ゴムの天然記念物・トップ20

You've conquered the Nufenen Pass (Passo della Novena) by the road sign at an altitude of 2,477 meters. The pass also marks the cantonal border between Valais and Ticino. The pass is one of the youngest mountain passes in Switzerland, having only been built in 1964 and opened five years later. As the highest pass located entirely within Switzerland, it offers a special attraction for road cyclists. However, the approach from both sides is challenging, steep and often windy. Both routes involve over 1,000 meters of elevation gain. Since it's located far from any major towns, chances are your legs will already be a bit tired by the time the climbs begin.

The Rhone Glacier (sometimes also called Rotten Glacier) is a valley glacier in the source area of the Rhone in the extreme northeast of the canton of Valais in the central Alps of Switzerland. It is almost eight kilometers long, has an average width of about two kilometers and covers an area of about 15 km². The glacier was a major tourist attraction, especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries, due to its tongue, which at that time still extended far down into the valley near Gletsch.

Starting point for many mountain tours

The Great Aletsch Glacier is the largest and longest glacier in the Alps in terms of area. It is located on the southern slope of the Bernese Alps in the Swiss canton of Valais. The length of the glacier is 22.6 km, and the area is given as 78.49 km². The Aletsch Glacier drains into the Rhone via the Massa. The area of the entire catchment area of the Massa is 195 km², of which around two thirds were glaciated in 1973. The Upper and Middle Aletsch Glaciers are often included in the area figures, as they were previously connected to the Great Aletsch Glacier. The total glaciated area including these glaciers was around 128 km² in 1973, and an area of 163 km² is assumed for 1863. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aletsch_Glacier

Very busy, very narrow and still: great!

Speaking of the Grimsel Pass: The Grimsel Pass is in the heart of the Alps, an exceptional natural area. From a hydrological point of view, the large amounts of precipitation are unique. Here at the Grimsel Pass, this is an average of around 2300 litres per square metre per year. 300 litres of this evaporate per square metre, and 2000 litres per square metre leave the region as runoff in the Rhone or Aare. That is a lot of water: twice as much as the Swiss average and almost seven times as much as the average in Germany. Depending on which side of the pass the water drops reach the earth's surface, they flow into the Mediterranean or the North Sea. The Aare, with a total length of around 290 km, flows through the cantons of Bern, Solothurn and Aargau, crossing Lake Brienz, Lake Thun and Lake Biel. It is the longest river located entirely in Switzerland. Although the Aare carries more water on average at the confluence with the Rhine, it loses its name. After another 1000 km of flow, the Aare water flows into the North Sea as part of the Rhine. The Rhone, on the other hand, keeps its name until it flows into the Mediterranean. Its approximately 810 km long flow takes it through the Valais into Lake Geneva and from there via Lyon into the French Rhone Valley, where it repeatedly receives tributaries from the Western Alps. While the Aare flows into an oceanic climate, the Rhone carries the water from the Grimsel Pass into the Mediterranean climate zone, where the abundant snow and glacier meltwater from alpine rivers is very popular in the dry summers.

The circular trail is almost 500 metres long and always offers you the perfect view of the UNESCO World Heritage Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch. Information boards along the route provide interesting facts about the largest ice stream in the Alps and the surrounding mountains. The circular trail starts directly at the Eggishorn mountain station.

This lake supplies the three mountain villages with drinking water. This shows even more that we need to take care of our nature.