Alps - Notes Read

The Alps are a major mountain range located in Central Europe. Their highest point is Mont Blanc, with an altitude of 4,810 metres. Around the Alps, favoured by major rivers with a uniform flow and rich farmland, many peoples settled, including Celts , Swiss , South Germans , Austrians , Slovenians , Lombards , Burgundians , Lorraines and ancient Italic peoples.

Etymology

It is not known for certain whether it was the Celts , the Romans or the Germans who named the high Alpine peaks, there being several possible etymologies :

The Celtic peoples were some of the first settlers in the area, as they developed their first cultural manifestations, known as La Tène, nearby before spreading to the rest of Europe. These people generally referred to any steep mountain as an “alp” .
The word Alps could have been formed from albus, a Latin term to define the color white, or from alb , an equivalent Celtic term , in both cases being an allusion to the intense white coloration of the snowy peaks of this mountain range.
In ancient Germanic mythology, Alp was an aerial spirit who lived on the summit of the steepest mountains, coming down from time to time to disturb the tranquility of the inhabitants of nearby towns.
Another etymology relates the word Alps with the meaning of valley, which would highlight that when they were baptized they were not interested in the peaks, but in tall pastures.

Physical description

There are many mountains over four thousand metres high. Based on geological and geographical criteria, they can be divided into three distinct sectors:

The Western Alps , which range from the first elevations near the Mediterranean Sea to Valais, are the most important blocks. The Maritime Alps and the Mont Blanc massif are the most important blocks.
The Central Alps , from Valais to Grisons. The entire Valais with the most important massif of the Alps, Monte Rosa, and the Oberland.
The Eastern Alps, which cover the rest of the mountain range to the east and south, are the most important formations: the Tyrol, the Julian Alps and the Dolomites. The last peaks in this direction reach the first peaks of another great massif: the Carpathians.

Origin

The formation of this mountain range is complex, the product of a series of tectonic movements that took place in the Mesozoic (Secondary era, 245 to 65 million years ago) and the Cenozoic (in its first part, the Tertiary era), which extended from the Maghreb to the Urals. The existence of large sea trenches in these regions and their subsequent closure due to the convergence of the African and European continental plates caused enormous folding, first in a northerly and westerly direction, and then in a southerly and easterly direction. These foldings caused the sedimentary plates on the surface to be displaced in the same directions as the folding. Even so, in times after the compression movements, there were extensional displacements, due to the bending of the raised areas, which gave rise to the difficult orography of the Alps today. The four-thousanders of the Alps La Barre des Écrins, 4101 m, massif des Écrins.

Gran Paradiso, 4061 m, Gran Paradiso Group. The Aiguilles du Diable “Devil’s Needles”, a group of five needles of the Mont Blanc massif on the eastern foothills of Mont Blanc du Tacul. They are, from lowest to highest and from northwest to southeast:

The Island (4114 m).

Pointe Carmen (4109 m).
the Mediane point (4097 m).
the pointe Chaubert (4074 m) and
the Devil’s Corn (4064 m).
Piz Bernina, 4049 m, Bernina Group.

Just as the Andes have a height of over six thousand metres and the Himalayas eight thousand metres, the Alps as a mountain range are explained as a succession of mountains over four thousand metres high. Of course, their number can vary depending on the criteria used to determine whether one elevation or another is an independent peak or not.

In 1994, the UIAA published an official list of the four thousand-meter peaks of the Alps, combining three criteria: topographic, morphological and alpinistic. This resulted in an “official” UIAA list of the four thousand-meter peaks of the Alps with 82 summits. The UIAA clarifies that the list is intended primarily for mountaineers. Therefore, it is not based only on topographic criteria (which are, in any case, the main element), but also on complementary, more subjective criteria, which could change during the evolution of mountaineering. There are topographic points that exceed 4000 meters above sea level and which, however, are not considered independent peaks because, for example, their prominence is less than 30 m. For this reason, they were excluded from the “official” list. Thus, Il Roc with a difference in altitude of 28 m or Pic Eccles with a difference in altitude of about 20 m were excluded. This list of 82 peaks is the one taken as a reference in mountaineering. For example, when the Slovenian mountaineer Miha Valič climbed the 82 summits solo and in winter in 102 days from December 27, 2006 to April 7, 2007.

The official UIAA list is as follows:

1) Écrins Massif:

Barre des Écrins 4101 m
Dôme de Neige des Écrins 4015 m

2) Gran Paradiso Group:

Gran Paradiso 4061 m

3) Mont Blanc Massif: 28 mountains

Aiguille de Bionnassay 4052 m
Dôme du Goûter 4306 (I) / 4304 m (F)[2]
Mont Blanc / Monte Bianco 4807 (the highest).
Monte Bianco di Courmayeur 4765 m
Luigi Amedeo Peak 4470 m
Mont Brouillard 4068 m
Punta Baretti 4006 m
Grand Pilier d’Angle 4243 m
Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey 4114 m
Mont Maudit 4468 m (I) / 4465 m (F).
Mont Blanc du Tacul 4248 m
The Island 4114 m
Pointe Carmen 4109 m
Pointe Mediane 4097 m
Pointe Chaubert 4074 m
Devil’s Corn 4064 m
Dente del Gigante / Dent du Géant 4014 m (I) / 4013 m (F).
Aiguille de Rochefort 4001 m
Rochefort Dome 4015 m
Punta Margherita 4065 m
Punta Elena 4042 m (I) / 4045 m (F).
Punta Croz 4108 m (I) / 4110 m (F).
Whymper Point 4180 m (I) / 4184 m (F).
Walker Point 4206 m (I) / 4208 m (F).
The Rights 4000 m
Garden Aiguille 4035 m
Grande Rocheuse 4102 m
Green Aiguille 4122 m

4) Pennine Alps or Valais Alps: 41 mountains

Valsorey Trail 4184 m
Grafeneire Trail 4314 m
Combin de la Tsessette 4141 m
Dent d’Hérens 4171 m (CH) / 4179 (I).
Cervino / Matterhorn 4477.5 m (CH) / 4478 m (I).
White Tooth 4357 m
Bishorn 4153 m
Weisshorn 4506 m
Ober Gabelhorn 4063 m
Zinalrothorn 4221.1 m
Breithorn West 4164 m (CH) / 4165 m (L).
Breithorn centrale / central 4159 m (CH) / 4160 m (I).
Breithorn E (Est /Ost) 4139 m (CH) / 4141 m (I).
Breithornzwillinge E / Twin of the Breithorn orient (Point 4106) 4106 m
Black Rock 4075 m
Pollux / Polluce 4092 m (CH) / 4091 m (I).
Castor / Càstore 4228 m (CH) / 4221 m (I).
Lyskamm W / Lyskamm west 4479 m (CH) / 4481 m (I).
Lyskamm E / Lyskamm orientale 4527 m
Punta Giordani 4046 m
Vincent Pyramid 4215 m
Black Horn 4322 m
Ludwigshöhe 4341 m (CH) / 4342 m (I).
Parrotspitze / Punta Parrot 4432 m (CH) / 4436 m (I).
Signalkuppe / Punta Gnifetti 4554 m
Zumsteinspitze / Zumstein Point 4563 m
Dufourspitze / Dufour Point 4633.9 m
Nordend 4609 m (CH) / 4612 m (I).
Strahlhorn 4190 m
Rimpfischhorn 4198.9 m
Allalinhorn 4027.4 m
Alphubel 4206 m
Täschhorn 4490.7 m
Sun 4545 m
Lenzspitze 4294 m
Nadelhorn 4327 m
Stecknadelhorn 4241 m
Hohbärghorn 4219 m
Dirruhorn 4035 m
Weissmies 4023 m
Lagginhorn 4010 m

5) Bernese Alps: 9 mountains

Aletschhorn 4195 m
Jungfrau 4158.2 m
Monch 4099 m
Gross Fiescherhorn 4048.8 m
Hinter Fiescherhorn 4025 m
Gross Grünhorn 4043.5 m
Finsteraarhorn 4273.9 m
Schreckhorn 4078 m
Lauterbrunnen 4042 m

6 Bernina Group:

Piz Bernina 4049 m

In addition to this official list of 82 peaks, there is an extended list of 46 other peaks above 4,000 metres above sea level which did not meet the selection criteria, bringing the total to 128 peaks. These include, for example, Rochers de la Topurnette (4,677 m) in the Mont Blanc massif or the Ostspitze (4,632 m) in the Pennine Alps.

Glaciers of the Alps

The current Alpine glaciers are remnants of the great Quaternary glaciation and continue to retreat rapidly. Nevertheless, data from the end of the 20th century show that many glaciers can be counted, spread throughout the mountain range. The largest, from east to west, are:

The Aletsch Glacier (Aletschgletscher) with Konkordiaplatz forms a 130-square-kilometre-wide glacier. Its tongue extends for a length of 27 kilometres. It is the largest glacier in continental Europe.
The Gorner Glacier (Gornergletscher) in Valais covers an area of 68 square kilometres and is 12 kilometres long. The dry climate of this area has a strong effect on it and it is one of the glaciers where the recession phenomenon is most noticeable.
The Argentière glacier, perpendicular to the Chamonix valley above the village of Argentière in the Haute-Savoie department, and to the Mont Blanc massif, with the group of glaciers that form it, occupies 24 square kilometres and has a length of five kilometres. During the 20th century, this glacier has undergone spectacular advances, caused by the accumulation of snow in its middle section that has fallen from the lateral ridges, and its movement has even affected some of the facilities of the ski resort in the area. In any case, and despite these advances, since 1900 its melting zone has risen some 400 metres.
The Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice), in the Vallée Blanche, also in the Mont Blanc massif, is a six-kilometre stretch. Since the beginning of the 20th century (in 1908) and as a tourist attraction, it can be visited – its base – by taking the Montenvers railway, which leaves from Chamonix. When this railway was built, the arrival station was about fifty metres from the snowfield, and today it is almost three hundred metres away.
Bossons Glacier (Bossonsgletscher). The ice that formed it comes down – at least in part – from the peak of Mont Blanc and has a steep average slope of about 45°, making it one of the fastest-moving Alpine glaciers, at about 190 metres per year. Only other smaller and steeper Alpine glaciers exceed this speed.

Fauna and flora

In the Alps, habitats are determined by altitude. Thus, up to 600 or 800 metres, where possible, land has been devoted to crops: lucerne, millet, wheat, grapes, potatoes and fruit trees are the most common crops. Next are the wooded areas: beech, oak and coniferous trees of many species, of which there are some deciduous trees that reach – in the right places – up to two thousand metres in altitude. In general, however, above 1,500 metres, where sufficient soil has formed to support it, grassy meadows and pastures dominate. The survival of the various species of wild animals has also been conditioned by the existence of large areas that are completely uninhabitable: glaciers and high mountain peaks. The following mammals are found in the rest of the territory: the roe deer, the chamois, the red deer and the Alpine ibex or “stambecco”, a subspecies of the mountain goat that can only be observed in the area of the Graies Alps. The brown bear and the wolf, at least in complete freedom, are only a memory of the past. Wild boar, fox, squirrel, marmot and hare are much more frequent .

These last two species occupy high areas, apparently well above the vegetation line. In the forests, which are harder to find, however, there are also genets, badgers and small mustelids. The most visible birds are eagles, vultures and numerous species of corvids. One of these scavenger species, the yellow-billed chough, is capable of climbing over the most frequented peaks, however hostile the conditions, in pursuit of groups of climbers, while waiting for them to offer it food. The bearded vulture has been successfully reintroduced on the southern slopes of the Alps. In the rivers, the only species is the trout, although there are several kinds, some of which are foreign. It is fair to say that even outside the special protection zones, the forests and animals are treated with great care throughout the Alps, in many cases as a tourist attraction, much more valuable and profitable than the wood of the trees and the meat or skin of the animals. Proof of this is that the shy squirrel is common even in the gardens of villages and cities.

Climate

The climate varies depending on the area, generally up to 1,000 m the climate is temperate with rainfall of between 500-800 mm per year and average temperatures of -3 °C and 5 °C in winter and between 16 °C and 22 °C in summer. Above 1,000 metres the temperatures drop and rainfall increases, reaching over 1,000 mm per year, the average summer temperatures are around 10 °C in summer and between -10 °C and -3 °C in winter and the precipitation is mainly snow from November to April.

At 1800 m, due to the effects of altitude, the alpine climate is even more extreme: rainfall is around 2000 mm per year, temperatures are normally below zero for 6 to 9 months a year, ranging between 3 °C and 9 °C in summer and below -8 °C in winter, and snow covers everything from October to June. Above 3000 m is the area of glaciers and perpetual snow, with average monthly temperatures almost always below -2 °C .

The man in the Alps

Human occupation of the mountain range is relatively recent. It is believed that only about five thousand years ago the first permanent settlements began to appear. The great glaciers, as they retreated, freed up large areas of flat land, covered over time by fertile sediments, on both sides of the mountain range, which would later be occupied by man in his process of expansion. It was not until the time of the Roman conquest that we have historical data on the human population in the Alps. At that time they were inhabited by tribes of Celtic origin such as the Nantuates, Veragri, Seduni, Retiani, Salasi or Lepontines.

The Roman invasions from the south and the Germanic invasions (Longobards) from the north pushed groups of population to occupy valleys on one or the other side of the mountain range, crossing the high mountain passes, which explains the alternation of the various linguistic cultures. The current languages spoken are a consequence of population movements: Italian in the south, Slovenian in the south-east, French which is exclusively spoken in the north-west, German in the north and in Switzerland and Tyrol. Romansh (or Rhaeto-Romansh) is the common language in the Grisons and the upper Rhine valley. This language also has numerous dialects, but all of them are spoken by only about fifty thousand people.

Dolomite Ladin is spoken in Italy, where it is practically restricted to the Dolomites and the valleys of south-east Switzerland. In the form of dialects, very mixed with Romansh and without the status of a written language, it is spoken in parts of Tyrol. Throughout the 20th century and today, the Alps have become a world-class tourist destination. With their characteristic landscape, a significant number of winter resorts have been built for alpine skiing. Some are very important, others only have a small ski lift, located – as is the case of small villages in rural areas of Austria – sometimes right in the courtyard of the local public school. Mountaineering attracts thousands of practitioners every summer, who often stay for the entire season.

Likewise, hiking and trekking enthusiasts meet in the Alps every summer in increasing numbers. Villages such as Chamonix become the starting point for treks such as the Tour du Mont Blanc or the Tour des Agujas Rouges. Likewise, in the spring, ski mountaineering ascents and traverses bring life to remote villages and refuges, in isolated valleys, often outside the main tourist streams. All these activities have given rise to a real mountain industry, which is also being carried out with a remarkable respect for the environment.except, of course, in the case of ski resorts. This industry has been the subject of much debate over the last few decades: new installations have been limited and those that were out of service for whatever reason have been removed. There are numerous conservationist groups with considerable influence in society, which work to prevent the denaturalisation of the mountain range.

Tourism in the Alps

Almost half of Switzerland’s surface area is above 1,200 metres above sea level. Much of this vast Alpine area cannot be exploited, even on an extensive basis. But the Alps serve above all as a recreational and leisure area, particularly for city dwellers. The promotion of Alpine tourism has led to massive infrastructure construction: mountain railways, sports centres, hotels and chalets. The mountaineers are proud of the technological standard of their cable cars and railways, which break all records in terms of height, speed and ascent. Sixty per cent of the national resources of the tourism sector are generated by Alpine tourism. This progress has boosted job creation in the mountain regions, but it has also caused serious ecological problems, because, despite the already dense network of transport links, tourists prefer to travel by car.

Political affiliation

The Alps are currently administratively divided between four states: France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy, at least with regard to the large massifs, since Monaco, Slovenia, Germany and Liechtenstein also have some foothills of the important mountain range within their borders.