Under the Eiger's north face — Switzerland's most dramatic alpine village
Grindelwald is the base camp for the Bernese Oberland's most dramatic landscape: the Eiger's sheer 1,800m north face looms directly above the village, and the Jungfrau railway — the highest in Europe — climbs through the mountain itself to Jungfraujoch (3,454m, the 'Top of Europe'). In summer the village becomes a hiking paradise with the First Cliff Walk suspended over a 2,200m drop; in winter it transforms into one of Switzerland's premier ski areas, connected to Wengen and Mürren in the vast Jungfrau ski region. The wooden chalets and cowbells are not performances — this is still working a…
Grindelwald's glaciers made it famous long before skiing existed — Victorian alpinists arrived to explore the Upper and Lower Grindelwald Glaciers in the mid-19th century, and the village became a stop on the Grand Tour of Switzerland. The Eiger's north face (die Nordwand, nicknamed 'Mordwand' — murder wall) was considered the most terrifying challenge in alpine climbing: first attempted in 1935, it defeated eleven climbers before finally being summited in 1938 by an Austro-German team. Today the glaciers have retreated dramatically due to climate change — the Lower Glacier has lost over 2km…