After all that walking and taking gondola after gondola ride, I arrived Wengen fairly late with fading daylight. All I could do is to check-in, take a shower, write about the day and fall asleep. Most of Wengen and beyond as an experience happened today. I was thinking if I start with the picture of my hotel or the famed north wall of Eiger; well I choose the wall any day of the week and twice on Sundays!
I have been watching Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau for a couple of days now from various angles, but today the plan is to get up close and personal with Eiger.
I was 12 or 13 years old when I read I chose to Climb by Chris Bonington. That was the first book related to mountaineering that I had read at that time. It had a profound impact on me and triggered my life in traveling in the mountains for the rest of my life. Perhaps it helped trigger me to choose geology as well.
Anyways, the book describes Bonington’s ascent of North wall of Eiger in 1962. It also covered a bit of history on Eiger itself.
So today when I took a cable car from Wengen to Männlichen, and as after a 10 min ride I gained a lot of elevation, I managed to see the North Wall, Eiger Nordwand, The Mordwand or the Murder wall… all these different names for the same thing for the first time in my life.
Unfortunately at the time, the north wall was in the shadow. Also today was a little bit of a hazy day. But I will take it!
Back in Bonington’s day mountaineer was described as heroics (it is not done like that today) and Chris described Eiger as a symbol of fear and prestige, which I guess it still is to some extent. He presents the Eiger Nordwand as a testing ground of character. For Bonington’s generation, it was more than a mountain face, it was the face that separated “ordinary alpinists” from elite climbers.
As I was walking to the Männlichen top along a trail called Royal walk (don’t ask me why it is called such!) I was thinking more about the the book and those strange features I read there:
These are all cool names of features at the north wall. I could make all of it by location. The face was almost completely ice free though.
Anyways, I digress from Bonington, but here is the Royal walk train to the summit of Männlichen. It is a very popular trail and a very nice viewing platform above. People can get a spectacular view of the Lauterbrunnen valley from there.
Yes there is a herd of them here. They are grazing and pooping everywhere and their cow bells are the most common sound around here.
The other thing that I saw that was quite picturesque was a couple collecting the cow dung with their dog. Both seem to work at the farm there. I I was walking pass them they worked barefoot in the grass with two shovel clearing up and collecting the cow dung.
Later as I was having lunch at the cafe at the cable car station they came it and had lunch there too.
After all that walking I was ready for a big lunch. In the menu it said:
Käseschnitte Männlichen, (mit Wein) Schinken und Spiegelei Slice of bread topped with wine, ham, melted cheese and a fried egg.
The beer was ordinary, especially when compared to yesterday! But I was thirsty and it got the job done. The location mattered in this case!
After lunch I took another cable car down to Grindelwald and then another one up to Eigergletscher. A lot to write about that trip if I find time later but it is really late and my fingers are getting tired so I will stop here.
Yep! That’s Grindelwald!
