The Matterhorn is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is 4,478 metres (14,692 ft) above sea level, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points and are split by the Hörnli, Furggen, Leone/Lion, and Zmutt ridges. The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt, in the canton of Valais, to the northeast; and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the south. Just east of the Matterhorn is Theodul Pass, the main passage between the two valleys on its north and south sides, which has been a trade route since the Roman Era.
The Aosta Valley is a mountainous autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, to the west, Valais, Switzerland, to the north, and by Piedmont, Italy, to the south and east. The regional capital is Aosta.
Aosta is the principal city of the Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, 110 km (68 mi) north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, at the confluence of the Buthier and the Dora Baltea, and at the junction of the Great and Little St Bernard Pass routes.
Émarèse is a town and comune in the Aosta Valley region of north-western Italy. It has 213 inhabitants.
Pont-Saint-Martin ; Piedmontese: Pont San Martìn) is a town and comune in the Aosta Valley region of northwest Italy.
Valtournenche is a town and comune in the Aosta Valley region of north-western Italy, 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above the sea level. It is named after and covers the upper side of the Valtournenche, a valley on the left side of the Dora Baltea, from Châtillon to the Matterhorn. Valtournenche municipality includes Breuil-Cervinia, whose ski resort is linked to Zermatt, Switzerland.
Breuil-Cervinia is a frazione of the comune of Valtournenche, and is considered one of the most renowned winter and summer tourist resorts in the Alps.
The Dent d'Hérens is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying on the border between Italy and Switzerland. The mountain lies a few kilometres west of the Matterhorn.
The Duchy of Aosta, originally the County of Aosta, was a realm ruled by the House of Savoy from the early 11th century until the late 18th, when its independent institutions were aligned with those of the Principality of Piedmont. The title "Duke of Aosta" continued to be used by the second sons of the Savoyard monarch and the current Count of Aosta is Thiago Lamont. The land of the duchy is today a part of Italy.
The Sacra di San Michele, sometimes known as Saint Michael's Abbey, is a religious complex on Mount Pirchiriano, situated on the south side of the Val di Susa in the territory of the municipality of Sant'Ambrogio di Torino, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. The abbey, which for much of its history was under Benedictine rule, is now entrusted to the Rosminians.
The Diocese of Aosta is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church. It has existed in its modern form since 1817. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Turin.
Jean-Antoine Carrel was an Italian mountain climber and guide. He had made climbs with Edward Whymper and was his rival when he attempted to climb the Matterhorn for the first time. Whymper ultimately succeeded in making the mountain's first ascent in July 1865 while Carrel led the party that achieved the second ascent three days later. Carrel was in the group that became the first Europeans to reach the summit of Chimborazo in 1880. He died from exhaustion when guiding a party on the south side of the Matterhorn.
Pic Tyndall is a minor summit below the Matterhorn in the Pennine Alps, on the boundary between Aosta Valley and Switzerland. Because of its small prominence it was included in the enlarged list of alpine four-thousanders. It was named in honour of John Tyndall who made the first ascent.
Anselm of CanterburyOSB, also called Anselm of Aosta after his birthplace and Anselm of Bec after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of the Catholic Church, who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. After his death, he was canonized as a saint; his feast day is 21 April. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by a bull of Pope Clement XI in 1720.
Pic Luigi Amedeo is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the Aosta Valley, Italy. It lies on the Brouillard ridge to the summit of Mont Blanc, and is only reachable via an ascent of that ridge.
The Mezzalama Skyrace was an international high altitude endurance race competition, defunct in 2008, in upper Valtournenche Valley, in the Aosta Valley, Italy. The summer event in the Monte Rosa's massif has been carried out annually by the Mezzalama Trophy association since 2000, and was also named in honor of the mountain guide Ottorino Mezzalama.
Valpelline is one of the side valleys of the Aosta Valley in north-west Italy. It shares its name with one of the communes within its territory (Valpelline).
Monte Emilius (3,559 m) is a mountain of the Graian Alps in Aosta Valley, north-western Italy. Located just above the town of Aosta, from where it is visible looking southwards behind the lower Becca di Nona, it is usually climbed starting from the ski resort of Pila, at a height of 1,870 m.
Becca di Luseney (3,502m) is a mountain of the Pennine Alps in Aosta Valley, northwest Italy. It has a pyramidal look on all four sides, and its north face is covered with a glacier. A huge rockfall from its southwest face came down in 1952, completely destroying the village of Chamen and other settlements in the Valpelline valley. The mountain was first climbed in 1866.
Bruno Brunod is an Italian athlete, a bicyclist who began running late, when he was in his thirties. He is twice world champion of the Skyrunner World Series and holds numerous speed records for climbing and descending some of the highest mountains in the world, like the Matterhorn in 1995, broken only in 2013 by a professional 25 years younger than him, Kílian Jornet Burgada. As of 2016 his speed records for the Monte Rosa in 1997 and the Aconcagua in Argentina in 2000 remained unbroken. Brunod produces results like a professional athlete, but has retained the spirit and humility of an amateur, for which he is widely admired especially amongst fellow mountain runners.
