Dufourspitze
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dufourspitze - Monte Rosa | |
|---|---|
 Monte Rosa massif, Nordend (left) and the Dufourspitze (right) |
|
  Dufourspitze - Monte Rosa
|
|
| Elevation | 4,634 metres (15,203 ft) |
| Location | Valais,  Switzerland |
| Range | Pennine Alps |
| Prominence | 2,165 metres (7,103 ft) ranked 7th in the Alps |
| Coordinates | 45°56′12.6″N 7°52′01.4″E / 45.936833°N 7.867056°ECoordinates: 45°56′12.6″N 7°52′01.4″E / 45.936833°N 7.867056°E |
| First ascent | 1855 |
| Easiest route | rock/snow/ice climb |
| Listing | Country high point Canton high point Ultra |
Dufourspitze (in German, lit. Dufour Peak) , Pointe Dufour (in French), Punta Dufour (in Italian), or Monte Rosa is a summit of the Monte Rosa Massif in the Pennine Alps. With its 4,634 m (15,203 ft) summit, it is the second highest mountain in the Alps and western Europe[1] and the highest of Switzerland. Its 2,470 m (8,104 ft) eastern wall is also the tallest in the Alps[2] and its western side is covered by the Gorner Glacier, the second largest in the Alps. The peak is located in the canton of Valais in the municipality of Zermatt. The Monte Rosa Massif is a range lying on the border between Italy and Switzerland and composed of several summits over 4500 metres.
Contents |
[edit] Naming
The mountain was exceptionally renamed Dufourspitze (French: Pointe Dufour, Italian: Punta Dufour, Romansh: Piz da Dufour) by the Swiss Federal Council on January 28, 1863, in honor of Guillaume-Henri Dufour—a Swiss engineer, co-founder of the Red Cross and army officer who led the Sonderbund campaign—following the completion of the Dufour Map, a series of military topographical maps created under the command of Dufour. Before 1863 the summit was simply indicated as Höchste Spitze (in German, lit. Highest Peak) on the Dufour Map. The Italian name Monte Rosa comes from a dialect and means Glacier Mount. It is also used to designate the range.
On old maps as late as 1740 the mountain was named Monte Bosa and even Monte Biosa by the inhabitants of Val Sesia. The name Mon Boso which appears in Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks probably designated the same mountain.[3]
[edit] Altitude and climate
The Swiss national map gives an altitude of 4,633.9 m for the summit (2007).[4] A recent work (2000) involving universities and the offices of cartography of Italy and Switzerland was made in order to record a more precise altitude for Monte Rosa. The result was 4,635.25 metres (15,208 ft) from the Italian side and 4,634.97 metres (15,207 ft) from the Swiss side, with a margin of error of 0.1 m.[5]
Being the highest point in Switzerland, the Dufourspitze is also one of the most extreme places. The average air pressure is about half of that of the sea level (56%) and the temperature can reach as far at −40 °C (−40 °F).[6]
[edit] Geographic setting and description
The Dufourspitze lies 8 km west of Macugnaga (Italy) and 12 km east of Zermatt. Other inhabited regions close to the massif are the valleys of Alagna and Gressoney both on the Italian side.
The west and north (Swiss) side greatly differs from the south and east (Italian) side. The former is almost completely covered by large glaciers (mainly the Gorner Glacier) descending progressively with gentle slopes. Thus the valley is uninhabitated and Zermatt, the first settlement, lies 12 km away from the summit. The latter is a 2-km-high wall lying to the closer village of Macugnaga.
The summit is mainly covered by eternal snows and glaciers, except for its highest point which is a rocky ridge orientated west–east, near to and perpendicular to the main watershed between Switzerland and Italy (Rhône River to the Mediterranean Sea on the north side and Po River to the Adriatic Sea on the south side). The connecting point between them is the Grenzgipfel, the highest summit on the Italian side. Thus the Dufourspitze is the highest mountain whose summit is not on the main alpine watershed.
The Dufourspitze has many subpeaks (located on the border) and, unlike Mont Blanc, their altitude (around 4,500 m) is not far lower than the summit itself. The most important (on the UIAA official list) are:
- Nordend (4,609 m)
- Zumsteinspitze (4,563 m)
- Signalkuppe (4,554 m)
- Parrotspitze (4,432 m)
- Lüdwigshöhe (4,341 m): tripoint between Valais, Aosta Valley and Piedmont
Monte Rosa is one of the high mountains surrounding the northern Mattertal valley. On the west are Liskamm, Zwillinge, the Breithorn and the Matterhorn; on the north are the Weisshorn and the Dom. The Gornergrat summit, lying 8 km on the north-west at 3,100 metres, is a popular view point of the massif since it is accessible from Zermatt by the highest open-air train line in Europe.
Because of the low elevation of the mountains to the south, the 2,165 m (7,103 ft) prominence of Monte Rosa is well visible from the plains of Lombardy.
[edit] Geology
The entire massif consists mainly of granite and granite gneiss (a metamorphic rock with foliations). The Monte Rosa nappe lies below the Zermatt-Saas zone and is part of the Penninic nappes in the Briançonnais microcontinent zone. The deformation of the Monte Rosa granites indicates a depth of subduction of about 60 km. They were brought to the surface by tectonic uplift, which still continues today.
[edit] History
[edit] Early exploration
At the end of the 15th century Leonardo da Vinci visited the Italian region of Macugnaga and probably made an important ascent in the massif, even though the exact summit or place is unknown. He made some observations about the existing permanent snows and the darkness of the sky, showing that he reached high altitude. He wrote:
- The base of this mountain gives birth to the 4 rivers which flow in four different directions through the whole of Europe. And no mountain has its base at so great a height as this, which lifts itself above almost all the clouds; and snow seldom falls there, but only hail in the summer, when the clouds are highest. And this hail lies [unmelted] there, so that if it were not for the absorption of the rising and falling clouds, which does not happen more than twice in an age, an enormous mass of ice would be piled up there by the layers of hail, and in the middle of July I found it very considerable; and I saw the sky above me quite dark, and the sun as it fell on the mountain was far brighter here than in the plains below, because a smaller extent of atmosphere lay between the summit of the mountain and the sun.[7]
In 1778 a group of seven people from Gressoney reached the 4,178 m (13,707 ft)-high Entdeckungsfels (German: Rock of Discovery) above the Lisjoch; it was the first recorded exploration of the upper Grenz Glacier, located on the west slopes.
An attempt was made from Macugna by the Count Morozza della Rocca in 1787. He reached the place of the actual Marinelli hut on the east face, but still 1,500 m below the summit. The route on the east face will be opened only in 1873.
In 1789 Horace-Bénédict de Saussure climbed the Pizzo Bianco[8], a summit east of Monte Rosa, in order to study its eastern wall and to try to find a way to the top, but without success.
A major ascent was made in the year 1820 by Joseph Zumstein and party on a lower summit, the Zumsteinspitze (4,563 m). During the expedition they thought they had climbed the true highest peak, but when they reached the summit they found out it was only a subpeak of the massif.[9]
[edit] First ascents
The first approaches to the summit were made from the west slopes. The Silbersattel (4,510 m) was reached in 1847 by V. Puisieux, E. Ordinaire and guides J. Brantschen, J. Moser, M. and J. Zumtaugwald.[9] On September 1854, the brothers Christopher, Edmund and James G. Smyth with guides Ulrich Lauener climbed (from the Silbersattel) a 4,630 m high minor summit located 100 m east of the Dufourspitze, now called Ostspitze. The brothers Smith were convinced they had climbed the highest peak because at the time it was unclear where exactly was the highest point.[9]
The first complete ascent was made from Zermatt on August 1, 1855 by John Birbeck, Charles Hudson, Christopher Smyth, James G. Smyth, Edward Stephenson with the guides Matthäus Zumtaugwald and Johannes Zumtaugwald (from Zermatt) and Ulrich Lauener (from Lauterbrunnen). They followed the already opened route to the Ostspitze by the Silbersattel. On the summits, instead of turning back on the same way, they decided to continue on the unexplored western ridge and thus passed the thrue summit before going down to Zermatt. One of the climbers, Charles Hudson, will die 10 years later during the first ascent of the Matterhorn.[9]
John Tyndall in addition to be a prominent physicist, was an accomplished mountaineer. According to his account (Glaciers of the Alps), in 1858 he made the first solo ascent. Tyndall had already summited the Dufourspitze in a guided group one week before but he made an unplanned second summit solo on 17 August.
- After breakfast I poured what remained of my tea into a small glass bottle, an ordinary demi-bouteille in fact; the waiter then provided me with a ham sandwich, and, with my scrip thus frugally furnished, I thought the heights of Monte Rosa might be won.... [10]
Among mountain guides, the eastern wall had the reputation of being unconquerable. Ferdinand Imseng was convinced that the central couloir, which will be named Marinelli couloir later, was feasible. He succeeded to convince other climbers and, on 22 July, 1872, Richard Pendlebury, William and Charles Taylor, Ferdinand Imseng, Gabriel Spechtenhauser and Giovanni Oberto began the ascent from Macugnaga. They were aware of the objective dangers of the wall but they decided to go as high as possible, without compromising their lives. After a bivouac on the actual Marinelli hut emplacement, they headed towards the Grenzsattel. Suddenly, when they arrived near the Grenzsattel, an avalanche started and rivers of snow began to flow everywhere around the climbers. They were able to reach the safe rocks of the Grenzgipfel just in time to save their lives. They finally reached the summit and descended to Riffelalp on the other side, concluding a 18 hours journey.[9]
This ascent made Ferdinand Imseng a famous mountain guide. He lost his life in 1881 on the east wall during the third ascent with Damiano Marinelli and guide P. Pedranzini. On 8 August, they were caught by an avalanche and brought 1,200 metres down. The accident was reported by a porter who survived. The couloir was then named Marinelli."[9]
[edit] Other ascents
In 1889 Achille Ratti, who became later Pope Pius XI, made the first traverse from Macugnaga to Zermatt by the Zumsteinjoch. After climbing the Dufourspitze, he spent the night on the summit with his companions.[11].
Visiting Zermatt in 1894, the young Winston Churchill insisted on an ascent of Monte Rosa rather than of the Matterhorn, not only because of its superior height but also because the guides' fee was substantially less.[12]
More recently, on August 1 (which happens to be the Swiss National Day), 2005, the Swiss Minister of Treasure Joseph Deiss climbed the Dufourspitze. The expedition marked the 150th anniversary of the first ascent.
[edit] Climbing routes
[edit] Normal route
The normal route to the summit start from the Monte Rosa Hut (2,795 m) situated on the Plattje, a rocky island between the Gorner and Grenz glaciers. It is accessible from Rotenboden, a station on the Gornergratbahn line. The normal route is mainly a glacier itinerary on the west slopes of Monte Rosa (Monte Rosa Glacier), with the final rocky west ridge to the summit. Although the itinerary itself is not difficult, it requires physical endurance and a good acclimatization.
[edit] Marinelli couloir
The route starts from the Marinelli Hut (3,036 m) and follows the steep Marinelli couloir on the east face. It is a long and dangerous route and has to be ascended very early in the morning on cold days in order to decrease the risk of avalanches.
[edit] Exploits
- First ascent in 1855 (normal route).
- First ascent on the eastern wall, via the Marinelli Couloir in 1872 (July 22) by Taylor, Pendlebury and Ferdinand Imseng (guide)[13]
- First winter ascent of the Dufourspitze in 1965 by mountain guides Bettineschi, Iacchini, Pala and Pironi
- In June 1969 the extreme skier Sylvain Saudan descended the entire Marinelli Couloir on the eastern wall[14].
- In February 1991, Walter Bernardi alone ascended the Dufourspitze via the Marinelli Couloir[15].
[edit] Panorama
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ If the Caucasus Mountains are considered to be only in Asia, the Monte Rosa is the second highest mountain of the European continent
- ^ SummitPost.org
- ^ Nicholas Shoumatoff, Nina Shoumatoff: The Alps: Europe's Mountain Heart (page 192). University of Michigan Press 2001, ISBN 0472111116
- ^ Swisstopo/TYDAC
- ^ La Misura del Monte Rosa (The Measurement of Monte Rosa)PDF (989 KB)
- ^ There is actually no weather station on the summit but there is one on the nearby Signalkuppe (see Capanna Margherita meteogiornale.it)
- ^
"The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci" (Note 1060). - ^ Pizzo Bianco, SummitPost.org
- ^ a b c d e f Helmut Dumler,Willi P. Burkhardt, Les 4000 des Alpes, ISBN 2-7003-1305-4
- ^ Jonh Tyndall, Glaciers of the Alps (page 151)
- ^ Nicholas Shoumatoff, Nina Shoumatoff: The Alps: Europe's Mountain Heart (page 198). University of Michigan Press 2001, ISBN 0472111116
- ^ Switzerland for skiing: Don't look down, look up independent.co.uk, retrieved 21 April 2009
- ^ History of alpinism Macugnaga-Monterosa.com
- ^ Saudan Sylvain biography
- ^ Walter Berardi, MonterRosa4000.it
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dufourspitze |
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Monte Rosa |
- Dufourspitze on SummitPost.org
- Computer generated summit panoramas North South Index
- Virtual climb of the Dufourspitze with 360 degree panoramas
- Monte Rosa with Dufourspitze
- Peakbagger link
