Key Facts:
→ First ascent: 9 September 1859 by Melchior Anderegg, Leslie Stephen, Robert Liveing and Johannes Zumtaugwald.
→ Altitude: 4,199 m asl
→ Route:
From Flue via the west ridge (Rimpfischwäng ridge) | Difficulty: WS
From Britannia Hut SAC via the west side (normal route) | Difficulty: WS
From Täschhütte SAC via the west side | Difficulty: WS
N ridge, iM descent to the Allalin Pass | Difficulty: ZS
Mountain - & SAC huts nearby
The Britanniahütte, at 3,030 m asl, is one of the most visited SAC huts in the Alps. There are good reasons for this! The hut is suitable as a starting point for climbing numerous mountain tours. The fantastic view as far as Italy and the glacier world will leave you in awe. The legendary Genepi is also not to be missed.
Mellich glacier
The Mellich Glacier is a mountain glacier east of Zermatt in the Valais Alps in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. In 1973, it was measured to be 3.4 km long and 5.32 km² in area.
The Mellich Glacier originates at an altitude of over 4000 m west of the glacier ridge between the Rimpfischhorn in the south and the Allalinhorn in the north.
Allalin glacier
The Allalin glacier is the largest glacier in the upper reaches of the Saas Vispa and starts at the glaciated summit of the Strahlhorn. In 1973 it was 6.5 km long and 1.5 km wide on average. Since then, it has receded by about 500 m due to glacial melting.
During the construction of the Mattmark dam, an ice mass of about half a million cubic meters suddenly broke off the Allalin glacier and buried a large part of the construction site at the foot of the dam. This resulted in the deaths of 88 people.