The Illhorn 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 (topography), summit area, and ...

of the Swiss

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

Chandolin Chandolin is a village in the district of Sierre in the Swiss canton of Valais. An independent municipality before, it merged on 1 January 2009 with neighboring Ayer, Grimentz, Saint Jean, Saint-Luc and Vissoie to form the municipality of Anniv ...

in the 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 ...

. With a height of 2,717 metres above sea level, it is the highest point of the

Illgraben The small Illgraben valley is one of the most geologically unstable regions of Switzerland, and is located south of Leuk in the Canton of Valais. Geology and geography The valley consists of triassic dolomite, porous limestone and quartzite,WS ...

valley.

Illgraben debris flows

The Illgraben catchment extends from the summit of the Illhorn to the Rhone at an elevation of 610m, and experiences

debris flow Debris flows are geological phenomena in which water-laden masses of soil and fragmented rock rush down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form thick, muddy deposits on valley floors. They generally ...

s and

mud slide A mudflow or mud flow is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/second. Mudflows contain a significa ...

s several times annually. The largest recorded debris flow in the valley occurred in June 1961, and had a volume of several hundred thousand cubic metres. A warning system gives alert signals 5–15 minutes before the arrival of debris flows at channel crossings. The area is a popular hiking spot and these geomorphological processes are visible most years. Illhorn aus dem Westen betrachtet

References

External links

Illhorn on Hikr
Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Switzerland Mountains of Valais Two-thousanders of Switzerland {{Valais-mountain-stub