The Silberhorn (3,695 m) is a pyramid-shaped
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 highe ...
of the
Bernese Alps
, topo_map= Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo
, photo=BerneseAlps.jpg
, photo_caption=The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau
, country= Switzerland
, subdivision1_type= Cantons
, subdivision1=
, parent= Western Alps
, borders_on=
, ...
, to the northwest of the
Jungfrau
The Jungfrau ( "maiden, virgin"), at is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Ju ...
of which it is a satellite peak.
A first attempt to reach the summit of the Silberhorn was made in June 1863 by M. v. Fellenberg from the Stufensteinalp on the east side of the valley of
Lauterbrunnen
, neighboring_municipalities= Aeschi bei Spiez, Blatten (Lötschen) (VS), Fieschertal (VS), Grindelwald, Gündlischwand, Kandersteg, Lütschental, Reichenbach im Kandertal, Saxeten, Wilderswil
, twintowns =
}
Lauterbrunnen is a village ...
. After 9 hours of most perilous climbing the party encountered an impracticable precipice of rock, and were forced to return. In the following month of August MM. Badeker and v. Fellenberg, with two guides of
Grindelwald
, neighboring_municipalities = Brienz, Brienzwiler, Fieschertal (VS), Guttannen, Innertkirchen, Iseltwald, Lauterbrunnen, Lütschental, Meiringen, Schattenhalb
, twintowns = Azumi, now Matsumoto (Japan)
Grindelwald is a village and ...
, and others, reached the summit from the
Wengernalp. Ascending by the Guggi Glacier, they passed a night on the rocks at the foot of the Schneehorn, a buttress of the Jungfrau dividing the Guggi and Giessen Glaciers. On the following day they gained the desired summit by a long and difficult circuit under the cliffs of the Jungfrau. The still longer and equally difficult ascent of the Jungfrau was effected from this side for the first time two years later.
The northwest ridge was first ascended in 1865 by the Rev.
James John Hornby
James John Hornby CVO (18 December 1826 – 2 November 1909) was an English rower and headmaster of Eton College from 1868 to 1884.
Early life
Hornby was born at Winwick, the third son of Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby and his wife Sophia Maria Bu ...
, Rev. Thomas Henry Philpot, with guides Christian and Ulrich Almer, Johann Bischof, and Christian Lauener.
CH-NB - Jungfrau, von Isenfluh aus - Collection Gugelmann - GS-GUGE-BLEULER-1-16.tif, Silberhorn and Jungfrau 1837 (on the left: Mönch). Gouache painting by Johann Heinrich Bleuler, the Younger (1787–1857)
Johann Heinrich Müller, 1825-1894 E11 Jungfrau.JPG, Silberhorn and Jungfrau c. 1870. Oil painting by Heinrich Müller
In a 1968 letter,
J. R. R. Tolkien identified the Silberhorn as it appeared to him when camping near
Mürren
Mürren is a traditional Walser mountain village in the Bernese Highlands of Switzerland, at an elevation of above sea level and it cannot be reached by public road. It is also one of the popular tourist spots in Switzerland, and summer and w ...
in 1911 as "the Silvertine (
Celebdil) of my dreams".
Near the bottom of the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
Lauberhorn downhill course is the ''Silberhornsprung'', a jump with the Silberhorn visible in the background for the television audience.
References
* Dumler, Helmut and Willi P. Burkhardt, ''The High Mountains of the Alps'', London: Diadem, 1994
External links
Silberhorn on Hikr
Mountains of Switzerland
Mountains of the Alps
Alpine three-thousanders
Bernese Alps
Mountains of the canton of Bern
{{Bern-mountain-stub