Editing Breithorn (section)

{{Short description|Mountain range of the Pennine Alps}}
{{other places}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name= Breithorn
| native_name_lang= de
| photo= Breithorn north.jpg
| photo_size= 285
| photo_caption= The north side of the Breithorn as seen from [[Gandegg Hut|Gandegg]]
| highest= Breithorn (Western Summit)
| elevation_m= 4160
| elevation_ref= 
| prominence_m= 438
| prominence_ref=<ref>Retrieved from the [[Swisstopo]] topographic maps. The key col is the Schwarztor (3,722 m).</ref>
| isolation_km= 4.0
| isolation_ref=<ref>Retrieved from [[Google Earth]]. The nearest point of higher elevation is north of the [[Castor (mountain)|Castor]].</ref>
| listing = {{unbulleted list|
      [[List of mountains of Switzerland|Mountains of Switzerland]]|
      [[List of mountains in Italy|Mountains of Italy]]}}
| coordinates= {{coord|45|56|28|N|7|44|50|E|type:mountain_region:CH_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref= 
| translation= Broad Horn
| parent_peak= [[Dufourspitze]]
| country= {{hlist|[[Switzerland]]|[[Italy]]}}
| subdivision2_type= Canton/Region
| subdivision2= {{hlist|[[Valais]]|[[Aosta Valley]]}}
| parent= [[Pennine Alps]]
| map= Alps#Switzerland#Italy
| map_caption= Location in the Alps
| range_coordinates= 
| range_coordinates_ref=
| topo_map= 
| first_ascent= 1813
| easiest_route= Basic glacier/snow climb
| fetchwikidata=ALL
| map_image  ={{OSM Location map | coord = {{coord|45.97643|7.65858}} | zoom=9 | float =center | width =270 | height =220 | title =Location of the Breithorn 
|shape-colorD=dark brown
|label-colorD=hard brown
| markD=BlackMountain.svg
| mark-sizeD=20
| label-sizeD=13
|label-offset-yD=-13
|mark-coord1 = {{coord|45.97643|7.65858}} | label1 =[[Matterhorn]] |label-pos1 =top |mark-title1=[[Matterhorn]]|mark-description1={{cvt|4478|m}}|ldy1=3|ldx1=7
| mark2 = RedMountain.svg| mark-size2 =30 | mark-coord2 = {{coord|45.9409|7.7477}} | label2 =Breithorn | label-pos2 = bottom|ldy2=-7|ldx2=0| mark-title2=Breithorn|mark-description2={{cvt|4164|m}}| label-color2=#ee0000 
| mark-coord3 = {{coord|45.93685|7.86676}} | label3 =[[Monte Rosa|Monte^Rosa]]|label-pos3 = right|ldx3=0|ldy3=2|mark-title3 =[[Monte Rosa]]|mark-description3={{cvt|4634|m}}
| mark-coord4 = {{coord|46.0937|7.8590}} | label4 =[[Dom (mountain)|Dom]] | label-pos4 =bottom |ldx4=5|ldy4=-10| mark-title4 =[[Dom (mountain)|Dom]]|mark-description4={{cvt|4545|m}}
| mark-size5 =20 | mark-coord5 = {{coord|46.1011|7.7161}} | label5 =[[Weisshorn]] | label-pos5 =left|ldy5=-2|ldx5=4|mark-title5=[[Weisshorn]]|mark-description5={{cvt|4505|m}}
|     mark-coord24 = {{coord|46.0647|7.6902}}
|          label24 = [[Zinalrothorn]]
|      label-pos24 = bottom
|            ldy24 = -10
|            ldx24 = -8
|          title24 = [[Zinalrothorn]]
| mark-coord6 = {{coord|45.9699|7.6051}} | label6 =[[Dent d'Hérens]] | label-pos6 =left|ldy6 =-2 |ldx6 =-11| mark-title6 =[[Dent d'Hérens]]|mark-description6={{cvt|4171|m}}
| mark-coord7 = {{coord|45.9833|7.5463}} | label7 =[[Bouquetins]]| label-pos7 =left | ldx7=4|ldy7=-6| mark-title7=[[Bouquetins|Dents des Bouquetins (Bouquetins)]]|mark-description7={{cvt|3838|m}}
| mark-coord8 = {{coord|45.955222|7.538361}} | label8 =[[Mont Brulé (Arolla)|Mont^Brulé]]| label-pos8 =right | ldy8=7|ldx8=0|mark-title8=[[Mont Brulé (Arolla)|Mont Brulé]]|mark-description8={{cvt|3578|m}}
| mark-coord9 = {{coord|45.945944|7.471806}} | label9 =[[La Singla]]| label-pos9 =left | ldy9=0|ldx9=2|mark-title9=[[La Singla]]|mark-description9={{cvt|3714|m}}
| mark10 =RM-1.svg | mark-size10 =15 | mark-coord10 = {{coord|45.9695|7.5614}} | label10 =Rifugio | labela10 =Campanna Aosta | label-size10 =10 | label-color10 =soft green | label-pos10 =bottom|shape-color10=soft green | mark-title10=Rifugio Campanna Aosta hut|ldy10=4|ldx10=-10
| mark11 =RM-1.svg |mark-opacity11=1| mark-size11 =15 | mark-coord11 = {{coord|45.9727|7.6477}} | label11 =Rifugio Jean-Antoine Carrel | label-size11 =10 | label-color11 =soft green | label-pos11 =right| shape-color11=soft green |mark-title11 =Rifugio Jean-Antoine Carrel hut|ldx11=5|ldy11=3
| mark12 =RM-1.svg | mark-size12 =15 | mark-coord12 = {{coord|45.98214|7.67713}} | label12 =Hörnlihütte| label-size12 =10 | label-color12 =soft green | label-pos12 =right| mark-title| shape-color12=soft green |mark-title12 =Hörnlihütte hut|ldx12=5|ldy12=-1
|           mark28 = RM-1.svg
|      mark-size28 = 15
|     mark-coord28 = {{coord|46.0857|7.7436}}
|          label28 = Weisshornhütte
|     label-size28 = 12
|    label-color28 = soft green
|      label-pos28 = left
|           ldy28 = 0
| mark13 =Nuvola Swiss flag.svg | mark-size13 =28 | mark-coord13 = {{coord|46.15|7.45}} | label13 =Switzerland | label-size13 =20 | label-color13 = | label-angle13 = | label-pos13 =right| mark-title13=none |ldy13=2|ldx13=5
| mark14 =Nuvola Italy flag.svg | mark-size14 =28 | mark-coord14 = {{coord|45.83|7.566}} | label14 =Italy | label-size14 =20 | label-color14 = | label-angle14 = | label-pos14 = right|ldy14=2|ldx14=14| mark-title14=none
| mark-coord15 = {{coord|45.8371|7.4051}}| label15=Valpelline| label-color15=soft grey| mark-size15=0| mark-title15=none| label-pos15=right| label-angle15=-32
| arc-coordA={{coord|46.07|7.7882}}
| arc-textA=Mattertal| arc-text-colorA=soft grey| arc-text-sizeA=8
| arc-angleA=110
| arc-gapA=-1.1
| arc-radiusA=0.8
| arc-coordB={{coord|46.13|7.4745}}
| arc-textB=Val d'Hérens| arc-text-colorB=soft grey| arc-text-sizeB=8
| arc-angleB=-115
| arc-gapB=-1.1
| arc-radiusB=0.8
| arc-coordC={{coord|45.82|7.626}}
| arc-textC=Valtournenche| arc-text-colorC=soft grey| arc-text-sizeC=8
| arc-angleC=109
| arc-gapC=-1.1
| arc-radiusC=0.8
}}
}}

The '''Breithorn''' ([[German language|German]] for literally "broad horn"; 13,661&nbsp;ft. or 4,160 m) is a [[mountain range]] of the [[Pennine Alps]] with its highest peak of the same name (but also called ''Breithorn (Western Summit)''), located on the border between [[Switzerland]] and [[Italy]]. It lies on the main chain of the Alps, approximately halfway between the [[Matterhorn]] and [[Monte Rosa]] and east of the [[Theodul Pass]]. Most of the massif is glaciated and includes several subsidiary peaks, all located east of the main summit: the [[Central Breithorn]], the [[Eastern Breithorn|western Breithorn Twin (or Eastern Breithorn)]], the [[Gendarm (Breithorn)|Gendarm (or eastern Breithorn Twin)]] and the [[Roccia Nera]]. The main summit is sometimes distinguished by the name ''Western Breithorn'' ({{langx|de|Breithorn (Westgipfel)}}, {{langx|it|Breithorn Occidentale}}). The nearest settlements are [[Zermatt]] ([[Valais]]) and [[Ayas, Aosta Valley|St-Jacques]] ([[Aosta Valley]]).

[[File:Breithorn01.jpg|thumb|left|The Breithorn (Western Summit), as seen from [[Klein Matterhorn]] (west side)]]
The Breithorn is considered the most easily climbed 4,000 m Alpine peak. This is due to the [[Klein Matterhorn]] [[Aerial tramway|cable car]] which takes climbers to over 3,820&nbsp;m (12,700&nbsp;ft) from [[Zermatt]] for a starting point. The standard route (SSW flank) is from the Italian side of the mountain (the south side) and continues over a [[glacier|glacial]] plateau before climbing to the summit on a 35 degree snow slope. However, inexperienced mountaineers may run into severe difficulty if caution is not taken near [[Cornice (climbing)|cornice]]s or in bad weather. For experienced climbers wanting more of a challenge, the half traverse of the Breithorn crest is another option.

The Breithorn was first climbed in 1813 by [[Henry Maynard (climber)]], [[Joseph-Marie Couttet]], [[Jean Gras (climber)|Jean Gras]], [[Jean-Baptiste Erin]] and [[Jean-Jacques Erin]].