Besso 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

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 ...

in the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

canton of Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

. It has two significant summits: the main summit () and the north-top (). The name ''Besso'' means "twins" in the dialect of the

Val d'Hérens Val d'Hérens is an Swiss Alps, alpine valley in the Valais canton of Switzerland. It was formed by the Hérens glacier, which retreated at the end of the last ice age. It is now the valley of the ''Borgne'' river, a tributary of the Rhone (conf ...

and refers to the twin summits of the mountain. The

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

of the mountain was probably made by the guides J. B. Épinay and J. Vianin in 1862. The classic route on the mountain – the south-west ridge (PD+) – was, according to Collomb, "possibly" first climbed by R. L. G. Irving and party in 1906.Collomb, p. 76. The Mountet hut (2,886 m) is used for the

normal route A normal route or normal way (; ) is the most frequently used climbing route for ascending and descending a given mountain peak; it is usually the easiest and often the most straightforward route. Other generic names include the ''Tourism, tourist ...

, which is known as the "Ladies' Route".

References

External links

Besso on SummitPost
Mountains of the Alps Alpine three-thousanders Mountains of Valais Pennine Alps Mountains of Switzerland {{Valais-mountain-stub