The Ober Gabelhorn
The Ober Gabelhorn (4 063 m) is a mountain located in the Pennine Alps. It lies close to the Italian borders in the Swiss canton of Valais. The summit can be reached by three various ascent routes starting at the Rothorn Hut (3 198 m), Cabane du Mountet (2 886 m) or Bivacco Arben (3 224 m). The mountain is adjecent to the Dent Blanche in the west and to the Zinalrothorn in the north. The glacier de Zinal spreads just below it.
There are three variants of the ascent – the normal route via the Wellenkuppe mountain, the route via the Arbegrat ridge and the climbing route in the southern face of the mountain.
The suggested route ascents to the summit via the Arbengrat ridge, followed by the descent via the Wellenkuppe mountain to the alpine hut Rothornhutte using the normal route.
Date
July – September
Price for ascent
from 1 550 €
from 2 950 € the traverse Zermatt – Ober Gabelhorn – Zinalrothorn – Zinal
Participants: 1 person
Difficulty
Advanced
Price includes
Guiding by a IMFGA mountain guide
Price does not include
Transportation, the accomodation, food and lifts/ cable car costs of the mountain guide, climbing and safety equipment, insurance
Tour schedule
The first day of the tour leads to the alpine hut Rothornhutte or the Arbenbiwak, depending on the variant of the planned route. On the second day the ascent to the summit is done, followed by the descent via the mountain Wellenkuppe to the Rotornhutte hut.
The day after can be ascended the Zinalrothorn mountain which is an attractive offer to reach the summits of two impressive peaks over Zermatt.
Another option offers epic climbing in solid rock walls, followed by descent on the glacier traversing both imposing peaks, The Ober Gabelhorn and the Zinalrothorn (3 – 4 days route).
A bit of Ober Gabelhorn´s climbing history:
The summit was reached for the first time by A. W. Moore, Horace Walker and Jakob Anderegg on the 6th July 1865.
