Schesaplana

The Schesaplana is the highest mountain in the Rätikon mountain range at the border between Vorarlberg, Austria and Graubünden, Switzerland. It has an elevation of 2,964.3 m (9,725 ft).

Schesaplana
The Schesaplana
Highest point
Elevation2,964.3 m (9,725 ft) (Swiss measurement)
2,965 metres (Austrian measurement)
Prominence826 m (2,710 ft)[1]
Parent peakPiz Kesch
Isolation30.3 km (18.8 mi)[2]
Coordinates47°03′14″N 9°42′26″E
Geography
Schesaplana
Location in the Alps
LocationVorarlberg, Austria
Graubünden, Switzerland
Parent rangeRätikon
Climbing
First ascent24 August 1610 by Christa Barball, Claus Manall, David Pappus
Easiest routeHike

On the north side of the Schesaplana is a glacier called Brandner Gletscher. To the east is the Lünersee.

It is possible to reach the summit on various routes during a hike, making it useful for a multiday trek between the mountain huts in the area. A more horizontal trek is following the whole of the Rätikon chain along its southern face, called "Prättigauer Höhenweg".[3]

  • Panoramic view over the massif of the Schesaplana

In literature

The Schesaplana is one of two mountains named in Johanna Spyri's 1881 novel Heidi. The title character describes them to her grandfather after having seen them both from the meadow where the goats are taken daily to graze, and he tells her their names. The other mountain is the Falknis, some 11 km away to the west.[4]

Paleontology

Between 1976 and 1990 a team of scientists mapping the Kössen Formation of Canton Grisons excavated a series of fossil remains on Schesplana's southern slope.[5] In April 2022 researchers announced that the fragments represent three ichthyosaurs.[6] The discovery also included the largest ichthyosaur tooth ever found.[7]

See also

References
  1. Swisstopo maps
  2. Retrieved from Google Earth. The nearest point of higher elevation is north of the Chlein Seehorn.
  3. Hiking Switzerland past Schesaplana, Graubünden Archived 2014-08-18 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  5. "Giant Late Triassic ichthyosaurs from the Kössen Formation of the Swiss Alps and their paleobiological implications". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  6. https://gizmodo.com/fossils-of-giant-dolpin-like-marine-reptiles-found-in-s-1848849028
  7. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2317948-ichthyosaur-tooth-from-the-swiss-alps-is-largest-ever-discovered/


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