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Pocket Switzerland

Eiger

Fly here

Summit · canton of Bern · 3967 m

Legendary north face above Grindelwald, notorious among mountaineers.

From the basket

From Interlaken the balloon climbs the valley of the Black Lütschine, and Grindelwald spreads out in its meadows. Suddenly the north face shoots up: more than sixteen hundred metres of dark limestone, so steep that snow clings to it only in streaks. It faces north-west and stays in shadow for a good part of the day; even at the height of summer it keeps the colour of wet slate. As you drift along it, look for two small openings in the middle of the wall: they are windows. The rack railway that climbs to the Jungfraujoch runs through the mountain, just behind them.

To the east, the Mittellegi ridge drops towards Grindelwald like the teeth of a saw. Yuko Maki, a mountaineer from Japan, was the first to follow it, in 1921, with three guides from the village. Below the east flank a pale scar recalls the summer of 2006, when a slab of rock of two hundred thousand cubic metres broke away and fell onto Grindelwald’s lower glacier, which melting had left without support.

Cross the ridge and the scenery changes material. On the south side, no more black wall: ice, seracs and, almost within reach, the Mönch and then the Jungfrau, lined up as if for a class photo. Behind them opens the great white corridor of the Aletsch Glacier. To the east, the Schreckhorn and the Wetterhorn close off the horizon on the Grindelwald side, and to the north-west, far below, Lake Thun and Lake Brienz shine.

From up there you understand what makes this face so compelling: it was not climbed until 1938, after years of failed attempts, and only after four days of effort by two rope teams who joined forces along the way. All you have to do is let the wind carry you across, from one side to the other.

Sources: Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, “Grindelwald – Lauterbrunnen, par le col de la Kleine Scheidegg” (in French); Wikipedia, “Eiger”; swissinfo.ch, “À la conquête de la terrifiante face nord de l’Eiger” (in French).

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