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This article contains a sortable table of many of the major mountains and hills of Switzerland. The table only includes those summits that have a topographic prominence of at least 300 metres (984 ft) above other points, and ranks them by height and prominence. Therefore it only includes mountains that might generally be regarded as 'independent' and covers most of the country, even lower areas. For a fuller list of mountains, including subsidiary points, see List of mountains of Switzerland above 3000 m and List of mountains of Switzerland above 3600 m. For a list of just the most isolated mountains, see List of most isolated mountains of Switzerland.

Along with the lakes, mountains constitute a major natural feature of Switzerland with most of the cantons having summits exceeding 2,000 metres (7,000 ft) and three of them having summits exceeding 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). The two main mountain ranges are the Alps (south and east) and the Jura (north and west), separated by the Swiss Plateau which also includes a large number of hills. Topographically, the three most important summits of Switzerland are those of Monte Rosa (most elevated), the Finsteraarhorn (most prominent) and Piz Bernina (most isolated).

Criteria

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. 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.

Accuracy

All mountain heights and prominences on the list are from the largest-scale maps available. 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. 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).

Distribution

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• GPX (primary coordinates)
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The list contains 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. On average, each summit is the culminating point of an area corresponding to 91.5 km (35.3 sq mi), which is equivalent in term of density to approximately 1.09 summits per 100 km.

These 451 major summits are found in 22 different cantons. 3 cantons (Valais, Bern and 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: Graubünden (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 list, only the exact location of the culminating point of the mountain is considered.

By height

By prominence

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