Konkordiaplatz

Aerial view of the Aletsch Glacier with the converging Jungfraufirn and Aletschfirn. Peaks of the Valais Alps on the horizon.

View from Konkordia towards Aletschhorn

The Konkordiaplatz or Concordia (French: Place de la Concorde), is a large flat area of snow and ice lying just to the south of the Jungfrau in the Bernese Alps in the Swiss canton of Valais. Its notable feature is that it is the junction of four large glaciers coming down from the Aletschfirn, the Jungfraufirn, the Ewigschneefäld and the Grüneggfirn. The main Aletsch Glacier originates from Konkordiaplatz. The Konkordiaplatz Charter was signed by the municipalities located in the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area UNESCO World Heritage site, vowing to retain the aesthetic beauty of the region.

Naming

Concordia is the latin word for harmony, literally "with (one) heart". It was the name of the Roman goddess of agreement, understanding, and marital harmony. A British mountaineer, John Frederick Hardy, gave to the convergence of the several glaciers, the name Place de la Concorde of Nature.^[1]

The name Concordia was then given to other places where two or more glaciers meet or large glaciated areas, such as Concordia in the Karakoram ^[2] or Concordia Station in Antarctica.

Geography

See also: Aletsch Glacier

Konkordiaplatz is located at an altitude between 2,700 and 2,800 metres, the place is approximatively 2 km large. According to measurement made by the ETHZ the thickness of snow and ice is more than 900 metres.^[3] It is surrounded by the Dreieckhorn (south), the Fiescher Gabelhorn (east), the Grünhorn (north-east) and the Kranzberg (subpeak of the Jungfrau) and Trugberg (north).

At Konkordia the glacier has a speed of about 200 metres per year or 50 centimetres per day.

The area is completely uninhabited but the Konkordia Hut lies above the glacier, on the western slope of Gross Wannenhorn.

References

1. ^ Some famous alpine ascents page 266
2. ^ William Martin Conway: Climbing and Exploration in the Karakoram Himalayas, S. 317. (Google-Books)
3. ^ Glacier d'Aletsch pronatura.ch (French)

Coordinates: 46°30′07″N 8°02′08″E / 46.50194°N 8.03556°E / 46.50194; 8.03556