Sanetsch Pass (French: ''Col du Sanetsch'' or ''Col de Sénin'') (el. 2242 m) is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

across the western

Bernese Alps The Bernese Alps are a mountain range of the Alps located in western Switzerland. Although the name suggests that they are located in the Berner Oberland region of the canton of Bern, portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Va ...

, connecting Gsteig in the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

and Sion in the 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 ...

. Although a road leads to the pass from Sion and goes further to the

Lac de Sanetsch __NOTOC__ Lac de Sanetsch (also ''Lac de Sénin'', German: ''Sanetsch See'') is a reservoir below Sanetsch Pass in Valais, Switzerland. Its surface area is . The Sanetsch dam was built in 1965. The gravity dam has a height of . See also *List of ...

, it can not be completely traversed by car. In the summer season the pass is accessible by

PostBus A postbus is a public bus service that is operated as part of local mail delivery as a means of providing public transport in rural areas with lower levels of patronage, where a normal bus service would be uneconomic or inefficient. Postbus servi ...

and can also be traversed by cable car. The highest point of the road is at 2,252 metres. The pass itself is located in Valais 4 km south of the border with Bern. It separates the massif of the

Diablerets The Diablerets (; lit. "the abode of devils") are a huge ice-covered mountain massif of the Alps, culminating at the Sommet des Diablerets (VS) at above sea level and almost straddling the border between the Swiss cantons of Vaud (VD) and V ...

on the west from the massif of the

Wildhorn The Wildhorn is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the border between the Swiss cantons of Canton of Bern, Bern and Valais. At above sea level, it is the highest summit of the Bernese Alps west of the Gemmi Pass. It forms a large glaciated mass ...

on the east. The

Sanetschhorn The Sanetschhore (Swiss German, Germanized: ''Sanetschhorn'') or Mont Brun in French is a mountain of the Diablerets massif in the Bernese Alps, overlooking the Sanetsch Pass in Switzerland. It is located between the cantons of canton of Valais, ...

and the

Arpelistock The Arpelistock is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, located on the border between the Swiss cantons of Bern and Valais. It belongs to the massif of the Wildhorn and lies approximately halfway between the Sanetsch Pass Sanetsch Pass (French: ...

overlook the pass on the west and east side respectively. The Col du Sanetsch is a popular destination because of the view over 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 ...

and the nearby

Tsanfleuron Glacier The Tsanfleuron Glacier (, ) is a long glacier (2005) situated in the western Bernese Alps in the cantons of Valais and Vaud in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of . It culminates at the Dôme, at approximately 3,000 metres above sea level, w ...

References

External links

Profile on climbbybike.comCycling: Map, elevation chart, route description and photosList of Alpine passes in switzerland
Mountain passes of Valais Mountain passes of the Alps {{Valais-geo-stub