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Eiger

Alpine three-thousandersBernese AlpsEigerGreat north faces of the AlpsMountains of Switzerland
Mountains of the AlpsMountains of the canton of BernPages including recorded pronunciationsPages with German IPAThree-thousanders of Switzerland
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North face

The Eiger (German pronunciation: [ˈaɪ̯ɡɐ] ) is a 3,967-metre (13,015 ft) mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m (13,642 ft), constituting one of the most emblematic sights of the Swiss Alps. While the northern side of the mountain rises more than 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above the two valleys of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, the southern side faces the large glaciers of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, the most glaciated region in the Alps. The most notable feature of the Eiger is its nearly 1,800-metre-high (5,900 ft) north face of rock and ice, named Eiger-Nordwand, Eigerwand or just Nordwand, which is the biggest north face in the Alps. This huge face towers over the resort of Kleine Scheidegg at its base, on the eponymous pass connecting the two valleys. The first ascent of the Eiger was made by Swiss guides Christian Almer and Peter Bohren and Irishman Charles Barrington, who climbed the west flank on August 11, 1858. The north face, the "last problem" of the Alps, considered amongst the most challenging and dangerous ascents, was first climbed in 1938 by an Austrian-German expedition. The Eiger has been highly publicized for the many tragedies involving climbing expeditions. Since 1935, at least 64 climbers have died attempting the north face, earning it the German nickname Mordwand, literally "murder(ous) wall"—a pun on its correct title of Nordwand (North Wall).Although the summit of the Eiger can be reached by experienced climbers only, a railway tunnel runs inside the mountain, and two internal stations provide easy access to viewing-windows carved into the rock face. They are both part of the Jungfrau Railway line, running from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch, between the Mönch and the Jungfrau, at the highest railway station in Europe. The two stations within the Eiger are Eigerwand (behind the north face) and Eismeer (behind the south face), at around 3,000 metres. The Eigerwand station has not been regularly served since 2016.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Eiger (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 46.5775 ° E 8.0052777777778 °
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Address

Eigertrail
3818
Bern, Switzerland
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Eigerwand railway station
Eigerwand railway station

Eigerwand is a currently disused underground railway station on the Jungfrau railway, which runs to the Jungfraujoch from Kleine Scheidegg. The station is situated just behind the north wall of the Eiger, and its principal purpose was to allow passengers to observe the view through a series of windows carved into the rock face. Trains to Jungfraujoch used to stop at the station for five minutes.However, since late 2016, after the introduction of new, faster, rolling stock, the Jungfraubahn no longer stops here. Indeed, much of the 2017 publicity material fails to acknowledge that this viewpoint station ever existed. The station opened on 28 June 1903, with the extension of the Jungfraubahn from its previous temporary terminus at Rotstock station. After further construction, the line was extended to Eismeer station on 25 July 1905, and Eigerwand became an intermediate stop.Administratively, the station is in the municipality of Grindelwald in the canton of Bern. However, the only access to the station other than by train is a door in the sheer face of the mountain. This has, on occasion, been used to rescue mountaineers stranded on the mountain, most famously during the 1936 Eiger north face climbing disaster. It features in this capacity in the film The Eiger Sanction. It also lies right next to the Stollenloch, an exit and unofficial stop which is typically used by mountaineers to bypass the lower approach of the North Face.Prior to its closure, the following passenger trains operated: