Coming Soon: The New Map of the Swiss Alps – Jungfrau–Aletsch
The next map by MountainCarto is ready: a new panoramic representation of one of the most spectacular areas in the Alps, on the border between Bern, Valais and Uri. It will be available in print within two weeks.
This map covers the entire UNESCO World Heritage Site “Swiss Alps Jungfrau–Aletsch–Bietschhorn” (site no. 1037), a region dominated by massive glaciers, including the famous Aletsch Glacier, the longest in the Alps, and an extraordinary chain of peaks: Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau, Aletschhorn, Bietschhorn, Finsteraarhorn, and Schreckhorn.
The landscape is a vertical mosaic of ridges, ice, hanging terraces and moraines, where altitude meets exceptional geological and natural richness. The area is deeply tied to mountaineering history: the Eiger, with its infamous north face, is one of the absolute icons of European alpinism; the Jungfrau and Mönch form, together with the Eiger, the famous trio visible from the Lauterbrunnen valley; the Finsteraarhorn, the highest peak in the Bernese Oberland, is one of the most isolated and majestic mountains in the entire Alpine arc.
Although I have often explored Switzerland, I’ve never personally visited this area—only passed through the Valais. As a mountain cartographer, I sometimes work on maps of places I haven’t seen firsthand. In those cases, I rely on open data, official elevation models, and satellite imagery, and carefully study topographic maps, hiking reports, photos, and videos. Then I begin to “build” the landscape, modeling and rendering every detail until I achieve a result that is both readable and visually compelling. After completing this map, I now feel an irresistible urge to go see it for myself.
For this map, I used the following open data sources:
- High-resolution digital elevation models (DEM) and place names from the Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo;
- OpenStreetMap data, processed for buildings, roads, and trails;
- Land cover from Copernicus Sentinel data: © ESA WorldCover project 2025;
- 3D rendering techniques in Blender, with oblique shading for a realistic and immersive 2.5D effect.
Below you’ll find the interactive version of the map.
See you soon with the printed edition!
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