Matterhorn in the context of "Roman Era"

The Alps (/ælps/) are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.

The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. 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.

The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main physiographic regions. The Swiss Alps extend over both the Western Alps and the Eastern Alps, encompassing an area sometimes called Central Alps. While the northern ranges from the Bernese Alps to the Appenzell Alps are entirely in Switzerland, the southern ranges from the Mont Blanc massif to the Bernina massif are shared with other countries such as France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein.

The Swiss Alps comprise almost all the highest mountains of the Alps, such as Dufourspitze (4,634 m [15,203 ft]), the Dom (4,545 m [14,911 ft]), the Liskamm (4,527 m [14,852 ft]), the Weisshorn (4,506 m [14,783 ft]) and the Matterhorn (4,478 m [14,692 ft]). The other following major summits can be found in this list of mountains of Switzerland.

The Weisshorn (German, lit. white peak/mountain) is a major peak of Switzerland and the Alps, culminating at 4,505 metres (14,780 feet) above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located between the valleys of Anniviers and Zermatt in the canton of Valais. In the latter valley, the Weisshorn is one of the many 4000ers surrounding Zermatt, with Monte Rosa and the Matterhorn.

The Weisshorn was first climbed in 1861 from Randa by the Irish physicist John Tyndall, accompanied by the guides J.J. Bennen and Ulrich Wenger. Nowadays, the Weisshorn Hut is used on the normal route. The Weisshorn is considered by many mountaineers to be the most beautiful mountain in the Alps and Switzerland for its pyramidal shape and pure white slopes.

An ultra-prominent peak, or ultra for short, is a mountain summit with a topographic prominence of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) or more; it is also called a P1500. The prominence of a peak is the minimum height of climb to the summit on any route from a higher peak, or from sea level if there is no higher peak. There are approximately 1,500 such peaks on Earth. Some well-known peaks, such as the Matterhorn and Eiger, are not ultras because they are connected to higher mountains by high cols and thus do not achieve enough topographic prominence.

The term "ultra" originated with earth scientist Steve Fry, from his studies of the prominence of peaks in Washington in the 1980s. His original term was "ultra major mountain", referring to peaks with at least 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) of prominence.

A pyramidal peak, sometimes called a glacial horn in extreme cases, is an angular, sharply pointed mountain peak which results from the cirque erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from a central point. Pyramidal peaks are often examples of nunataks.

Tourists are drawn to Switzerland's diverse landscape as well as the available activities, which take advantage of the Alpine climate and landscapes, in particular skiing and mountaineering, but also due to the many old town centers, with their historic buildings that often preserve parts of their medieval fortifications, and Roman sites. Switzerland is also popular for tourism-oriented railways, as well as for its cheese and chocolate.

As of 2016, tourism accounted for an estimated 2.6% (CHF 16.8 billion) of Switzerland's GDP, compared to 2.6% (CHF 12.8 billion) in 2001.

Lucy Walker (c. 1836 – 10 September 1916) was a British mountaineer and the first woman to climb the Matterhorn.

Walker was born in 1836, in British North America, in what would later become Canada. Her mother, Jane McNeil McMurdo, moved from Scotland to North America with her husband and infant daughter in 1836. Mrs McMurdo left her husband to live with Francis (Frank) Walker; Lucy Walker and her brother Horace were born before their parents moved to England. The McMurdos divorced in 1841, and Frank Walker and Jane McMurdo married on 24 April 1841. The family then moved to Liverpool, England, where Frank Walker became a lead merchant. Walker began her climbing rather modestly in 1858 when she was advised by her doctor to take up walking as a cure for rheumatism. Accompanied by her father Frank Walker and her brother Horace Walker, both of whom were early members of the Alpine Club, and Oberland guide Melchior Anderegg, she became the first woman to regularly climb in the Alps.

This list tabulates all of the 82 official mountain summits of 4,000 metres (13,123 ft) or more in height in the Alps, as defined by the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA). They are the highest mountains of the Alps, all located in Switzerland (48), Italy (38), and France (25), and are often referred to by mountaineers as the Alpine four-thousanders. A further table of 46 subsidiary mountain points which did not meet the UIAA's selection criteria is also included.

The official UIAA list of 82 mountain summits, titled in English as 'The 4000ers of the Alps' was first published in 1994. They were selected primarily on a prominence of at least 30 metres (98 ft)) above the highest adjacent col or pass. Additional criteria were used to include or exclude some points, based on the mountain's overall morphology and mountaineering significance. (For example, the Grand Gendarme on the Weisshorn was excluded, despite meeting the prominence criterion as it was simply deemed part of that mountain's ridge.) A further 46 additional points of mountaineering significance, such as Pic Eccles, which did not meet the UIAA's primary selection criteria, were then included within an 'enlarged list'. Another, less formal, list of 4000 metre alpine mountains, containing only independent peaks with a prominence of over 100m, and based on an earlier 1990s publications by Richard Goedeke, contains just 51 mountains.