The Gross Windgällen is a 3,187 m high

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

in the

Glarus Alps The Glarus Alps () are a mountain range in central Switzerland. They are bordered by the Uri Alps and the Schwyz Alps to the west, the Lepontine Alps to the south, the Appenzell Alps to the northeast. The eastern part of the Glarus Alps contains ...

, overlooking the valley of the

Reuss Reuss may refer to: *Reuss (surname) * Reuss (river) in Switzerland * Imperial County of Reuss or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the People's State of Reuss * Principality of Reuss-Greiz and Principality of R ...

in the canton of

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), off Malakula Island in V ...

. The name Gross Windgällen derives from Gälle or gellen, meaning as much as wailing, shrilling or whistling.

Geography

The massif of the Gross Wingällen lies between two parallel valleys, the

Schächental The Schächental (''Schächen Valley'') is an alpine valley of Uri, Switzerland, formed by the river Schächen. The valley stretches to the east of Altdorf for some 10 km. Situated in the Schächental are the municipalities of Bürglen ...

on the north side and the

Maderanertal The Maderanertal is an Alpine valley of the canton of Canton of Uri, Uri in Central Switzerland. It is drained by the Chärstelenbach, a stream that is a right tributary of the Reuss (river), Reuss at Amsteg. The highest mountain in the Maderanerta ...

on the south side, both converging to the Reuss on the west at approximately 500 metres above sea level or 2,700 m below the summit. On the north side, the massif encloses a small valley, the Brunnital, which belong to the Schächental, thus forming an amphitheatre of several summits above 3,000 m, including the

Gross Ruchen The Gross Ruchen is a mountain in the Glarus Alps, overlooking the Brunnital south of Unterschächen in the canton of Uri. It is located between the higher Gross Windgallen on the west and the Chli Ruchen The Chli Ruchen (2,944 m) is a mo ...

on the east; the north wall of the Gross Ruchen being connected with that of the Gross Windgällen. Several

glaciers A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

can be found on the southern side of the mountain, among which the Stäfelfirn, located east of the summit. The north-west face is very steep and has no glaciers, it overlooks the small lake of

Seewli __NOTOC__ Seewlisee (or ''Seewli'') is a lake in Uri, Switzerland at an elevation of 2028 m. Its surface area is . The lake lies at the foot of the Gross Windgällen. The lake can be reached by foot in 2–3 hours from the cable car Silenen-Chil ...

(2,028 m). Two kilometres south-west of the Gross Windgällen lies the

Chli Windgällen The Chli Windgällen (2,986 m) is a mountain of the Glarus Alps, overlooking the valley of the Reuss (river), Reuss in the canton of Canton of Uri, Uri. It lies west of the Gross Windgällen, on the range north of the Maderanertal. References ...

(2,986 m). The closest locality is Golzern on its southern flanks at 1,400 m, from where the Gross Windgällen is usually climbed. The Windgällen hut, owned by the Academic Alpine Club of Zurich is located higher at 2,032 m. From there starts the normal route to the top, via the Stäfelfirn.

Climbing

The first climbing was made in 1848 by a mountain guide from Uri, Josef Maria Tresch-Exer together with Melchior Tresch. This enabled Tresch-Exer for a subsequent climb to the summit together with Georg Hoffmann which took place ten days later.

References

External links

Gross Windgällen on SummitpostGross Windgällen on HikrWindgällenhütte AACZ (German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gross Windgallen Mountains of the Alps Alpine three-thousanders Mountains of Switzerland Mountains of the canton of Uri