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Eiger

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The Eiger is a famous mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland.

Mount Eiger cloudy
Mount Eiger cloudy

It sits in the Bernese Oberland region near the valleys of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. This mountain is part of a famous ridge of three peaks. The peaks are the Jungfrau, the Mönch, and the Eiger.

Männlichen
Männlichen

People often call these three mountains the Virgin, the Monk, and the Ogre. The Eiger is the easternmost peak on this special ridge. It is a massive limestone structure that stands out in the landscape.

The mountain has three main sides called faces. The north face is the most famous part of the Eiger.

Eiger north face diagram
Eiger north face diagram

This face is a huge wall of rock and ice. It is between 1,600 and 1,800 metres high. Some parts of the face look like a spider. Climbers call this area "The White Spider" because of snow-filled cracks. The east side of the mountain is covered by large glaciers.

Eiger von der Abz.Gleckstein
Eiger von der Abz.Gleckstein

One glacier is called the Ischmeer, which means "Ice Sea." All the water from the Eiger flows into the Lütschine river.

People have been climbing the Eiger for a long time. The first successful climb of the summit happened in 1858.

1229 Grindelwald (Eiger)
1229 Grindelwald (Eiger)

A man named Charles Barrington and two guides reached the top. They climbed the west flank of the mountain. For many years, the north face was too hard to climb. It was called the "last problem" of the Alps. Finally, a group of four climbers reached the north face summit in 1938.

Heckmair-Route
Heckmair-Route

This group included climbers from Austria and Germany.

Climbing the north face is a very hard and dangerous job. Many people have lost their lives trying to climb it. Since 1935, at least 64 climbers have died on the north face. Because of this, some people call it the "Mordwand." This name is a play on the word "Nordwand," which means north wall. In German, "Mordwand" sounds like "murderous wall." The face is also known for rockfalls and changing ice. Some climbers now choose to climb in the winter to find stronger ice.

You do not have to be a brave climber to see the mountain. A railway tunnel actually runs right through the inside of the Eiger.

Fenster der Station Eigerwand
Fenster der Station Eigerwand

This is part of the Jungfrau Railway line. The train travels from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch. There are two stations built inside the mountain. They are called Eigerwand and Eismeer. These stations are about 3,000 metres high. You can look out of windows carved into the rock to see the views.

KleineScheidegg
KleineScheidegg

This makes the mountain easy for many people to visit.

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🖼️ Images & Media (13)
File:Eiger von der Abz.Gleckstein.jpg
Eiger von der Abz.Gleckstein.jpg
File:Switzerland (14399363612).jpg
Switzerland (14399363612).jpg
File:Siegfried eiger.jpg
Siegfried eiger.jpg
File:Mount Eiger cloudy.jpg
Mount Eiger cloudy.jpg
File:Männlichen.jpg
Männlichen.jpg
File:Eiger north face diagram.jpg
Eiger north face diagram.jpg
File:Fenster der Station Eigerwand.jpg
Fenster der Station Eigerwand.jpg
File:KleineScheidegg.JPG
KleineScheidegg.JPG
File:Mittellegi ridge, Eiger.jpg
Mittellegi ridge, Eiger.jpg
File:Hinterstoisserquergang.JPG
Hinterstoisserquergang.JPG
File:Heckmair-Route.jpg
Heckmair-Route.jpg
File:Eiger - Northface.jpg
Eiger - Northface.jpg

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