Home
Tourist places in Andermatt |
|
|
|
| Tuesday, 15 April 2008 | |
|
Page 1 of 2 Photo Gallery | Hotels | View Map
History of Andermatt
Andermatt lies in the wide Urseren valley at the junction
of four important Alpine roads, which with the exception of the access road
from the Reuss valley are closed for between four and six months in the year.
The old village has developed into an ideal base for walkers and climbers and a
popular winter sports resort. The Urseren
valley was settled from the Valais, and the oldest parts
of Andermatt and Hospental still show Valaisian features. The people of the
valley were long subject to the authority of Disentis abbey, but achieved
independence in 1382, with their own constitution and their own amman (chief
magistrate) and the village is still a separate district within the canton of
Uri.
Tourist Attractions in Andermatt
Andermatt - Circuit
of three passes
A circuit ( round trip from Wassen) of the Susten, Grimsel and Furka passes offers a breathtaking experience, combining splendid Alpine scenery with the tremendous technical achievements of the road engineers. The newest of the three roads, the boldly engineered Susten road (No 11), built between 1938 and 1946, runs up from Wassen through the wildly beautiful Meiental, goes over the Susten pass in a tunnel (2,224 m/7,297ft) just under the summit and descends the Gadmen valley, passing close to the Stein glacier, to Innertkirchen, where it leaves the magnificence of this high Alpine valley for a gentler landscape of pastureland and orchards.
Devil's
Bridge; Teufelsbrücke
Road 2 runs north up the wide Urseren valley (Bear Hunters' Valley), a massive Alpine trough flanked by high mountains, some of them snow-capped, and by scree-covered slopes, and watered by the streams which feed the Reuss. The road crosses the Devil's Bridge (Teufelsbrücke 1,402 m/4,600ft), built in 1955-56, which spans the Reuss at a waterfall 30 m/98ft high. The bridge, 86 m/282ft long, inherited its name from an old 15th C. bridle-path bridge at the same spot. A stone cross 12 m/39ft high commemorates the fighting in September 1799, when General Suvorov's Russians, coming from the St Gotthard pass, defeated the French force which attempted to bar their way. To the right, on the old road, is the Teufelsbrücke restaurant.
Furka
Pass
Furka road climbs from the Rhône glacier (two steep bends), with a magnificent view of the glacier to the rear, and to the right, above the Gratschlucht glacier, of the Grosses Muttenhorn (3,103 m/10,181ft). In 2.5km/2mi the road reaches the Furka pass (2,431 m/7,976ft). The Furka ("Fork") is a saddle, falling steeply away on each side, between the Kleines Furkahorn (3,026 m/9,928ft; two hours north) and the Blauberg (2,757 m/9,046ft; 1.5 hours south), both offering easy and rewarding climbs. It forms the boundary between the cantons of Valais and Uri and affords magnificent views, extending northeast to the Urseren valley and the Oberalp pass and west to the Bernese Alps (Finsteraarhorn) and the Valais Alps (Weisshorn). Rewarding climb, to the north, of the Galenstock (3,583 m/11,756ft; five hours, with guide), which commands extensive views.
Furka
road
In Gletsch the Furka road crosses the Rhône and then climbs (three sharp bends) up the south side of the valley and follows the slope, with fine views of Gletsch and the Grimsel road to the rear and of the Rhône glacier ahead.
Göschenen
Valley
To the west of Göschenen an attractive road ascends the beautiful Göschenen valley to a reservoir on the Göschener Alp (9.5km/6mi). 7km/4mi from Göschenen, on the right is the Göschener Alp inn (1,715 m/5,627ft), and 2.5km/ 2mi beyond this, in a magnificent mountain setting, the Dammagletscher inn (1,795 m/5,889ft) with a large parking place. Above the inn, from a reservoir (75million cu. m/2,648million cu. ft), there is a superb view of the Dammastock and its glacier. The Göschenen Alp is the starting point of a variety of rewarding climbs: to the Lochberg (3,088 m/10,132ft: 4.5 hours, with guide), the Dammastock (3,633 m/11,920ft: 6.5 hours, with guide), the Susterhorn (3,503 m/11,497ft: 6.5 hours, with guide). The road continues down the bare mountainside and once again crosses to the right bank on the Schöni Bridge (981 m/3,219ft). Below, on the right, lies the Teufelstein ("Devil's Stone"), a massive boulder which was moved 127 m/417ft upstream in 1973, during the construction of the St Gotthard road tunnel. The road passes the village of Wattingen (920 m/3,019ft) and crosses to the left bank of the Reuss, with the Rienzenstock (2,964 m/9,725ft) on the right and the magnificent Dammafirn (névé) on the left.
Grimmelsee
From the Räterichsboden reservoir, the Grimsel Road climbs (to the right, below, a fine view of the Räterichsboden lake), and after two hairpin bends at the massive Seeuferegg dam, reaches the Grimselsee (1,909 m/6,263ft), a fjord-like lake extending for 5.5km/3mi to the Unteraar glacier (nature reserve). A road on the right (0.8km/0.5mi) leads by way of the Seeuferegg dam (325 m/1,155ft long, up to 42 m/138ft high) to the Grimsel hospice (hotel and restaurant, 1960 m/6,431ft on the Granite ridge of Nollen, with a view of the Spitallamm (258 m/846ft long, up to 114 m/374ft high) and a magnificent view over the lake of the Zinkenstock, the Finsteraarhorn and the Agassizhorn. There is a rewarding walk from the hotel (two-three hours) to the Unteraar glacier.
Grimsel
pass
From the Seeuferegg dam the Grimsel road skirts the east end of the Grimselsee and then climbs on a moderate gradient (four sharp bends), with magnificent views to the rear (Grosser Schreckhorn, to the west, 4,080 m/13,386ft). 3.5km/2mi farther on is the Grimsel pass (2,165 m/7,103ft; Hotel Grimselblick, 80b.), on the boundary between the cantons of Berne and Valais, with beautiful views of the Valais Alps, particularly the Gries glacier.
Handegg
Falls
After passing the Handegg I hydro-electric station, the Grimsel Road takes two sharp bends and continues up through a further stretch of forest to the Handegg (Handeck) saddle, 150 m/492ft higher up. From a wider length of road there is a view of the Handegg falls, in which the gray-green waters of the Aare mingle with the silvery Aerlenbach, emerging below the road, and plunge into the chasm 46 m/151ft below. Soon after this, off the road to the right, is the Hotel Handeck (1,404 m/4,607ft). From here a cableway (for industrial use only) ascends the east side of the valley to the Gelmersee (1,849 m/6,067ft), an artificial lake formed by a dam 35 m/115ft high. The Grimsel road follows the valley bottom, strewn with boulders, and then winds its way, with sharp bends, up the granite mountainside, worn smooth by the glaciers, to the Kunzentännlen Alp (1,616 m/5,302ft), where the last firs disappear, giving place to dwarf pines and rhododendrons. To the right, below, is the Handegg I hydro-electric station with its lake; to the left, higher up, the Gerstin glacier; straight ahead the dam of the Räterichsboden reservoir, up to which the road now winds its way (one hairpin bend).
Himmelrank
/ Stein glacier
Beyond the Susten pass Susten road - still scenically and technically magnificent but now showing more variety of scenery - runs down in two sharp bends, offering superb close-up views of the Stein glacier and its drainage lake immediately below. It then passes through the Himmelrank gorge, with seven tunnels or arches in the rock, and takes a left-hand bend down to the Hotel Steingletscher (1,866 m/6,122ft), on the Alp Stein. From here there is first a road (3km/2mi) to the Steinlimmi glacier (summer skiing center), and then a footpath (20 minutes) to the mighty Stein glacier, also a climb of seven hours (with guide) to the summit of the Sustenhorn (3,503 m/11,497ft: superb views).
Photo Gallery | Hotels | View Map
|
|
| Last Updated ( Friday, 18 April 2008 ) | |
| < Prev |
|---|