Görner Glacier
From Mount Wiki
| Görner Glacier Görnergletscher (de)
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| General | ||
| Type | Valley Glacier | |
| Altitude | 2,200 m7,217.848 ft 1.367 miles | |
| Location | Valais, Switzerland | |
| Range | Pennine Alps | |
| Valley | Mattertal | |
| Glacier Data | ||
| Length | 14 km8.699 miles | |
| Surface | 57 km²22.008 sqmi | |
| Nearby Features | ||
| Alpinist's Info | ||
| Topo. Map | SLK 1348: Zermatt | |
| Map | ||
  Görner Glacier | ||
[edit] General information
The Görner Glacier (German: Görnergletscher) is a valley glacier found on the west side of the Monte Rosa Massif close to Zermatt in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is about 14 km long and 1 to 1.5 km wide. The entire glacial area of the glacier related to Görner Glacier is 57 km² (1999), which makes it the second largest glacial system in the Alps after the Aletsch Glacier system. Numerous smaller glaciers connect with the Görner Glacier. Its tribunaries are: Görnergletscher (after which the whole system is named), Grenz Glacier, Zwilling Glacier, Schwärze Glacier, Breithorn Glacier, Theodul Glacier (although this one is actually disconnected now) and Monte Rosa Glacier (also disconnected now). The main tributary is the Grenz Glacier.
An interesting feature of this glacier is the Görnersee, an ice marginal lake at the confluence area of the Görner and Grenz Glacier. This lake fills every year and drains in summer, usually as a Glacial lake outburst flood. This is one of few glacial lakes in the Alps exhibiting this kind of behaviour.
It is the source of the Görnera river which flows down through Zermatt itself. However most of its water gets captured by a water catchment station of the Grande Dixence hydroelectric power company. This water then ends up in the Lac des Dix, the main reservoir of Grande Dixence.
The glacier as well as the surrounding mountains can be seen from the Görnergrat (3,130 m10,269.029 ft
1.945 miles), connected from Zermatt by a railway line.
