At 2,501.9 metres above sea level,
Säntis is the highest mountain in the
Alpstein massif of northeastern Switzerland.
It is also the culminating point of the whole
Appenzell Alps, between Lake Walenstadt and Lake Constance.
Shared by three cantons, the mountain is a highly visible landmark thanks to its exposed northerly position within the Alpstein massif.
As a consequence, houses called Säntisblick (English: Säntis view) can be found in regions as far away as the Black Forest in Germany.
Säntis is among the
most prominent summits in the Alps and the most prominent summit in Europe with an observation deck on the top.
The panorama from the summit is spectacular. Six countries can be seen if the weather allows: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, France, and Italy.
Infrastructure and accessibility:
Meteorologist have chosen Saentis as an observation platform since 1879
and the personnel lived on the summit in solitude all year round to measure wind, precipitation, temperature, etc.
Today you can admire or hate the huge infrastructure with cable car, elevators, hotel, restaurant, art gallery, meteorological gear,
a tower of 113 meter high with tons of electronic instruments for radio, telephone, tv, airlines, etc.
The building, mostly underground, consists of 11 stories.
Despite of this, climbing this mountain is still worthwhile. There are a dozen of different ways to climb it; its access is possible from all sides and is never boring.
The landscape changes very often, sometimes you are on pasture with beautiful flowers, then on a ridge, a steep slope, a cool snow field.
Simple huts offer drinks and food, so you will hardly suffer of thirst and hunger.
The tower:
Located at the peak of the Säntis is a 123.55 meter high
transmission tower, which was commissioned in November 1997.
The original tower stemming from the year 1955 had to be renovated several times due to the rough weather conditions before finally being replaced.
The antenna of the new transmission tower got a fibre-glass enforced plastic layer on the outside in order to prevent ice falling onto the visitors' terrace.
Aerial tramway:
Today, the summit is easily accessible by aerial tramway from Schwägalp.
It had been a popular destination for tourists since the mid 19th century.
However, even though many ideas to make the summit more easily accessible existed since those days, it took almost another century for them to materialize.
on July 1st, 1935, the aerial tramway started operations.
The original cabins were replaced by larger ones in 1960.
The entire aerial tramway installation was replaced between 1968 and 1976.
In 2000, new cabins were commissioned. The aerial tramway
Luftseilbahn Schwägalp-Säntis is one of the most frequented tramways in Switzerland.
It has a total length of 2307 meters. The altitude gain between the terminals is 1123 meters. The journey takes roughly 8 minutes.