 So, where do you take the kids on holiday?
Alun Davies reckons that climbing the Eiger should keep them quiet enough, at least for a while. Check out this account of a father and son taking on the Mittellegi Ridge route to the summit of the most notorious mountain in the Alps.
I'd been flirting with the Eiger for many a year and with little success. On two previous occasions she'd (okay I know 'Eiger' translates as 'Ogre', which probably means 'she' is a 'he', but bear with me here) not even taken the slightest bit of notice of me. Perhaps I was trying too hard, taking things too fast, maybe she just didn't like the look of me, maybe she was out of my league.
Whatever, I'd seen pictures of her, I was hooked, I was making all the running and all I was getting in return was the proverbial cold Alpine shoulder. I'd turned up in Grindelwald complete with my climbing partner on two occasions and failed to even get a single, tiny glimpse of the infamous north face. Not even the lower slopes.
.jpg "The door out of the Eiger") On both occasions the Eiger has well and truly put up the mountain version of the 'do not disturb' sign. A thick veil of cloud and mist covered all, even swirling it's way down into the streets of Grindelwald. It was difficult to pick out the passing Japanese and Indian tourists taking pictures of themselves in the mist on the other side of the road, let alone try to pick out fabled climbing features on the face, such as the Spider, Death Bivouac and the point where Clint Eastwood hung on the rope and looked into George Kennedy's eyes and saw the painful truth. And crossing the road in main street Grindlewald, with cars emerging at speed out of the fog was far more difficult and dangerous than anything I'd read about the Hinterstoisser Traverse.
On a third unplanned visit, I drove into town (without my climbing gear, and with a non climbing partner) and there she was. The Eiger stood there in all her unparalleled glory. The sight of the massive, hulking, sheer north face did not disappoint, not one previous image I'd laid eyes on had come close to portraying the size and scale of the feature. I found it overwhelming, breath taking, awe-inspiring; I just could not take my eyes off it. In the same way that a first time visitor to New York walks around with their neck tilted backwards overwhelmed by the scale of the skyscrapers, so I trekked around the hills above Grindlewald with an eye only for the top of the Eiger.
As the years rolled on, the allure of climbing the Eiger never dimmed, though the time and opportunity never quite seemed to coincide. And then came last summer, where I'd spent the best part of four days in Interlaken paragliding, white water rafting and mountain biking with Bryn, my 15 year old son. Throughout our stay we were hardly ever out of sight of the formidable Alpine wall comprised of the three northern brutes of the Bernese Oberland; the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau.
 The weather was perfect, the forecast was more of the same and we had time on our hands but it was only when my son suggested 'let's climb the Eiger dad', that I began to think, could we, should we, 'okay'.
The north face route was not an option; the local guides were in complete agreement that the conditions on the face were now at a point where a summer ascent was far too dangerous due to rock and ice fall. Indeed all the advice from the locals was that the north face is now only a winter climb – it can of course still be climbed in summer but winter is now seen as the far safer option.
That left us with the Mittellegi Ridge route, which has been previously noted in the pages of Adventure Travel Magazine as one of, if not the, classic ridge climbs in the Alps. The ridge that makes up the left hand edge of the north wall, is what you could call knife edge for the most part and razor blade thin on the snow crest approach to the summit where the full extent of the vertical north face is just a small shimmy to the right and the quick way back down to the Fiescher Glacier a similar distance on the left. An ascent also involves rock climbing up to grade IV standard on the imposing steps and towers found along the route.
Deciding to climb the Mittellegi with my son was both an easy and difficult decision. On the one hand I could not think of anyone else I would rather climb with and he was fit, strong and technically capable of climbing at that level. But then the paternal protection mechanism also kicks in strongly with such an undertaking. I reckoned that as I had not climbed the route before and that this would be his first 4000m peak (the Eiger is actually 3970m) the best course of action would be to hire the services of a local guide. In fact we ended up with two, Samuel and Yeti.
We'd already met up with Samuel whilst white water rafting and had arranged to meet at the train station in Interlaken where he told us we'd meet up with Yeti in the mountain. And that's no slip up, 'we were going to meet Yeti 'in' the mountain. Right now I can't think of any other mountain in the world where the initial ascent is through it, by train.
.jpg "Half way along the ridge")
From Interlaken we boarded the train which takes the most extraordinary route to the most outrageous destination in the Alps. Situated on a glacier in a col between the summits of the Monch and Jungfrau mountains, the Sphinx Station of the Jungfraujoch railway is the highest in Europe at 3454m.
For the Mittellegi ridge climb we'd be disembarking the train 'in' the Eiger at the tunnel stop known as Eismeer Station (3159m) and then head for an overnight at the Mittellegi Hut (3355m).The Eismeer is the second of such stops within the Eiger that first being the North Face portal where passengers can jump off and walk about 10 metres to the viewing portals which are slap bang in the middle of the north face of the Eiger – check out the film Eiger Sanction to see Clint Eastwood get rescued via one of these windows.
True to his word, Yeti was waiting in the middle of the Eiger and we were soon roping up for the first part of the climb, which was down a small iced up tunnel walkway to a metal door. Pushing the door open we walked out of the mountain and entered a totally different world from the one we'd set off from down in Interlaken. Within 10ft we were crossing a deep, wide bergschrund onto the Fiescher Glacier and above us were tottering seracs and ahead of us an avalanche zone. Quite a dramatic start, eh?
With the glacier safely crossed, we reached the rock face leading up to the hut. Once across the bergschrund it was straight onto a few pitches of grade IV rock. The route is bolted and the climbing on good rock, which is good news when climbing in mountaineering boots. There then followed a long section of traversing ledges with the odd bit of scrambling thrown in until we crested the ridgeline and walked along to the hut. And what a hut it is; perched on the narrow Mittellegi Ridge, with both sides overhanging steep rock faces this has to be the most outrageously positioned mountain refuge in the world and not one for sleep walkers.
.jpg "Long way down") The hut is there for one purpose only and that's to provide accommodation for up to 40 climbers taking on the ridge. There is a full time guardian to prepare evening meals and breakfast and the sort of views from the windows that you'd otherwise have to hire a helicopter to experience.
Standing on the overhanging walkway at the side of the hut with Grindlewald beneath our feet, the head-on view of the ridge made it look deceptively short and the summit no more than a couple of hours away. The reality is somewhat different with the ascent taking anything up to five hours, with a similar or longer time required for the descent along the south ridge to the Jungfraujoch station. And that's why we were up at 4am the following morning.
From the off, the word to describe the Mittellegi Ridge is 'exposed'. Only the degree of exposure changes as you ascend and it varies from 'very' through 'massive' to 'terrifying'. Roped up in pairs, we made good time and were quickly scrambling and climbing up the multitude of rock steps where the most difficult parts were always equipped with fixed ropes. For the most part the line follows the crest of the ridge though on occasion takes a left and sometimes a right hand detour around the more difficult towers.
Following a slightly tricky diagonal abseil the ridge starts to steepen and we were soon approaching the section that takes a detour onto the north face of the mountain. This is the steepest, most demanding and potentially the danger spot on the climb. Prior to us setting off, I'd read the account of a climber describing this particular spot where he'd witnessed two people fall to their death from up above him. This section is also prone to ice up and often needs to be climbed in crampons, but not when we were there.
These days, it's as safe as it's going to get (with the exception of installing an elevator) with fixed ropes covering the whole pitch. Mind you, the exposure here is immense and just the sort of experience you'd expect from anything to do with the north face of the Eiger.
With the summit now in view we cramponed up for the final section along a snow ridge that simply could not be any narrower. After the climb, Bryn told me that this was the only part where he'd felt 'exposed' and 'a little hesitant'. As a mountaineering experience there can't be that many to compare with this final pitch. It was like walking along a snow tightrope with 9000ft of nothing on one side and 3000ft on the other. Fantastic stuff and a fitting lead in to one of the most coveted summits in the Alps if not the world.
To finally reach the top and stand there with my son was to experience a moment money could not buy and one I hope to repeat many times over the years. Though I suspect, none will be quite as emotional as hugging him on that small, three square metres of land known as the summit of the Eiger. Well done Bryn.
NB. Our descent route was via the south ridge connecting the Eiger with the Monch and then onwards across glaciated terrain to the Jungfraujoch station. This section is technically as difficult as the climb to the summit of the Eiger and involves a number of abseils and climbing in crampons at grade V.
.jpg "Climbers on the summit")
Do you want to climb the Eiger?
We drove to Grindelwald and it took us a full day behind the wheel. We crossed the channel on a P&O ferry from Dover – Calais. P&O have 25 return trips every day, the crossing takes 90 minutes and the check-in time is 45 minutes before departure. Prices are from £35 each way and that covers a car and up to nine people.
Contacts are:
www.POferries.com or 08705202020.
If you want to fly then Zurich is the best served airport out of the UK where you can catch a train to take you (potentially) to the Eismeer Station in the Eiger.
The Climb
You'll need to have some previous Alpine experiences behind you and feel comfortable climbing at grade V whilst wearing crampons. This is a long route and very exposed with no way off if you get into difficulties and hiring a guide would be a crucial if you question your abilities. You'll also need to be confidently fit.
Samuel, our guide, runs a company in Interlaken and these are the details:
Outdoor Interlaken AG
Samuel Zeller, Bergfuhrer,
Geschaftsleiter, Hauptstrasse 15,
Postfach 451
3800 Matten b. Interlaken
Switzerland
Phone: +41(0)33-826 77 19
Fax: +41(0)33-826 77 18
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http://www.outdoor-interlaken.ch/
Also check out some of the companies in our Adventure Director by clicking here.
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