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The Schreckhorn (4,078 m) is a
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 Bernese
Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...
. It is the highest peak located entirely in the
canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...
. The Schreckhorn is the northernmost Alpine four-thousander and the northernmost summit rising above 4,000 metres in Europe.


Geography

The Schreckhorn is located 10 km south-east of
Grindelwald Grindelwald is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Berne. In additio ...
between the Upper and
Lower Grindelwald Glacier The Lower Grindelwald Glacier () is a Glacier in the Switzerland, Swiss Bernese Alps, situated to the south-east of Grindelwald. It starts below the Agassizhorn and the Strahlegghörner and is connected with the Finsteraar Glacier via the Finstera ...
. The region is made up of uninhabited glacial valleys, the great Aar Glaciers and the
Fiescher Glacier The Fiescher Glacier (''Fieschergletscher'' in German) is a valley glacier on the south side of the Bernese Alps in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. in length, it is the second longest glacier in the Alps. The glacier covers an area of . The ...
. The summit of the Lauteraarhorn is located very close and reaches almost the same altitude. The highest peak of the Bernese Alps, the
Finsteraarhorn The Finsteraarhorn () is a mountain lying on the border between the cantons of Canton of Bern, Bern and Valais. It is the highest mountain of the Bernese Alps and the List of prominent mountains of Switzerland, most prominent peak of Switzerland. ...
, lies 6 km to the south. Geologically the Schreckhorn is part of the Aarmassif.


Climbing history

The first ascent was on 16 August 1861 by
Leslie Stephen Sir Leslie Stephen (28 November 1832 – 22 February 1904) was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, mountaineer, and an Ethical Culture, Ethical movement activist. He was also the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell and the ...
, Ulrich Kaufmann, Christian Michel and Peter Michel. Their route of ascent, via the upper Schreck Couloir to the Schrecksattel and then by the south-east ridge, was the normal route for the following fifty years, but is now seldom used. The peak had been attempted several times before this, most notably by the Swiss naturalist Joseph Hugi in 1828 and the guided party of Pierre Jean Édouard Desor (a Swiss geologist) in 1842. 'The ambition of hoisting the first flag on the Schreckhorn, the one big Bernese summit which was untrodden, was far too obvious for us to resist', Desor later wrote, but they climbed a secondary summit of the Lauteraarhorn by mistake. The first ascent by the south-west ridge (AD+) – the normal route by which the Schreckhorn is climbed – was made by John Wicks, Edward Branby and Claude Wilson on 26 July 1902. They decided to climb the very steep ridge without the help of local guides and succeeded in reaching the summit. The north-west ridge (the Andersongrat, D) was first climbed by John Stafford Anderson and George Percival Baker, with guides Ulrich Almer and Aloys Pollinger on 7 August 1883.Helmut Dumler, Willi P. Burkhardt, ''Les 4000 des Alpes'', The Strahlegg Hut, destroyed by an avalanche, has been replaced by the Schreckhorn Hut (2,520 m). The Schreckhorn may also be ascended from the Gleckstein Hut (2,317 m) and the Lauteraar Hut (2,392 m).


See also

*
List of 4000 metre peaks of the Alps This list tabulates all of the 82 official mountain summits of or more in height in the Alps, as defined by the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA). All are located within France, Italy or Switzerland, and are often refer ...


References

* Dumler, Helmut and Willi P. Burkhardt, ''The High Mountains of the Alps'', London: Diadem, 1994 * Engel, Claire: ''Mountaineering in the Alps'', London: George Allen and Unwin, 1971


Further reading

* Smythe, Frank S., 'A Storm on the Schreckhorn', in ''Peaks, Passes and Glaciers'', ed. W. Unsworth, London: Allen Lane, 1981. An attempt on the south-west ridge in 1925.


External links


The Schreckhorn on SummitPost
{{Authority control Alpine four-thousanders Bernese Alps Mountains of Switzerland Mountains of the Alps Mountains of the canton of Bern Four-thousanders of Switzerland