Monday, June 15, 2009

::: Grindelwald's icons :::

The Wetterhorn (3,692 m) is a mountain in the Swiss Alps close to the village of Grindelwald. Although it was first climbed in 1844, the ascent by Alfred Wills and party in 1854 is the more celebrated, and is generally regarded to have marked the beginning of the golden age of alpinism.

The mountain is in fact composed of three distinct but close peak: the Wetterhorn (most visible from Grindelwald), the Mittelhorn (highest) and Rosenhorn.

The Schreckhorn (4,078 m) is a mountain in the Bernese Alps. It is the highest peak located entirely in the canton of Berne. The Schreckhorn is the northernmost Alpine four-thousander.

The Eiger is a notable mountain in the Bernese Alps, rising to an elevation of 3,970 m (13,025 ft.) It is the easternmost peak of a ridge-crest that extends to the Mönch at 4,107 m (13,474 ft.), and across the Jungfraujoch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m (13,641 ft.). The peak is mentioned in records dating back to the 13th century but there is no clear indication of how exactly the peak gained its name. The three mountains of the ridge are commonly referred to as the Virgin (German: Jungfrau, lit. "Young Woman" - translates to "Virgin" or "Maiden"), the Monk (Mönch) and the Ogre (Eiger). The name has been linked to the Greek term akros, meaning "sharp" or "pointed", but more commonly to the German eigen, meaning "characteristic".

The Jungfrau is one of the main summits in the Bernese Alps, situated between the cantons of Valais and Berne in Switzerland. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Jungfrau forms a massive wall overlooking the Bernese Oberland and considered one of the most emblematic sights of the Swiss Alps.

The construction of the Jungfraujoch railway east to the summit in the early 20th century made the area one of the most frequented places in the Alps. The Aletsch Glacier lying on the south was declared a World Heritage site in 2001.

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