| Wildhaus Pass | |
|---|---|
Wildhaus Pass | |
| Elevation | 1,027 m (3,369 ft) [1] |
| Traversed by | Road (1,090 m) |
| Location | St. Gallen, Switzerland |
| Range | Alps |
| Coordinates | 47°12′12″N9°21′01″E / 47.2034°N 9.3504°E Coordinates: 47°12′12″N9°21′01″E / 47.2034°N 9.3504°E |
  Wildhaus Pass Location in Switzerland | |
Wildhaus Pass is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the canton of St. Gallen in Eastern Switzerland. The main road culminates at 1,090 metres, while the pass itself lies at an elevation of 1,027 metres above sea level.
A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migration throughout Earth's history. At lower elevations it may be called a hill pass. The highest vehicle-accessible pass in the world appears to be Mana Pass, located in the Himalayas on the border between India and Tibet, China.
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, separating Southern from Central and Western Europe and stretching approximately 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries : France, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810 m (15,781 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4,000 metres (13,000 ft).
Eastern Switzerland is the common name of the region situated to the east of Glarus Alps, with the cantons of Schaffhausen, Thurgau, St. Gallen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, and Glarus. The north of canton of Graubünden is usually considered to be part of Eastern Switzerland as well.
It connects Gams in the Rhine valley and Unterwasser and Wattwil in the Toggenburg. The pass lies between the Säntis and the Churfirsten massifs. The pass road has a maximum grade of 12 percent.
Gams is a municipality in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of Werdenberg in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
The Rhine is one of the major European rivers, which has its sources in Switzerland and flows in an mostly northerly direction through Germany and The Netherlands, emptying into the North Sea. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps, forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein, Swiss-Austrian, Swiss-German and then the Franco-German border, then flows through the German Rhineland and the Netherlands and eventually empties into the North Sea.
Unterwasser is a village in the Toggenburg region of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, situated at the confluence of the two streams forming the upper Thur. Formerly part of Wildhaus municipality, it has since 2010 been part of Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann by merger of Wildhaus and Alt St. Johann. It is a relatively small ski resort, and many of its trails are shared with nearby Wildhaus.
There is a ski resort at the summit in the municipality of Wildhaus.
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes and a ski lift system. In North America, it is more common for ski areas to exist well away from towns, so ski resorts usually are destination resorts, often purpose-built and self-contained, where skiing is the main activity.
Municipalities are the lowest level of administrative division in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons, which form the Swiss Confederation. In most cantons municipalities are also part of districts or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions.
Wildhaus is a village and former municipality in the Toggenburg region of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland, since 2010 by merger with Alt St. Johann part of the municipality of Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann.
