The Zumsteinspitze (Punta Zumstein in Italian) (4,563 m) is a
peak Peak or The Peak may refer to:
Basic meanings Geology
* Mountain peak
** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics
* Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion
* Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...
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
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 ...
and
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 ...
. It is a subpeak of
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 ...
.
The summit lies between the Dufourspitze (to which it is joined by the ''Grenzsattel'') and the
Signalkuppe
The Signalkuppe (in German, pronounced seeg-nall-koo-pay) also known as Punta Gnifetti (in Italian) (4,554 m) is a peak in the Pennine Alps on the border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a subpeak of Monte Rosa. The mountain is named aft ...
(to which it is joined by the ''Colle Gnifetti'').
Climbing
On 1 August 1820 the mountain was ascended by the brothers Joseph and Johann Niklaus Vincent, Joseph Zumstein, Molinatti, Castel and some unknown porters. During the expedition they thought they had climbed the highest peak of the Monte Rosa massif, but when they reached the summit they found out there was another "highest peak": the Dufourspitze.
The Vincent brothers and Zumstein agreed to name the successfully climbed mountain "Cima de la belle Alliance", but Zumstein, forest inspector and member of the Royal Society of Science in
Turin
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
, managed to name the mountain after himself.
The first winter ascent was by E. Allegra and guides on 30 March 1902.
See also
*
List of Alpine four-thousanders
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*
List of mountains of Switzerland named after people
This is a list of mountains and summits of Switzerland named after people. Only a few mountains were named after people, as it is not a common practice in Switzerland. These mountains were often named after those who were the first to climb them, ...
References
* Robin G. Collomb, (ed.), ''Pennine Alps Central'', London: Alpine Club, 1975
* Helmut Dumler and Willi P. Burkhardt, ''The High Mountains of the Alps'', London: Diadem, 1994
* Julius Kugy, ''Im göttlichen Lächeln des Monte Rosa'', Graz: Leykam-Verlag, 1940
External links
The Zumsteinspitze on SummitPost
Mountains of the Alps
Alpine four-thousanders
Mountains of Piedmont
Mountains of Valais
Pennine Alps
Italy–Switzerland border
International mountains of Europe
Monte Rosa
Mountains of Switzerland
Four-thousanders of Switzerland
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