List of prominent mountains of Switzerland

The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation defines a summit in the Alps as independent, if the connecting ridge between it and a higher summit drops at least 30 m (98 ft) (a prominence/drop of 30 m, with the lowest point referred to as the "key col"). There are over 4400 such summits exceeding 2,000 m (6,560 ft) in Switzerland.^[1] In order for a peak to qualify as an independent mountain, traditionally a prominence of at least 300 m (980 ft), or 10 times the aforementioned criterion value, has been used. This is the sole criterion used for this list. Inclusion purely based on prominence is expedient for its objectivity and verifiability. It also allows the incorporation of the lowest elevation (but prominent) hills as well as the highest mountains, maximizing territory coverage and ensuring a reasonably even distribution throughout the country. However, this criterion has its drawbacks. For example, an impressive mountain peak dominating a valley may be connected via high ridges to a barely higher hidden summit. Among the better-known peaks absent from this list are Fletschhorn (due to Lagginhorn), Wetterhorn (Mittelhorn), Mont Blanc de Cheilon (Ruinette), Nadelhorn and Täschhorn (Dom), Piz Badile (Piz Cengalo) and Piz Palü (Piz Zupò). For this reason, additional country-wide lists with somewhat lower prominence cut-offs are also available: 150 m (with elevation cut-off of 3000 m) (490 and 9,800 ft and 30 m (with elevation cut-off of 3600 m) (98 and 11,800 ft).

This list does not consider nor include topographic isolation. For a list of most-isolated mountains, see List of most-isolated mountains of Switzerland.

Monte Rosa, the highest mountain of Switzerland, has several subsidiary summits. Only the Dufourspitze, its main peak, is included in the list.

All mountain heights and prominences on the list are from the largest-scale maps available.^[2] However, heights sometime conflict on different scales. For example, the Fletschhorn is indicated to be 3,993 m (13,100 ft), 3,982 m (13,064 ft), and 3,984 m (13,071 ft) high on the 1:100'000, 1:50'000 and 1:25'000 Swisstopo map, respectively. The (rounded) elevation given by the largest scale map is always used in this table. Also, the deepest points in connecting ridges are not always survey points with spot elevations, so that heights have to be estimated from contour lines. For example, maps often provide heights for the place where a route passes over a ridge rather than for the lowest point of that pass.

Finally, many height indications on these maps may be not up-to-date, while glacier and firn melt has decreased the height of both peaks and key cols, quite dramatically. For example, until 2009, the Col des Maisons Blanches which lies on the Corbassière Glacier was measured to be 3,418 m, while the more recent maps (2012) show it to be 3,404 m (11,168 ft) high.^[3] This is the key col for the Combin de Corbassière (3,716 m or 12,192 ft), which, thanks to the retreat of the glacier, now appears on the list with a prominence of 312 m (1,024 ft).

The lists below contain 451 mountains with a prominence higher than 300 m (980 ft), among which 24 are above 4,000 m (13,120 ft), 64 above 3,500 m (11,480 ft), 208 above 3,000 m (9,840 ft), 321 above 2,500 m (8,200 ft), 384 above 2,000 m (6,560 ft), 417 above 1,500 m (4,920 ft) and 443 above 1,000 m (3,280 ft). The average and median heights are respectively 2,812 and 2,956 m (9,226 and 9,698 ft). Eight summits (sometimes called ultra-prominent peaks) have a prominence exceeding 1,500 m (4,920 ft), they are found in seven cantons. The great majority of the summits are located in the Alps, the other being located in the Jura Mountains (including the Table Jura). On average, each summit is the culminating point of an area corresponding to 91.5 km² (35.3 sq mi), which is equivalent in term of density to approximately 1.09 summits per 100 km² (39 sq mi).^[4]

These 451 major summits are found in 22 different cantons.^{[Note 1]} Of these, 3 cantons (Valais, Bern and Grisons/Graubünden) have summits above 4,000 m (13,120 ft), 9 cantons have summits above 3,000 m (9,840 ft), 15 cantons have summits above 2,000 m (6,560 ft) and 21 cantons have summits above 1,000 m (3,280 ft). Two cantons have more than 100 summits: Grisons (152) and Valais (104), while eleven cantons have less than 10 summits. 82 of the summits are on cantonal borders, 2 of which being tripoints (Brienzer Rothorn and Säntis). A number of mountains (e.g. Titlis, Chasseral, Lägern) straddle borders as well, but have their summit on one side of the border. In the lists, only the exact location of the culminating point of the mountain is considered.^{[Note 2]}

Missing from the lists below are the cantons with mountains with a prominence of less than 300 metres (980 ft), which are located either in the Upper Rhine Plain (canton of Basel-City), Swiss Plateau (cantons of Geneva and Thurgau) or Randen (canton of Schaffhausen).

By height

More information Canton *lists of mountains, up to 999 m (3,278 ft) ...

Distribution by height of the mountains with at least 300 m of prominence

Canton *lists of mountains	up to 999 m (3,278 ft)	1,000–1,499 m (3,281–4,918 ft)	1,500–1,999 m (4,921–6,558 ft)	2,000–2,499 m (6,562–8,199 ft)	2,500–2,999 m (8,202–9,839 ft)	3,000–3,499 m (9,843–11,480 ft)	3,500–3,999 m (11,483–13,120 ft)	4,000 m (13,000 ft)+	Total	Summits/100 km2 (39 sq mi)
Aargau	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.07
Appenzell A.*	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	1.24
Appenzell I.*	0	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	5	2.90
Basel-Country	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0.39
Bern*	1	7	2	18	14	11	9	5	67	1.12
Fribourg	0	1	1	7	0	0	0	0	9	0.54
Glarus*	0	0	1	4	6	5	1	0	17	2.48
Grisons*	0	1	0	4	46	95	5	1	152	2.14
Jura	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.12
Lucerne	2	3	4	3	0	0	0	0	12	0.80
Neuchâtel	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.12
Nidwalden*	0	1	2	3	1	0	0	0	7	2.54
Obwalden*	0	0	1	5	3	1	0	0	10	2.04
Schwyz*	0	1	8	4	4	0	0	0	17	1.87
Solothurn	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0.51
St. Gallen*	0	3	4	4	5	1	0	0	17	0.84
Ticino*	1	2	6	6	26	11	0	0	52	1.85
Uri*	0	0	1	2	9	13	2	0	27	2.51
Valais*	0	0	0	6	15	31	30	22	104	1.99
Vaud*	0	2	5	10	3	2	0	0	22	0.68
Zug	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.42
Zurich	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0.23
Switzerland	8	26	33	63	113	144	40	24	451	1.09

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By prominence

More information Canton *lists of mountains, 300–449 m (984–1,473 ft) ...

Distribution of the mountains by prominence

Canton *lists of mountains	300–449 m (984–1,473 ft)	450–599 m (1,476–1,965 ft)	600–749 m (1,969–2,457 ft)	750–899 m (2,461–2,949 ft)	900–1,199 m (2,953–3,934 ft)	1,200–1,499 m (3,937–4,918 ft)	1,500 m (4,900 ft)+	Total (300 m (980 ft)+)	Km2/summit
Aargau	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1403.8
Appenzell A.*	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	80.9
Appenzell I.*	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	34.5
Basel-Country	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	258.8
Bern*	38	14	5	4	4	1	1	67	88.9
Fribourg	3	3	1	1	1	0	0	9	185.7
Glarus*	7	4	4	0	1	0	1	17	40.3
Grisons*	80	28	19	9	10	3	3	152	46.7
Jura	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	838.5
Lucerne	6	3	1	1	0	1	0	12	124.4
Neuchâtel	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	802.3
Nidwalden*	2	4	1	0	0	0	0	7	39.4
Obwalden*	4	4	0	0	1	1	0	10	49.1
Schwyz*	8	5	2	1	0	1	0	17	53.4
Solothurn	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	197.6
St. Gallen*	9	4	0	1	0	2	1	17	119.5
Ticino*	28	11	2	5	2	4	0	52	54.1
Uri*	11	9	5	1	0	1	0	27	39.9
Valais*	53	17	10	5	13	2	4	104	50.2
Vaud*	8	8	0	2	4	0	0	22	146.0
Zug	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	238.7
Zurich	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	432.2
Switzerland	237	99	43	24	29	11	8	451	91.5

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