Mountain·Switzerland

Gross Fiescherhorn

4,049m

Jungfrau-Fiescherhorn Group

W. Bulach · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 4,049m
Prominence: 396m
Isolation: 4.7km
Relief: 2,615mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 61°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
Summit: 46.5514°N, 8.0614°E

Mountain in the Swiss Alps

Gross Fiescherhorn is a mountain in the Jungfrau-Fiescherhorn Group (Switzerland). Its summit stands 4,049 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 396 m, and the nearest higher ground is 4.7 km away.

From the lowest point within 5 km (1,434 m), it rises 2,615 m. The steepest side is the north face: 52° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 61° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Grindelwald, 8 km away at 1,047 m: 3,002 m below the summit.

Gross Fiescherhorn for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

8.9/10

Difficulty to the top

Alpine climb

Most path sections around the top are T4 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

2.0/2.512 waymarked routes and 22 path sections nearby
1.5/1.511 huts and shelters
2.0/23,002 m of ascent from the valley
1.1/1.5396 m of prominence
1.2/1.55 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
1.0/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

8.7/10

3.7/4209 km of downhill runs
1.5/1.541 ski lifts
0.4/1.5437 m between the lowest and highest lift station
3.0/37 months of snow at about 1,926 m

Runs by difficulty

Beginner 1 km
Easy 83 km
Intermediate 96 km
Difficult 21 km
Expert 3 km
Freeride 2 km

Snow season on the slopes (estimate)

Around 1,926 m, in the middle of the ski area: snow from November to May.

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

41 lifts · lift stations from 1,707 to 2,144 m · 5 km cross-country

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

Car hire at BRN airport (Bern)Discover CarsSee

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

Snow

When there is snow on Gross Fiescherhorn

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit4,049 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up2,548 msnow from October to June	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Grindelwald1,047 msnow from December to April	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Gross Fiescherhorn, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average July afternoon the summit reaches about 2 °C; on January nights it falls to about -26 °C. In 9 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In July the 0 °C line climbs to about 4,410 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, February is the driest month (69 mm) and August the wettest (165 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Grindelwald high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-18	-26	1	1,220	81	14	4.1
February	-18	-26	2	1,350	69	12	5.5
March	-14	-22	5	1,840	89	15	6.4
April	-10	-17	10	2,580	103	16	5.9
May	-4	-13	15	3,390	154	20	5.7
June	0	-8	20	4,130	151	20	7.4
July	2	-7	22	4,410	148	19	7.9
August	2	-7	21	4,350	165	18	7.1
September	-2	-11	18	3,750	106	16	6.1
October	-6	-15	13	3,050	107	15	4.7
November	-13	-20	7	2,070	114	16	3.4
December	-17	-25	2	1,390	92	15	3.4

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 1,854 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. Heights drawn 2× taller than lengths, so the shape can be seen.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Gross Fiescherhorn

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

A lift reaches Fallboden (Sesselbahn) at 2,144 m — just 1,905 m below the summit.

11mountain huts and shelters
Guggihütte (2,791 m), Eiger-Ostegghütte (2,320 m), Finsteraarhornhütte (3,048 m), Berggasthaus Stöcki Grindelwaldblick (2,109 m) and 7 more
14cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
Pfingsteggbahn, Männlichenbahn, Lauberhorn, Arven and 10 more
6ski areas
First – Grindelwald, Jungfraujoch Snow Fun Park, Grindelwald - Wengen, Grindelwald - Männlichen (Schlittelpiste) and 2 more
12waymarked hiking routes
Eigertrail, Zustieg Ostegghütte, Rotstock-Klettersteig, Via Alpina and 8 more
3via ferratas
Klettersteig Rotstock, Klettersteig Ostegghütte
2climbing crags and routes
Klettergarten Eigergletscher, Klettergarten Gletscherschlucht
34named glaciers
Unteres Eismeer, Chielouwenengletscher, Kalligletscher, Strahleggfirn and 30 more
17viewpoints
Panorama-Webcam Jungfraujoch, Bänisegg and 15 more
4campsites
Camping Gletscherdorf, Camping Holdrio, Camping Sand Grindelwald, Eigernordwand
48hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Aspen Hotel, Waldrand, Lehmann's Herberge, Hotel Bodmi and 44 more
60restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

22 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2T4T5T6

T1 hiking
T2 mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking
T6 difficult alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Grindelwald8 km · 1,047 m
Lauterbrunnen12 km · 787 m
Fiesch18 km · 1,052 m
Wilderswil20 km · 598 m
Bönigen20 km · 569 m
Matten20 km · 576 m
Interlaken21 km · 570 m
Ringgenberg21 km · 603 m

Car hire at BRN airport (Bern)Discover Cars · Affiliate link

OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Gross Fiescherhorn entrenched between Eiger and Mettenberg — Paradise Chronicle · CC BY-SA 4.0

Gutzgletscher Wetterhorn bis Fiescherhörner 20200712 — Bgvr · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-18	-18	-14	-10	-4	0	2	2	-2	-6	-13	-17
2020	+2.2	+2.9	+0.4	+2.8	+1.8	−1.7	+0.9	+0.7	+1.0	−2.5	+3.5	−0.6
2021	−1.4	+2.2	−0.3	−1.8	−2.5	+1.0	−0.6	−0.9	+1.7	−0.4	−0.2	+1.2
2022	+1.2	+1.6	+2.1	+1.2	+2.8	+2.8	+2.8	+2.3	−0.5	+3.8	+0.7	+1.0
2023	+0.2	+2.6	+2.9	−0.7	+0.3	+1.1	+1.6	+1.4	+4.0	+3.1	−1.1	+1.8
2024	+1.7	+4.1	+1.4	−0.8	−0.6	−0.1	+1.8	+2.9	−1.6	+1.1	+2.4	+1.9
2025	+1.7	+2.4	+1.4	+2.7	+0.5	+4.1	−0.8	+1.4	+0.7	−0.2	−0.1	+2.4

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

3,967 mEiger

Switzerland5 km away

4,274 mFinsteraarhorn

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q30495) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beaches

Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit

lakes

Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit

mountains

Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.You are here

waterfalls Cascadyas

Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit

islands

Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit

rivers

Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Coming soonVisit

canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit