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First ascent of Piz Bernina

When
1850
Where
Piz Bernina
Episodes
1

The first ascent of Piz Bernina occurred on 13 September 1850 via the east ridge. Led by topographer Johann Wilhelm Coaz, the party departed the Bernina Inn early in the morning with measuring instruments. Coaz, who named the mountain after the Bernina Pass, was accompanied by his assistants, the brothers Jon and Lorenz Ragut Tscharner.

Episodes

  1. 13 September 1850 · Piz BerninaFirst Ascent

    Johann Wilhelm Coaz and his assistants Jon and Lorenz Ragut Tscharner made the first ascent of Piz Bernina via the east ridge on 13 September 1850.

Background and detail

Background. Piz Bernina is the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps and the highest peak of the Bernina Range. It rises to 4,048 meters and is located south of Pontresina. The mountain was named after the Bernina Pass in 1850 by Johann Coaz, who also made the first ascent. The range's geology belongs to the Austroalpine nappes, derived from the Apulian plate.

Expedition. The first ascent was made via the east ridge in 1850 by the 28-year-old topographer Johann Wilhelm Coaz and his assistants, the brothers Jon and Lorenz Ragut Tscharner. On 13 September 1850, shortly after 6 a.m., they left the Bernina Inn with their measuring instruments.

People involved

Sources

  1. Piz Bernina Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-16

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.