The Blüemlisalp is a massif 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= , l ...

, in the territory of the municipalities of

Kandersteg Kandersteg is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located along the valley of the River Kander, west of the Jungfrau massif. It is noted for its spectacular mounta ...

and

Reichenbach im Kandertal Reichenbach im Kandertal is a village and municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Until 1957 it was known as Reichenbach bei Frutigen. Besides the village of Reichenbach, the mun ...

. Its main peaks are: *Blüemlisalphorn (3,661 m) *Wyssi Frau (3,648 m) *Morgenhorn (3,623 m) The entire massif is contained within the

canton of Berne The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

, as it lies north of the main crest and water divide of the Bernese Alps. To the west, it is connected with the

Doldenhorn The Doldenhorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Kandersteg in the Bernese Oberland. On its north side is Lake Oeschinen. See also *List of mountains of Switzerland This article contains a sortable table of many of the major mou ...

group via the

Oeschinenhorn The Oeschinenhorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Lake Oeschinen in the Bernese Oberland. It lies just west of the Blüemlisalp The Blüemlisalp is a massif of the Bernese Alps, in the territory of the municipalities of Kanders ...

and Fründenhorn peaks; to the east, it is continued by the

Gspaltenhorn The Gspaltenhorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, located between the valleys of Kiental and Lauterbrunnen in the canton of Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkap ...

. To the south, it is connected to the main crest by the

Tschingel Pass The Tschingel Pass (2,787 m) is a high mountain pass of the Bernese Alps, connecting Kandersteg with Stechelberg in the Bernese Oberland. It is the lowest pass between the upper Kandertal and the valley of Lauterbrunnental, Lauterbrunnen. The pas ...

. Ascent is from the
Blüemlisalphütte
' (2,840 m), over the glacier, past the

Wildi Frau The Wildi Frau is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking the Hohtürli Pass in the Bernese Oberland. It lies between the valleys of Kandersteg and Kiental, north of the Blüemlisalp. It lies 60 km at the southwest of the capital, Bern. Its ...

(3,260 m)

Geography

The Blüemlisalp forms a ridge of great height, cut away in precipices on the southeast side, surmounted by four principal peaks, in the following order, reckoning from east to west: Morgenhorn (3,623 m), Wyssi Frau (3,648 m), the Blüemlisalphorn (3,661 m) and the

(3,486 m). To the southwest of the last peak, and between it and the

, is a minor summit — the Fründenhorn (3,369 m). In front of the main ridge, as seen from the northwest, e. g. from the Dündenhorn, are seen three minor peaks which project as steep islets of rock from the great glacier-fields that cover that side of the mountain. These are the

(3,260 m), the Ufem Stock (3,221 m), and the Blümlisalp Rothhorn (3,297 m).

Swisstopo Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (in German language, German: ''Bundesamt für Landestopografie''; French language, French: ''Office fédéral de topographie''; Italian language, Italian: ''Ufficio fed ...

map The two main feeders of the Blüemlisalp Glacier (German: ''Blüemlisalpgletscher'') flow downwards through the openings between the three last-named summits, but a short branch from the ice-stream that descends between the Wildi Frau and the Ufem Stock turns to the north, and flows into the head of the Kiental. John Ball, ''The Alpine Guide, Central Alps, p. 43

First ascent

The highest peak was ascended in 1860 by

Leslie Stephen Sir Leslie Stephen (28 November 1832 – 22 February 1904) was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, and mountaineer, and the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. Life Sir Leslie Stephen came from a distinguished intellectua ...

, accompanied by R. and J.K. Stone, with

Melchior Anderegg Melchior Anderegg (28 March 1828 – 8 December 1914), from Zaun, Meiringen, was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascensionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpinism. His clients were mo ...

and Pierre Simond of Argentière as guides. Starting from the chalets of the Oeschinenalp at 2 a.m., they reached the ridge near the Dündengrat at 4.15. Then mounting over snowfields, and the glacier lying between the Wilde Frau and the Ufem Stock, they passed behind, or south, of the latter summit, and gained the depression between the Blüemlisalp Rothhorn and the highest peak at 6 a.m. They finally reached the top 2 hours laters, Stephen wrote: :"We reached the top at 8 a.m., and had a grand view down the cliffs to the Tschingel Glacier, as well as a very fine view over the Swiss plains, and a general panorama resembling that from the Altels, returning easily to Kandersteg by 2 p.m."

References

External links

The Blüemlisalphorn on SummitPost
*http://www.bluemlisalphuette.com/

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bluemlisalp Mountains of the Alps Alpine three-thousanders Mountains of Switzerland Bernese Alps Mountains of the canton of Bern