Despite being the most elevated, prominent and isolated mountain of both the Bernese Alps and the canton of Bern, the Finsteraarhorn is less known and frequented than the nearby Jungfrau and Eiger.

The Finsteraarhorn was dethroned by Monte Rosa as the highest summit of Switzerland when Valais joined the Swiss Confederation in 1815.

The tectonic uplift of the massif occurred late in the alpine orogeny, during the Oligocene, 30 to 40 million years ago.

The inelastic deformation of rocks led to many fractures and formation of hydrothermal crystals by the deposition of the saturated water flowing inside.

The first attempt was made on 16 August 1812 by the Aargau merchant Rudolph Meyer [de], guided by the locals Kaspar Huber, Arnold Abbühl, Joseph Bortes and Aloys Volker.

Hugi stayed behind somewhat above the saddle not daring to cross a steep slope, partly because he had twisted an ankle four weeks earlier.

On the way back Hugi's ankle played up and Leuthold, Währen and Joseph Zemt took turns carrying him down the glacier.

However, John Percy Farrar concluded in 1913 in an article in the Alpine Journal that the guides in 1812 must have reached the 4,167 m high shoulder 200 m south of the true summit, which he considered nevertheless a feat half a century ahead of its time.

[9] The normal route starts at the Finsteraarhorn Hut (3,046 m) and goes over the south-west flank of the mountain up to the Hugisattel, then follows the north-west rocky ridge to the summit.