rosa (; ; ; or ; ) is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over , is the D ...

. It is separated from Pollux by a pass at , named ''Passo di Verra'' in Italian and ''Zwillingsjoch'' in German. Ascents are usually made from the

alpine hut A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club ...

''Capanna Quintino Sella'' on the Italian side, by means of the Felikjoch and the long and narrow southeast ridge. From the Swiss side, ascents start from

Klein Matterhorn The Klein Matterhorn (sometimes translated as ''Little Matterhorn'') is a peak of the Pennine Alps, overlooking Zermatt in the Swiss canton of Valais. At above sea level, it is the highest place in Europe that can be reached by aerial tramway o ...

and go by way of the Italian glacier

Grand Glacier of Verra Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), s ...

and the mountain's west flank. The first ascent was made on August 23, 1861.

Image gallery

Image:Castor_und_Pollux.jpg, Castor (left) and Pollux (right) above the Zwillingsgletscher () in the back and the lower

Grenzgletscher The Gorner Glacier () is a valley glacier found on the west side of the Monte Rosa massif close to Zermatt in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is about long (2014) and wide. The entire glacial area of the glacier related to Gorner Glacier ...

() in front Image:Castore per la cresta sudorientale.JPG, Climbing along the summit ridge Image:Castor - Monte Castore.jpg, Castor in black and white

References

External links

Castor on Summitpost
Alpine four-thousanders Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Italy Mountains of Switzerland Pennine Alps Italy–Switzerland border International mountains of Europe Mountains of Valais Four-thousanders of Switzerland Castor and Pollux {{Aosta-mountain-stub

Image gallery

See also

References

External links