Stage 11: Grindelwald → Lauterbrunnen

Via Alpina · Day 11 of 20 · km 218 of 392

Distance

19.7 km

Ascent

+1,170 m

Descent

−1,408 m

Estimated average time

6 h 45 min

Highest 2,062 m · lowest 790 m

19.7 kilometres, 1,170 metres of ascent, 1,408 metres of descent, 6 hours 45 minutes of walking, an estimated average; highest point at 2,062 metres, lowest at 790 metres.

Technique: easy · fitness: hard

What Clotilde says

Vaduz → Montreux

Today the north face of the Eiger keeps you company all the way to the Kleine Scheidegg. Its first climbers conquered it in 1938; you can simply admire it over a picnic. The alpine chough may come to share your sandwich: it knows huts and mountain stations well. Then on to Lauterbrunnen and its great waterfall.

Montreux → Vaduz

You set off from Lauterbrunnen beneath the Staubbach Falls, which drop 297 m and gave Goethe the idea for a poem. Then on to the Kleine Scheidegg, at the foot of the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau. 7 h of walking with those three as a backdrop: there are worse things. Up there, the alpine chough plays on the air currents.

Along the way

• Eiger North Face This famous wall towers over the path up to the Kleine Scheidegg. Four climbers, two Germans and two Austrians, first climbed it in July 1938.
• Staubbach Falls In Lauterbrunnen, the Staubbach drops 297 m into the valley. Goethe drew a poem from it, "Song of the Spirits over the Waters".

In the nature guide

Alpine chough

Sources: Wikipedia, "Face nord de l'Eiger" and "Chute du Staubbach" (French), "Staubbachfall" (German); Planet Wissen, "Eiger-Nordwand"; Jungfrau Region Tourismus, "Staubbachfall".

See on SwitzerlandMobility (new tab)

Distances, ascents, walking times and route: Federal Roads Office FEDRO, cantons, SwitzerlandMobility Foundation — Hiking in Switzerland (ch.astra.wanderland), open data OPEN BY.