Interlude in Interlaken

The British led the golden era of mountain climbing in the 18th and 19th centuries which saw the first ascents of major alpine peaks: Mont Blanc (Balmat 1786); Jungfrau (Meyer 1811) and Matterhorn (Whymper 1865). By the 1930s one major climb remained – although Barrington had climbed the Eiger in 1858, nobody had conquered the sheer North Face of the Eiger (meaning Ogre or Spear). Whilst repeated attempts failed in 1938 an Austrian student, Heinrich Harrer (who did not even have the correct boots), and his partners survived an avalanche on the ‘White Spider’; inspired by his motto ‘It is better to fall off than to freeze’, they became the first to conquer the North Face.

Recently Sir Ranulph Fiennes, despite vertigo and a heart condition climbed the North Face in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. From Interlaken you can follow his tracks - but utilising the cogwheel train that ascends to Kleine Scheidegg, then zigzags across the Eiger North Face to Jungfraujoch at 11,000 feet (as featured in the film ‘The Eiger Sanction’). More recently the dramatic failed attempt on the Eiger North Face by Toni Kurz in 1936 was featured on Channel 4 in ‘The Beckoning Silence’, which is also a book by Joe Simpson, best known as author of ‘Touching the Void’.

The ‘Golden Pass Line’ running from Zurich through Lucerne and Interlaken to Lake Geneva facilitates excursions along this route and we include a Swiss Rail Card allowing half-price travel on most rail and bus journeys and a 25% reduction on most mountain railways/ cable cars. The medieval capital, Berne, is also just a short train ride away. This arrangement is also available travelling at a supplement on Eurostar-TGV to Interlaken with changes en route.