View from the Top

Tuesday, September 2
Jungfraujoch

The ride today was short, but intense, as you might guess from the previous post describing that climb up to Grosse Scheidegg. The rest of the day was spent in making a BIG climb. Using trains. We rode up through Kleine Scheidegg and then up to Jungfraujoch, the Top of Europe. After a 129 word and falling-well-short-of-capturing-the-wonder description of the day, the experience is described in 13,000 words worth of pictures.

A cogwheel train takes us up to Kleine Scheidegg where we transfer to another to carry us on an amazing ride to, and through, the Eiger, the Monch and finally the Jungfrau. After leaving Kleine Scheidegg, the train stops at the Eigergletscher (Eiger Glacier) station then enters the long tunnel, starting on the north face of the Eiger. This tunnel is almost 4.5 miles long, hewn out of the solid rock of the Swiss alps. It climbs over 3,000 feet and has grades up to 25%. Along the way, the train stops at "Viewing Stations" where you have five minutes to get out and peer through thick glass windows in the faces of the mountains. After a 52 minute journey, we arrive at the truly amazing Top of Europe.

Here is the afternoon, in pictures:

On the Ride up to Kleine Scheidegg

At the Eigergletscher Station

Viewing Station on the Eiger

Jungfraujoch

Lunch!
Pommes Frits, cake and beer...

What a day!