The Gornergrat ( en, Gorner Ridge; ) is a rocky ridge of the

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy ( ...

, overlooking the

Gorner Glacier The Gorner Glacier (german: Gornergletscher) 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 rela ...

south-east of

Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO). ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It can be reached from Zermatt by the Gornergrat rack railway (GGB), the highest open-air railway in Europe. Between the

Gornergrat railway station Gornergrat is the upper terminal railway station of the Gornergrat railway, a rack railway which links it with the resort of Zermatt. The station is situated at the summit of the Gornergrat, in the Swiss municipality of Zermatt and canton of Val ...

() and the summit is the Kulm Hotel (). In the late 1960s two astronomical observatories were installed in the two towers of the Kulmhotel Gornergrat. The projec
“Stellarium Gornergrat”
is hosted in the Gornergrat South Observatory.

Overview

It is located about three kilometers east of

in the Swiss canton of

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

. The Gornergrat is located between the

Gornergletscher The Gorner Glacier (german: Gornergletscher) 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 re ...

and Findelgletscher and offers a view of more than 20 four-thousand metre peaks, whose highest are

Dufourspitze , it, Punta Dufour, rm, Piz da Dufour , translation = Peak Dufour, Highest Peak, Large Horn , photo = Monte Rosa summit.jpg , photo_size = , photo_caption = From the peak to the southeast towards Italy, the Dunantspi ...

(Monte Rosa massif),

Liskamm Lyskamm (german: Liskamm, formerly ''Lyskamm'', literally "comb of the Lys"), also known as Silberbast (literally "silver bast"), is a mountain () in the Pennine Alps lying on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It consists of a five-kilom ...

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

Dom Dom or DOM may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dom (given name), including fictional characters * Dom (surname) * Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto * Dom people, an et ...

and

Weisshorn The Weisshorn (German, lit. ''white peak/mountain'') is a major peak of Switzerland and the Alps, culminating at above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located between the valleys of Anniviers and Zermatt in the canton of Valai ...

The Gornergrat Railway from above 170622

Aerial panorama of the Gornergrat 170622

Aerial panorama of the Matterhorn from the Gornergrat 170622

This is the last stop of the Gornergrat train, opened in 1898, which climbs almost through

Riffelalp Riffelalp is a hamlet in the municipality of Zermatt in the canton of Valais. It is located at a height of above sea level, just above the tree line, approximately halfway between the town of Zermatt and the Gornergrat mountain. Once the site of ...

and

Riffelberg Riffelberg is a railway station on the Gornergrat railway, a rack railway which links the resort of Zermatt with the summit of the Gornergrat. The station is situated west of the Gornergrat, in the Swiss municipality of Zermatt and canton of Val ...

. At the terminus on the south-western tip of the ridge is a hotel. The station forms part of the Zermatt ski area. From 1958 to 2007End of Gornergrat tram service - Funimag.com
/ref> there was a cable car from Gornergrat over the

Hohtälli The Hohtälli is a mountain of the Swiss Pennine Alps, located southeast of Zermatt in the canton of Valais. It lies on the range that separates the Findel Glacier from the Gorner Glacier, between the Gornergrat The Gornergrat ( en, Gorner ...

() to the

Stockhorn The Stockhorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking the region of Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland. It is located north of the town of Erlenbach im Simmental. The Stockhorn is high and is accessible via cable car from Erlenbach. It ...

() which, until the construction of the

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 or ...

cable car, was the highest mountain station in Zermatt. At the west side of the Gorner Ridge, nearby the

Rotenboden Rotenboden (also spelled ''Rotaboda'') is a village of Liechtenstein, located in the municipality of Triesenberg. It is the highest settlement in Liechtenstein at 850m elevation. Geography It is a mountain village that lies above Vaduz and Tries ...

railway station is the peak

Riffelhorn The Riffelhorn (2,928 m) is a mountain in the Swiss section of the Pennine Alps, located south of Zermatt in the canton of Valais. The Riffelhorn forms part of the Gorner ridge and provides excellent rock climbing facilities having several rou ...

().

Gallery

File:Gornergrat02.jpg,

(far before), viewed from Gornergrat railway station and, from left to right,

Breithorn The Breithorn (German for literally "broad horn"; 13,661 ft. or 4,164 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 Switzerland a ...

, the nowadays disconnected Lower Theodul Glacier, Upper Theodul Glacier (June 2006). File:Gornergrat Station.jpg, Gornergrat railway station. File:Gonergrat from Schwarzsee Paradise.jpg, From Schwarzsee (2,552 m) looking eastwards : first the

, then Gornergrat (with buildings), and the

on the very left. File:MonteRosa001.jpg, A view of

in front, the

Monte Rosa massif : , other_name = Monte Rosa massif , translation = Mount Rose , photo = Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa) and Monte Rosa Glacier as seen from Gornergrat, Wallis, Switzerland, 2012 August.jpg , photo_caption = Central Mon ...

in the middle, and the major tributary of the Gorner Glacier, the Border Glacier (german: Grenzgletscher) to its right and the impressive

on the Swiss-Italian border, as viewed from Gornergrat (September 2007).

References

External links

Mountains of Valais Mountains of the Alps Alpine three-thousanders Tourist attractions in Switzerland Articles containing video clips Mountains of Switzerland {{Valais-geo-stub

Overview

Gallery

See also

References

External links