The Lötschberg is an Alpine mountain massif, usually associated with a major, historically important transit axis of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

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 ...

with, at its core, the Lötschen Pass (,

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...

: ''Lötschepass''). The mountain pass, which culminates at nearly 2,700 metres above sea level, are part of the eastern

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 ...

, whose main crest straddles the border between the cantons of

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

and

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 ...

. The valleys concerned by the Lötschberg are those of the Kander in the Berner Oberland, with

Kandersteg Kandersteg is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental (administrative district), Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. ...

at the head of it, and a secluded side-valley of the Upper Valais, the

Lötschental The Lötschental () is the largest valley on the northern side of the Rhône valley in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It lies in the Bernese Alps, with the running down the length of the valley from its source within the Langgletscher ...

, with Ferden at the valley's entrance and at the bottom of the pass. Although the Lötschberg is one of the main north-south axes through the Alps, it is not on the

main chain of the Alps The main chain of the Alps, also called the Alpine divide is the central line of mountains that forms the drainage divide of the range. Main chains of mountain ranges are traditionally designated in this way, and generally include the highest p ...

, 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 ...

, further south, making up the main water divide. As a main north-south axis through the Alps, the Lötschberg is thus completed by the Simplon, between

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

and

Domodossola Domodossola (; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. It was also known as Oscela, Oscella, Oscella dei Leponzi, Ossolo, Ossola Lepontiorum, and Domo d'Ossola (due to it ...

in Italy. The Lötschberg alone constitutes an important shortcut from the Swiss Plateau to the Upper Valais, the alternative route involving a long detour via the lower Rhone Valley ( Monthey) around the western end of the Bernese Alps. Crossrail BR 185 Hohtenn

The Lötschberg is crossed by two railway lines and tunnels. The first line, the Lötschberg railway line was opened to traffic in 1913. It has at its centre the 14.6 kilometre-long Lötschberg (Culmination) Tunnel, with portals in Kandersteg (BE) and Goppenstein (VS). It culminates at a height of 1,240 metres and is the highest railway on the main Swiss network. The second line, since 2007, uses the 34.6 kilometre-long Lötschberg Base Tunnel, which has its portals in Frutigen (BE) and Raron (VS). The maximum height of the new railway is 828 metres. Both railways are connected to the

Simplon railway The Simplon Railway is a line that links Lausanne railway station, Lausanne in Switzerland and Domodossola railway station, Domodossola in Italy, via Brig railway station, Brig. The -long Simplon Tunnel (opened in 1906) is a major part of it. The ...

, which runs from

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

to Domodossola (and further to Milan) via the

Simplon Tunnel The Simplon Tunnel (''Simplontunnel'', ''Traforo del Sempione'' or ''Galleria del Sempione'') is a railway tunnel on the Simplon railway that connects Brig, Switzerland, Brig, Switzerland and Domodossola, Italy, through the Alps, providing a shor ...

. Unlike the Gotthard, the other main north-south axis in Switzerland, the Lötschberg is not crossed by a road pass nor by a road tunnel. However, a car shuttle train is operated between Kandersteg railway station and Goppenstein railway station. The Lötschen Pass itself is the lowest point (2,676 m) on the crest between the

Balmhorn The Balmhorn (3,697 m) is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. Its summit ridge lies on the border between the cantons of Bern and the Valais. It was first climbed by Frank Walker, Horace Walker and Lucy Walker, with guides Jakob A ...

to the west and the high range west of the Jungfrau to the east, making up the water divide between the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

(north) and the Rhone (south). On the north side of the pass is a two kilometre-long glacier named ''Lötschengletscher''. Although it is a glacier pass, the Lötschen Pass can be crossed by hikers without mountaineering equipment and a mountain hut, the Lötschenpasshütte, is located on the top of the pass. The pass is traversed by a trail (reaching 2,690 m) from Kandersteg via the secluded valley of Gasterntal to Ferden. The complete traverse from the railway station of Kandersteg to that of Goppenstein lasts about 10 hours. On the south side the approach can be shortened by a few hours starting from Lauchernalp, accessible by cable car from Kippel.

References

Swisstopo Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography, Switzerland's national mapping agency. The current name was made official in 2002. It had been used as the domain name for the homepage of the instituteswisstopo.admi ...

topographic maps

External links

* *
Lötschenpass HutTravel guides and maps (BLS)List of Alpine passes in switzerland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotschen Pass Mountain passes of Switzerland Mountain passes of the Alps Mountain passes of Valais Bern–Valais border

See also

References

External links