The Lötschenlücke (el. 3153 m.) is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

of the

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 Va ...

, connecting the

Lötschental The Lötschental () is the largest valley on the northern side of the Rhône valley in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It lies in the Bernese Alps, with the running down the length of the valley from its source within the Langgletscher ...

to the valley of the

Aletsch Glacier The Aletsch Glacier (, ) or Great Aletsch Glacier () is the largest glacier in the Alps. It has a length of about (2014), a volume of (2011), and covers about (2011) in the eastern Bernese Alps in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Valais. The A ...

in the canton of

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 ...

. Both sides of the pass are covered by glaciers: the

Langgletscher The Lang Glacier () is a long glacier (2005) situated in the Bernese Alps in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of . See also *List of glaciers in Switzerland *List of glaciers *Retreat of glaciers since 1850 *Swiss Alp ...

on the west and the Grosser Aletschfirn on the east. The Lötschenlücke lies between the

Mittaghorn The Mittaghorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, located on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais. It is situated in the middle of the Lauterbrunnen Wall The Lauterbrunnen Wall is a term used in the English language, English-spe ...

on the north and the Sattelhorn on the south. The closest settlement is Fafleralp (east of Blatten) in the Lötschental. There are no settlements in the valley of the Aletsch Glacier. Above the pass, at 3,240 m, lies the

Hollandia Hut The Hollandia Hut (German: ''Hollandiahütte'') is a mountain hut of the Swiss Alpine Club, located east of Blatten in the canton of Valais. The hut lies at a height of 3,240 metres above sea level, just above the Lötschenlücke, the glacier pass ...

of the

Swiss Alpine Club The Swiss Alpine Club (, , , ) is the largest mountaineering club in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 in Olten and it is now composed of 110 sections with 174,726 members (2023). These include the Association of British Members of the Swiss ...

References

External links

Lötschenlücke on Hikr
Mountain passes of Valais Mountain passes of the Alps {{Valais-geo-stub