Eiger

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Lore & Background

The Eiger is a mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, situated just north of the main watershed and the border with Valais. It overlooks the valleys of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland. As the easternmost peak of a ridge that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau, it forms one of the most emblematic sights of the Swiss Alps. Its northern side rises more than 3,000 meters above the two valleys, while its southern side faces the large glaciers of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, the most glaciated region in the Alps. The mountain’s most notable feature is its nearly 1,800-meter north face of rock and ice, the biggest north face in the Alps, which towers over the resort of Kleine Scheidegg. The first ascent was made in 1858 via the west flank by Swiss guides Christian Almer and Peter Bohren along with Irishman Charles Barrington. The north face, long considered one of the most challenging and dangerous ascents in the Alps, was first climbed in 1938 by an Austrian-German expedition. Since 1935, at least 64 climbers have died attempting this face, earning it the German nickname Mordwand, a pun on its correct title Nordwand. A railway tunnel runs inside the mountain, part of the Jungfrau Railway line from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch. Two internal stations, Eigerwand behind the north face and Eismeer behind the south face, provide access to viewing windows carved into the rock. The Eiger’s water feeds the Weisse Lütschine and Schwarze Lütschine rivers, which converge to form the Lütschine. Significant glaciers on the mountain include the Eiger Glacier on the southwestern side and the Ischmeer on the east side.

Reader's Guide

The Eiger is located above the Lauterbrunnen Valley to the west and Grindelwald to the north in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern. It forms a renowned mountain range of the Bernese Alps together with its two companions: the Jungfrau (4,158 m (13,642 ft)) about 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) southwest of it and the Mönch (4,107 m (13,474 ft)) about in the middle of them. The nearest settlements are Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen (795 m (2,608 ft)) and Wengen (1,274 m (4,180 ft)). The Eiger has three faces: north (or more precisely NNW), east (or more precisely ESE), and west (or more precisely WSW). The northeastern ridge from the summit to the Ostegg (lit.: eastern corner, 2,709 m (8,888 ft)), called Mittellegi, is the longest on the Eiger. The north face overlooks the gently rising Alpine meadow between Grindelwald (943 m (3,094 ft)) and Kleine Scheidegg (2,061 m (6,762 ft)), a mountain railways junction and a pass, which can be reached from both sides, Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen/Wengen – by foot or train. Politically, the Eiger (and its summit) belongs to the Bernese municipalities of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. The Kleine Scheidegg (literally, the small parting corner) connects the Männlichen-Tschuggen range with the western ridge of the Eiger. The Eiger does not properly form part of the main chain of the Bernese Alps, which borders the canton of Valais and forms the watershed between the Rhine and the Rhône, but constitutes a massive limestone buttress, projecting from the crystalline basement of the Mönch across the Eigerjoch. Consequently, all sides of the Eiger feed finally the same river, namely the Lütschine. Eiger's water is connected through the Weisse Lütschine (the white one) in the Lauterbrunnen Valley on the west side (southwestern face of the Eiger) and through the Schwarze Lütschine (the black one) running through Grindelwald (northwestern face), which meet each other in Zweilütschinen (lit.: the two Lütschinen) where they form the proper Lütschine. The east face is covered by the glacier called Ischmeer (Bernese German for Ice Sea), which forms one upper part of the fast-retreating Lower Grindelwald Glacier. These glaciers' water forms a short creek, which is also confusingly called the Weisse Lütschine, but enters the black one already in Grindelwald together with the water from the Upper Grindelwald Glacier. Therefore, all the water running down the Eiger converges at the northern foot of the Männlichen (2,342 m (7,684 ft)) in Zweilütschinen (654 m (2,146 ft)), about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of the summit, where the Lütschine begins its northern course to Lake Brienz and the Aare (564 m (1,850 ft)). Although the Eiger's north face is almost ice-free, significant glaciers lie on the other sides of the mountain. The Eiger Glacier flows on the southwestern side of the Eiger, from the crest connecting it to the Mönch down to 2,400 m (7,900 ft), south of Eigergletscher railway station, and feeds the Weisse Lütschine through the Trümmelbach. On the east side, the Ischmeer–well visible from the windows of Eismeer railway station–flows eastwards from the same crest then turns to the north below the impressive wide Fiescherwand, the north face of the Fiescherhörner triple summit (4,049 m (13,284 ft)) down to about 1,600 m (5,200 ft) of the Lower Grindelwald Glacier system. The massive composition of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau constitutes a symbolic sight of the Swiss Alps and is visible from many places on the Swiss Plateau and the Jura Mountains in the northwest. The higher Finsteraarhorn (4,270 m (14,010 ft)) and Aletschhorn (4,190 m (13,750 ft)), which are located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the south, are generally less visible and situated in the middle of glaciers in less accessible areas. As opposed to the north side, the south and east sides of the range consist of large valley glaciers extending for up to 22 kilometres (14 mi), the largest (beyond the Eiger drainage basin) being those of Grand Aletsch, Fiesch, and Aar Glaciers, and is thus uninhabited. The whole area, the Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area, comprising the highest summits and largest glaciers of the Bernese Alps, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. In July 2006, a piece of the Eiger fell from the east face, amounting to approximately 700,000 cubic metres of rock. As it had been noticeably cleaving for several weeks and fell into an uninhabited area, no injuries or buildings were hit.

Did You Know?

• The first mention of Eiger, appearing as "mons Egere", was found in a property sale document of 1252.
• Since 1935, at least 64 climbers have died attempting the north face, earning it the German nickname Mordwand.
• The north face was first climbed on 24 July 1938 by Andreas Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek.
• In July 2006, a piece of the Eiger fell from the east face, amounting to approximately 700,000 cubic metres of rock.
• The Eigerwand railway station inside the mountain has not been regularly served since 2016.