Being off the main ridge of the Bernese Alps, all the glaciers surrounding the Lauteraarhorn and the Schreckhorn are part of the Aare basin.

The Lauteraarhorn is the second highest summit (after the Schreckhorn) lying wholly within the canton of Bern.

The main summit is the southernmost one and has a modest topographic prominence of 128 metres, due to the high elevation of the ridge (the Schrecksattel) connecting it to the slightly higher Schreckhorn.

[3] Only the main summit of the Lauteraarhorn (together with the adjoining Schreckhorn) is on the UIAA list of Alpine four-thousanders.

The first ascent was on 8 August 1842 by Pierre Jean Édouard Desor, Christian Girard, Arnold Escher von der Linth with the guides Melchior Bannholzer and Jakob Leuthold.