Gspaltenhorn, Mountain summit in Bernese Alps, Switzerland

Gspaltenhorn is a 3,436-metre summit of the Bernese Alps in the canton of Bern, the highest point of the range north-east of the Gamchilücke pass (2,836 m). It stands between the Kiental and Lauterbrunnen valleys, and its south face drops as a steep rock wall onto the Tschingelfirn glacier.

The sources record no first-ascent date or named climbers for the Gspaltenhorn. Its documented history is topographic: the 2,836 m Gamchilücke separates it from the Blüemlisalpgruppe, and the 2,455 m Gspaltenhornhütte below the Bütlassesattel (3,019 m) serves as the start of the normal route over the Leiterngrat.

The name likely derives from the fissured rocks of the southwest ridge, whose clefts suggested the German word for split. The Gspaltenhorn rises between the Kiental and Lauterbrunnen valleys, and from the Gspaltenhornhütte the Leiterngrat route leads over the Bütlassesattel toward the summit.

The normal route starts at the Gspaltenhorn Hut at 2,455 m and climbs to the Bütlassesattel at 3,019 m before following the northwest ridge, the Leiterngrat, to the summit with passages of grade II. The hut is reached from Kiental; the Gamchilücke at 2,836 m separates the mountain from the Blüemlisalp group.

The name Gspaltenhorn probably derives from the fissured rocks of the southwest ridge, not from the northwest ridge used by the normal route. The normal route starts at the Gspaltenhorn Hut (2,455 m), crosses the Bütlassesattel (3,019 m) and follows the Leiterngrat to the summit, with passages of grade II.