Oberwald

Upper forest was until December 31, 2008, a municipality in the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The municipality was part of the non- permanently inhabited hamlet Gletsch.

On 25 November 2007, a merger of the three communities Goms Ulrichen, Obergesteln and upper forest was approved in a referendum. The new Obergoms existed since 1 January 2009.

Geography

Upper Forest is the first village in the beginning of the Goms. It lies at the foot of the Alpine passes Furka and Grimsel. The village is first mentioned in 1419.

Upper Forest is the starting point for about 100 kilometers of cross- country trails of the Goms. Here begins and ends the cars through the Furka tunnel. The residents of Upper Forest live mainly from tourism and livestock.

History

Previously upper forest was even called forest. Together with the neighboring villages under waters and Obergesteln, formed here in the late Middle Ages, common Bauer guilds, and together formed the uppermost quarter of the Goms. The three towns were laid by the Bernese in Rarner war in ruins in 1419. In this context, the first written records of the town has been preserved. Were so already populated.

The village of Upper Forest joined in 1834, with the neighboring waters under the municipality of Upper Forest together. This was the result of the devastating flood in 1834, which exceeded the financial resources of the municipality under the waters. Already in 1706 under waters was hit by a flood. The town is located north of Upper Forest Rotten, while lower waters located south of it.

Until 2008, the Gerental to the municipality upper forest belonged. The valley owned from 1405 until the French Revolution and the subsequent Helvetic Republic a free trial. The open court Concerning operative on the high and low justice.

Ecclesiastical was under the upper forest community until the first half of the 17th century cathedral, and then Obergesteln. In 1719 the church received its own Rector. The Taufrecht was acquired in 1736 and the funeral of law in 1736. Only in 1767 they separated from the Church in Obergesteln, an independent parish was upper forest but only in 1871.

Winter Forest in Upper

Although Upper Forest is just 1366 meters high, here the winters are snowy. So upper forest has in midwinter usually on the highest snow height of all the communes of Switzerland. It is almost half a year of snow, where it per century only about three winters there, into which a snow depth of 1 m is not reached. Thus the upper forest and the adjacent cross-country area of Goms is snow.

Winter sports

Around 100 km of trails are groomed from top forest to coppice. In addition, find both snowshoe goers as well as ski touring routes of varying difficulty ( Sidelhorn, Blashorn, Tällistock, United Muttenhorn ). A winter hike and snowshoe trails lead to the mountain of the upper Forest, the hunger mountain. Tobogganing is possible from the Grimsel Pass on a 13 km long descent to the upper forest. There are 85 km of winter hiking trails for winter hikers.

Pictures

In the old village center

Village Church

Barn

Old house next to the village chapel

Loading station Upper Forest