It was great that we got our storm on the first night here, and not during the day. Of course the only downside to a storm in the mountains is....SNOW! The storm dumped a fresh snow down to about the 2,000 meter level.
We weren't to be deterred. We have all the right gear, and we're not going to let a bit of snow slow us down. We had decided to tackle the Eiger Trail today. It's a rugged footpath that leads directly below the north face of the Eiger. We took the train from Lauterbrunnen up to Murren, then a cable car to Mannlichen, then another cable car down the back side of the ridge to the midway station where we got out to start our hike. After a bit of downhill we climbed up to Alpiglen (famous in climbing circles) and then began the Eiger Trail. We elected to do it from the bottom up....most people take a train up and do it from the top down.
We ran into a few people who told us that there was snow on the trail and they had decided not to carry on....we were here, we could taste the Eiger so we decided to carry on. It was epic! The views were stunning, and more importantly we were standing at the base of the Eiger. The mountain has fascinated me since I was quite young and it was a thrill to finally get to do this trail. Here are a few random shots starting in Alpiglen, and up into the snow:
Unforunately the weather had rolled in across the north face of the Eiger so we didn't get too many good views. Every once in a while it showed itself for just a moment, and then vanished again. It all added to the mystery and allure that surrounds this mountain. We continued to climb, eventually reaching the starting point of the first successful (and tragic) climb of the north face in 1938.
It was a real thrill to be standing in this spot. I'm currently reading a book called The White Spider, which specifically talks about that first ascent and what happened. The Eiger isn't the highest mountain in the world by far, but it probably has many more stories and tragic events than any other climb. There is even a movie called the Eiger Sanction with Clint Eastwood that was filmed on location....actually much of the filming was done on the Rotstock, which is beside the Eiger...we climbed that one last summer :-)
After reaching the top of the trail we grabbed the train back down to Lauterbrunnen where we got out of our gear, showered and headed for another great dinner at our fav spot.
Then we went for another stroll along the valley floor, passing below the waterfalls....and listening to the music coming from the heliport - apparently DJ Crazy Mofo was putting on a show tonight.....we listened for a bit, but decided on tranquility instead. As we walked back to our hotel a familiar sound caught our ears....the opening of a parachute. This is a very popular spot with B.A.S.E. jumpers. So we stood and watched for a while as they hurtled themselves off the 1,000 foot cliffs, opening their chutes just before hittting the valley floor. It's really neat wathching the jumpers in flying suits as they glide down the valley quite a ways. I want to try that!!! Jo's not so keen on that idea, lol.
Off to bed...tomorrow we're hoping to go to the top of Europe.
