Switzerland, 9.6.16 - 9.17.16, Part 8 of 13: The Jungfraujoch
As we lounged on our balcony after a fine meal in the hotel, we took a look ahead. We had two full days left before having to leave Grindelwald for further adventures. I had slated two things for these final two days. I knew there would be the possibility of tired legs after two days of hiking to the Faulhorn and back. My itinerary had the day after our amazing two day trip to the Faulhorn split into two different things to do. Gina, Bob and I were slated to hike the Eiger Trail. Bridgit and Dana were slated to shop. I figured that they might be tired after two days of hiking to the Faulhorn, but they could easily handle walking twenty miles back and forth through the streets of Grindelwald as long as they had a fistful of francs.
We had been checking the detailed forecasts every night and that was another nice thing about the two places we stayed. They all had excellent means of checking weather conditions for every hour of the day. The forecast for our last two days called for the best odds of clear weather the following morning, with more clouds moving in that afternoon and the next day. Since the Eiger Trail could still be beautiful with cloudy weather, we switched the itinerary and opted to take the Jungfraubahn to the Jungfraujoch and the Top of Europe. It turned out to be a very good idea.
We started out by taking the Wengernalpbahn up to Kleine Scheidegg. The train chugged up along the slopes, the mighty Eiger on our left and scores of little Swiss chalets scattered over the lush, green hillsides on our right. At Kleine Scheidegg, we switched to the Jungfraubahn for our journey to The Top of Europe.
The Jungfraujoch is actually the high col between the Mönch and the Jungfrau at 11,333'. That is where they built the Top of Europe Experience, which is a multi-leveled building with various things to see and do. The Top of Europe is an incredible place, yet the means of getting there is equally amazing. The train known as the Jungfraubahn actually climbs 5.6 miles through a tunnel bored through both the Eiger and the Mönch before reaching the Jungfraujoch. This tunnel was started in 1896 and opened to the top in 1912. If that had been done today, it would have been 12 years behind schedule and several billion over budget. But I’m straying. Okay, where were we?
Oh yeah, back at Kleine Scheidegg, the train pulled out of the station and wound its way up the hill. Right out my window was the Jungfrau. This was as close to it as I’d ever been and it took on a whole new meaning as it towered above us.
The Jungfrau’s impressive north face. Notice the climber’s hut on the left hand ridge line. Just to left of that hut is the Jungfraujoch, where the Top of Europe sits.
From the Jungfraujoch you can take an elevator to the top of The Sphinx, the highest point we would attain on our trip at 11,723’ . It is perched on top of a natural rock outcropping surrounded by glaciers.
Zoomed in from Kleine Scheidegg to the Sphinx
After leaving Kleine Scheidegg, we first came to the Eigergletscher station. This is where the Eiger Trail begins. It was also the last stop before entering the tunnel. It was interesting climbing through the interior of the Eiger. Since there was nothing to see, the rail car had interesting videos showing the history of the tunnel and the ski racing industry to keep us occupied as the cog railway slowly made its way up towards the Jungfraujoch. At 9.400’, we arrived at the Eigerwand station. The train stopped here so we could walk to a series of five windows that actually look out from the famed Nordwand, the north face of the Eiger.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because this is where the classic scene in the movie The Eiger Sanction was filmed. I thought it would have been great if they had timed the train stops so that while the tourists are all staring straight down the face of the Eiger, a mannequin dressed like Clint Eastwood would drop down in front of the window and dangle from his climbing harness while the voice of George Kennedy would come over the speakers saying, “Cut the rope John. Cut the rope!"
The windows at the Eigerwand station. In clear weather you can look out the windows straight down the face of the Eiger but we couldn’t see much due to clouds hovering at this altitude.
Not long after we left the Eigerwand station we arrived at the second of the two stations inside the tunnel. The Eismeer station sits at 10,367’ on the south side of the Mönch When we got there we knew we could be in for a real treat. I had been very concerned that the clouds would move in and ruin any chance we might have of seeing anything up at the top. It is a very expensive train trip and a lot of people get up there and see absolutely nothing. But when we got to the window at the Eismeer station, the sun was breaking up the cloud cover and we found ourselves staring out at a strange planet we had never seen before. The entire scene was the land of the glaciers. Gigantic seracs and crevasses were so close we felt like we could almost touch them. Above, the sky blue sky made me impatient get to the top before it clouded up.
From the window at the Eismeer station. Wow!
Big crevasses
Now I was pumped. We were the second group up so far that day and when we got to the top of the Jungfraujoch, we made a beeline to the elevator that took us to the Sphinx. The scenery was bigger than life. We were in such a central spot for viewing, that gazing in any direction was a jaw dropping experience.
The first thing to capture my attention was the Aletsch Glacier. At over fourteen miles long and an incredible 3,300’ thick, The Aletsch Glacier is the longest glacier in all of Europe. Living in the North Cascades, I have seen many beautiful glaciers of all shapes and sizes, but never in my life had I seen a glacier like this. I had always seen pictures of what I refer to as river glaciers, the ones that flow down from the mountains and converge to make one huge river of ice. This was just awe-inspiring and being high above it truly made us feel like we were on the top of the continent.
The Aletsch Glacier
More scenery beckoned. Peaks stretched out in all directions near and far. Below us was an area they actually have skis for rent, toboggan runs, even a stage for concerts. A trail wound across the glacier to a saddle on the side of the Mönch. This looked like a blast but it would have taken several hours to hike there and back so we opted to just hang. Besides, I had peaks to study!
Sub-peak of the Jungfrau above the Aletsch Glacier.
The Mönch
The Jungfrau. You can see the climbers hut on the far right ridge.
For a little perspective, can you spot the two climbers descending the Jungfrau? Just left of the sub peak, far down on the glacier above the huge ice cliff.
After absorbing all we could up at the Sphinx, we went inside and wandered through the Ice Palace built right inside the glacier.
Gina and Bridgit entering the Ice Palace
Everything was glacial ice, the ground, the walls, the roof. Inside were dioramas with carved ice animals and crystals. One had two bears playing, another had a bunch of penguins going into an ice igloo. It was all so weird being inside the glacier!
Carved ice penguins
Three Swiss Misses
We also went through the Lindt Chocolate Shop which had a hologram chef making chocolate. Tons of chocolate in any way imaginable was for sale. Another feature at the Top of Europe was the worlds largest snow globe.
Then we went outside onto a roped off section of the glacier itself. I couldn’t believe the weather! The sun was cooking and we could have been in t-shirts. So far almost every day I was sure we were going to get fogged out but we were in the midst of an unprecedented stretch of clear warm weather that would bless us throughout the trip.
Looking back up at the Sphinx from outside on the glacier.
This ends Part 8. Stay tuned for Part 9: It’s All About the Rösti.