The Uetliberg is particularly popular in November, as its summit is often above the blanket of fog that can cover the city at this time of year. In the winter, the hiking trails to the summit are converted into sledging runs.

Approach

• The S10 service (ZBB) of the Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn SZU railway, Europe’s steepest normal-gauge adhesion railway, runs from Zürich Main Station to Uetliberg Station, a ten-minute walk from the summit.

Hiking trails (approx. 1 hour):

• The varied Denzlerweg leads almost straight up from Albisguetli (last stop on the number 13 tram line) to the summit.
• Laternenweg also leads from Albisguetli slightly further westwards up to the ridge.
• The Hohensteinweg leads up from Triemli (last stop on the number 14 tram line) over a shoulder of the mountain and is especially popular in the winter as a sledging run.
• A woodland path leads up from Uitikon-Waldegg (car park) to the summit. This path has the smallest incline.

There is also a mountain bike route that begins at the television tower and takes bikers over 3.5 km and a difference in altitude of 350 m down to the Triemli SZU station.

This does mean, however, that you’re much more likely to hear British English in the lift queues and restaurants than Swiss German, and it also means that the prices can be kept high without massive investment in the infrastructure – beware horrendous queues for the morning gondola and unmanned, unprepared drag lifts.

Having said that, the queues once you’re up are not too bad, and there’s plenty of artificial snow being pumped in the early season. And the views of the Wetterhorn and Eiger in the afternoon sun are quite special.

First is a wonderful place to go hiking in Summer. You can choose different kinds of hiking routes. The most easy one is from First to Bachalpsee. It takes about 45 minutes one way and you can see the perfect invert image of Jungfrau from Bachalpsee.

Getting there

By train, Grindelwald is reached in around half an hour from Interlaken Ost, and then from the station you’ll have either a walk or a shuttle bus to the lifts. The “Snow and Rail” tickets from the SBB include, as always, return train travel and a day’s lift pass.

From Zurich by train, you need to change in Bern and Interlaken, with a total time of around 2h50m, plus a walk or a shuttle bus to the lifts, making it a bit far (and pricey) for a day trip.
By car from Zurich, it’s a long but scenic run through Luzern and over the Brünig pass to Interlaken, and then up the Grindelwald valley, taking around 2 hours. Parking is a bit problematic in the centre of Grindelwald, you might have to use the park-and-ride car parks outside the centre.

The last part of cable car way leads above the glacier. In Kleintitlis, it is possible to visit a glacier cave.

At 3020 metres (10’000 feet) above sea level, the Titlis mountain is the highest excursion and view point – and the only glacier in Central Switzerland, too. The majestic panorama from the revolving cablecar Rotair is a unique experience not to be missed.

Getting there

By train, Engelberg is reached by the LSE (Luzern Stans Engelberg) rail line, which goes (you guessed it) from Luzern via Stans to Engelberg. It’s a roughly 10 minute walk from the rail station to the lifts, although in peak season there’s a free shuttle bus doing the rounds. The “Snow and Rail” tickets from the SBB include, as always, return train travel and a day’s lift pass.

By car, it’s a short drive South from Luzern, through Stans and up the spectacular Engelberg valley. There’s plenty of parking close to the lifts.

From Zurich by train, you need a change in Luzern, with a total time of around 2h20m. Connection time in Luzern is rather long, and as the trains are only every hour, there are inevitable waits at both Engelberg and Luzern on the way back. Even from the base of the lifts it’s still quite a trek up to the runs, with a gondola to Gerschnialp and then to Trübsee, followed by either a cable car or a chairlift before you can hit the slopes.

By car from Zurich, it’s a relatively easy run through Luzern and Stans to Engelberg (at least, it was an easy run at the time of research, taking about 1h20 from Zurich).

The top can be reached with the Pilatus Railway, the world’s steepest cogwheel railway from Alpnachstad, operating from May to November (depending on snow conditions), and the whole year with the aerial panorama gondolas and aerial cableways from Kriens. Pilatus has the longest summer toboggan track in Switzerland (0.88 miles or 1.350 km) and the biggest suspension rope park in Central Switzerland.

During the summer, the “Golden Round Trip” – a popular route for tourists – involves taking a boat from Lucerne across Lake Lucerne to Alpnachstad, going up on the cogwheel railway, coming down on the aerial cableways and panorama gondolas, and taking a bus back to Lucerne.

Pilatus was named after a local legend which alleges that Pontius Pilate was buried there.

Numbered amongst those who have reached its summit are Conrad Gessner, Queen Victoria and Lenin.

The Mountain

Whether you admire Mount Pilatus from the centre of Lucerne, whether you stand in Hergiswil beneath its steep slopes, or whether you stand in Eigenthal gazing at the rugged mountain chain towering behind the valley, the mountain always reveals its immense size and shape – although these appear different from every location.

Geology

From a geological aspect, Mount Pilatus is the northernmost branch of the Alps. The geological edge of the Alps stretches right through Lake Lucerne. Along this border run the sedimentary layers which traverse the whole of Switzerland and, with the lakes in the Alpine foothills, create some of Switzerland’s most stunning scenery.

History

The first written reference to Mount Pilatus was made in the 13th century. But Celtic herdsmen already inhabited the extensive heights in much earlier times.

But the real story of Mount Pilatus began with the completion of the Gotthard route. Suddenly, not only local people stood at the foot of Lucerne’s “own” mountain, but also travellers from the whole of the then-known world.

Legends & Myths

Since time immemorial, the rugged cliffs above Lucerne have been enveloped in mysterious myths and legends. in the Middle Ages, people believed that a dragon with healing powers and spirits inhabited the rocky crevices. It was said that the restless ghost of Roman governor once found lasting peace in Lake Pilatus. And so for a long time it was forbidden to climb the mountain – for woe betide any one who disturbed Pontius Pilate!

Intact Nature

On its climb from Alpnachstad to Pilatus Kulm, the world’s steepest cogwheel railway passes meadows carpeted with Alpine flowers, crystal-clear mountain streams and fascinating sheer cliff formations. With a little luck you may spot ibex, chamois, colourful Alpine roses, arnica or gentian on your journey. Over 900 species of plants are native to the Mount Pilatus area, many of them officially protected.

Hiking & High-Alpine Paths

Enjoy an easy stroll along the Dragon Path through the rock gallery on Pilatus Kulm – or make a short detour to the «Oberhaupt», the «Esel» or «Tomlishorn». In summer, these Mount Pilatus peaks are accessible along good paths, within an easy 10 to 35-minute walk from the Mount Pilatus hotels.

It is Switzerland’s most famous landmark, the most beautiful mountain in the world and considered by many true mountaineers to be the peak of all peaks: the Matterhorn.

Each year hordes of climbers from all corners of the globe attempt to scale the Matterhorn. And it is a genuine challenge, too: those venturing up the peak don’t just have to be very fit and have prior mountaineering experience, but above all they need a good head for heights, because the route to the top is highly exposed.

The history of the Matterhorn

The Matterhorn is not so much a fad, but an obsession. The Horn was first conquered 140 years ago on 14th July 1865. Four of the seven young men – lead by Englishman Edward Whymper – attempting the ascent lost their lives. Even today rumours surrounding this dramatic event, which made the small village of Zermatt world-famous overnight, are rife. Was it an accident or was it murder? The original rope from that first expedition that tore during the descent is on display today in Zermatt’s Matterhorn Museum.

Most mountaineers now take the Hörnligrat (North-East face) for their fist ascent. The normal route starts on the Swiss side with a hike from Zermatt-Schwarzsee to Matterhornhütte (Hörnli Hut, 3260 m above sea level) and the neighbouring Mountain House Matterhorn. From here a 4 to 5-hour climb up the Hörnligrat leads to the summit. The Solvayhütte, which has been set up as an emergency refuge, is about half way up (4003 m). An estimated 3000 mountain climbers try their luck on the Horn each year. Many give up because they are not fit enough.

Geological facts

The Matterhorn – Switzerland’s most famous landmark. But, strictly speaking the Matterhorn isn’t actually from Switzerland, but Africa. This is because around 90 million years ago the African continental plate slid over the European plate. And it was precisely these rocky masses surging upwards that gave birth to the Matterhorn.

However, the Matterhorn has much more to offer than the scores of celebs that scale it. The true celebrities are the intact nature and wilderness, and the unique flora and fauna. The history of alpinism, the job of the mountain guide, alpine mountain rescue services and skiing are all closely associated with the Matterhorn.

Things to see

The people of Zermatt honour this natural monument with a monument of its own: The exciting history of the “Horu”, as the people of Zermatt call the peak, is told in the Matterhorn Museum.

The Matterhorn (German) or Cervino (Italian), (French: Mont Cervin or Le Cervin) is perhaps the most familiar mountain in the European Alps. On the border between Switzerland and Italy, it towers over the Swiss village of Zermatt and the Italian village Breuil-Cervinia in the Val Tournanche. The mountain derives its name from the German words Matte, meaning meadow, and Horn, which means peak.

The Matterhorn has four faces which face the four compass points: the north and east faces overlook, respectively, the Zmutt Valley and Gornergrat ridge in Switzerland, the south face fronts the resort town of Breuil-Cervinia in Italy, and the west face looks towards the mountain of Dent d’Hérens which straddles the Swiss-Italian border. The north and south faces meet at the summit to form a short east-west ridge. The faces are steep, and only small patches of snow and ice cling to them; regular avalanches send the snow down to accumulate on the glaciers at the base of each face. The Hörnli ridge of the northeast (the center ridge in the view from Zermatt) is the usual climbing route.

Climbing

The Matterhorn was one of the last of the main Alpine mountains to be ascended, not because of its technical difficulty, but because of the fear it inspired in early mountaineers. The first serious attempts began around 1857, mostly from the Italian side; but despite appearances, the southern routes are harder, and parties repeatedly found themselves having to turn back. However, on July 14, 1865, in what is considered the last ascent of the golden age of alpinism, the party of Edward Whymper, Charles Hudson, Lord Francis Douglas, Douglas Robert Hadow, Michel Croz and the two Peter Taugwalders (father and son) was able to reach the summit from the the Hörnli route in Switzerland. Upon descent, Hadow, Croz, Hudson and Douglas fell to their deaths on the Matterhorn Glacier, and all but Douglas (whose body was never found) are buried in the Zermatt churchyard. Three days later on July 17, the mountain was ascended from the Italian side by a party led by Jean-Antoine Carrel and Jean-Baptiste Bich. Julius Elliott made the second ascent from the Zermatt side three years later in 1868, and later that year the party of John Tyndall, J. J. Maquignaz, and J. P. Maquignaz was the first to traverse the summit. In 1871, Lucy Walker became the first woman to stand on top of the mountain, followed a few weeks later by her rival Meta Brevoort. The difficult north Zmutt Ridge was first ascended by Albert F. Mummery, Alex­ander Burgener, J. Petrus and A. Gentinetta on September 3, 1879, and it wasn’t until July 31–August 1, 1931 that the extremely difficult north face route was first ascended by Franz and Toni Schmid.

Today, all ridges and faces of the Matterhorn have been ascended in all seasons, and mountain guides take a large number of people up the northeast Hörnli route each summer. By modern standards, the climb is fairly difficult (AD Difficulty rating), but not hard for skilled mountaineers. There are fixed ropes on parts of the route to help. Still, several climbers die each year due to a number of factors including the scale of the climb and its inherent dangers, inexperience, falling rocks, and overcrowded routes.

The usual pattern of ascent is to take the Schwarzsee cable car up from Zermatt, hike up to the Hörnli-hütte (elev. 3,260 m/10,695 ft), a large stone building at the base of the main ridge, and spend the night. The next day, climbers rise at 3:30 am so as to reach the summit and descend before the regular afternoon clouds and storms come in. Other routes on the mountain include the Italian ridge (D Difficulty rating), the Zmutt ridge (D Difficulty rating) and the north face route, one of the six great north faces of the Alps (TD+ Difficulty rating).

It has a panorama, which spans from the Titlis, Jungfrau, Mönch, Eiger, over the Bernese Alps and the Jura mountains up to the Vosges Mountains and the Black Forest. Mont Blanc is also just visible.

To get to the Schilthorn from the valley floor either of a series of cable cars must be taken. The cable cars begin in Stechelberg leaving to Gimmelwald and then onto Mürren. From Mürren another cable car is taken to Birg, which is the final change before the Schilthorn. The other way up is to take the cable car from Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp and a train to Muerren, from where the cable car must be taken.

There is a panoramic revolving restaurant, named Piz Gloria, at the summit, which is where the James Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was set. A famous black ski run featured in the film starts at the summit and leads down to the Engetal below Birg. The restaurant revolves a full 360 degrees in 55 minutes.

During the summer the Inferno Triathlon finishs at the summit after a run up from the Lauterbrunnen valley.
Mürren sits high above the Lauterbrunnen valley and together with the neighbouring resorts of Grindelwald First and Männlichen / Kleine Scheidegg forms part of the Jungfrau region. The main attractions here are the height of the Schilthorn (almost 3000m) and the panoramas of the neighbouring mountains – the calendar-perfect trio of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, the Männlichen and Schynige Platte ridges, the Lauterbrunnen valley and the Breithorn and Gspaltenhorn.

As with Grindelwald and Wengen, the english-speaking contingent is noticeable, with many of the pubs and bars being run by Brits.

Getting there

There are two ways up to the Mürren area, firstly you can take the bus from Lauterbrunnen up the valley to Stechelberg and from there the pair of cable cars up to Mürren. This is a fast way to gain height, as it connects straight to the cable car up to Birg. An alternative is taking the cable car up from Lauterbrunnen (directly opposite the station) to Grütschalp and from there the train along the shoulder of the valley to Winteregg where you can join the chairlifts.

From Zurich by train, it takes around 3h15 to Lauterbrunnen with changes at Bern and Interlaken. The “Snow and Rail” ticket from Zurich (with a halbtax card) is currently a hefty CHF 92 for a single day or CHF 141 for 2 days (not including accommodation, of course). The two-day pass is valid for the other Jungfrau areas too, so it’s possible to ski one day at Mürren and one day at Wengen / Männlichen, for example.
By car from Zurich, it’s a long but scenic run through Luzern and over the Brünig pass to Interlaken, and then up the valley to Lauterbrunnen where you can park right by the train station. There is also parking at Stechelberg by the cable car station.

Description

* From the western mouth flows the Great Aletschfirn, which runs along the northern foot of the Aletschhorn and Dreieckhorn. The Aletschfirn is supplied from the north by three notable firns: the Ebnefluhfirn, the Gletscherhornfirn, and the Kranzberfirn. All of these Firns have their starting points at around 3800 m. From the Ebnefluhfirns to the Konkordiaplatz, the Aletschfirn is 9 km long and is on average about 1.5 km wide. From the west, the Aletschfirn flows over the 3173 m high Gletscherpass, the “Lötschenlücke”, connecting with the Langgletscher, and then into the Lötschental valley.

* From the northwestern mouth flows the Jungfraufirn. This firn in fact represents the straight continuation of the Aletsch Glacier, yet is the shortest of the three tributary glaciers. It has its origin on the southern flank of the Mönch, at the Jungfraujoch and at the eastern flank of the Jungfrau. Up to the Konkordiaplatz, the Jungfraufirn is a scarce 7 km long, and returns to flank the Kranzberg in the west and the Trugberg in the east. At its highest point, it is 2 km wide, and further down it is still a good 1 km wide.

* From the northern mouth flows the Ewigschneefeld (Eternal snow field), where its starting point takes the east flank of the Mönchs. In an elbow, it flanks from Trugberg in the west and the Fiescherhorn and Grünhorn in the east, flowing on to the Konkordiaplatz. Up to here, it is about 8 km long and averages about 1.2 km wide. The mouth at the Konkordplatz it follows over a rise with a descent from 25 to 30 percent; here, the glacier is sharply split. Against the north is the Ewigschneefeld over the snow-covered pass of the Lower Mönchsjochs (3529 m high), connected with the catchment area of the Lower Grindelwald glacier. Through the Higher Mönchsjoch (3627 m high) between the Mönch and the Trugberg stands a connection to the Jungfraufirn.

Also at the mouth of the Konkordiaplatz from the east is the small but important Grüneggfirn (3 km long and averaging 600 m wide). This firn is connected in the over the glacier pass Grünhornlücke (3280 m high) to the Fiescher Glacier in the east.

From the Konkordiaplatz, the Aletsch Glacier has a width of approximately 1.5 km and moves at a rate of 180 m per year to the southeast on course with the Rhône valley, bordering the Dreieckhorn in the west and the great Wannenhorn in the east. It then takes a great right turn and bends ever closer to the southwest, running through the edge of the Eggishorn and Bettmerhorn of the Rhone valley. The lowest part of the great Aletsch Glacier is largely covered with detritus of the lateral and medial moraines. The glacier’s toe currently lies about 1560 m high, far beneath the local tree line. From it springs the Massa stream, which flows though the Massa Canyon and is used to generate hydroelectric power. It continues through the upper half of the Brig, eventually entering into the Rhone.

The great Aletsch Glacier shows considerable ice cover. At the Konkordiaplatz, it has an ice cover of more than 900 m, but as it moves to the south, the greater part of the ice melts, gradually decreasing the cover to around 150 m.

The characteristically dark medial moraine, situated almost in the middle of the glacier, runs protracted in two bands from the Konkordiaplatz along the whole length to the glacier’s toe-zone. This medial moraine is collected from the ice of three large ice fields, which all run together. The westernmost medial moraine has been named the Kranzbergmoräne, and the easternmost carries the name Trugbergmoräne.

On August 18th, 2007, photographer Spencer Tunick used hundreds of naked people in a “living sculpture” on the Aletsch Glacier in a photo shoot intended to draw attention to global warming and the shrinking of the world’s glaciers. The temperature was about 10 °C at the time of the photo shoot. The 600 participants on the shrinking glacier volunteered for Tunick (a collaboration with Greenpeace) to let the world know about the effects of global warming on the melting Swiss glaciers. The Aletsch Glacier receded by 100 m (330 ft) between 2005 and 2006.

The Jungfrau (German: “maiden/virgin”) is the highest peak of a mountain massif of the same name, located in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps, overlooking Wengen. The other two peaks are the Eiger (3,970 m) with its famous north face, and the Mönch (4,099 m).

The summit of the mountain was first reached in 1811 by the Meyer brothers of Aarau. Once difficult to access, the Jungfraubahn cog railway now runs inside the mountain, up to the Jungfraujoch railway station at 3,454 m (11,332 ft), the highest in Europe.

The train into the mountain leaves from Kleine Scheidegg, which can be reached by trains from Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. The train enters the tunnel running eastward through the Eiger shortly after leaving Kleine Scheidegg.

It runs close behind the Eiger’s north face, stopping at Eigerwand, where there is a window about 8 m long and a metre high, halfway up the face. The windows have been placed in holes used to remove excavated rock from the tunnel during construction, and are also occasionally used as access points to rescue climbers. This window was used for one of the final scenes of a Clint Eastwood spy movie the The Eiger Sanction. There one can get off the train to admire the view before the train continues five minutes later. The tunnel then turns west, heading towards the Jungfrau. There is a second stop at a window looking out on the Eismeer (“Sea of Ice”) before the train continues to the Jungfraujoch. The tunnel was constructed between 1898 and 1912; it is about 7 km (4 mi) long, with gradients of up to 25%. The journey from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch takes approximately 50 minutes including the stops at Eigerwand and Eismeer; the downhill return journey taking only 35 minutes.

A large complex of tunnels and buildings has been constructed at the Jungfraujoch, mostly into the south side of the Mönch. There is a hotel, two restaurants, an observatory, a research station, a small cinema, a ski school, and the “Ice Palace”, a collection of elaborate ice sculptures. Another tunnel leads outside to a flat, snow-covered area, where one can walk around and look down to the Konkordiaplatz and the Aletsch Glacier, as well as the surrounding mountains.

The mountain is easily accessible by public transportation. It offers many winter and summer excursions such as skiing or sledding. Hiking there is also a favorite. It can be reached from Goldau and Vitznau by the Rigi-Bahnen, a rack railway, and from Weggis by cable car.

The Rigi has been further made famous through paintings by JMW Turner, including “The Blue Rigi, Lake of Lucerne, Sunrise”.