Jungfrau, Switzerland: The Three Kings Of Swiss Alps

By Author: Bostjan Hozjan
Total Articles: 3698
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These parts of the Alps were formed by active glacial ice some (give or take) 30 million years ago in the course of the Tertiary period. Yes, that's a lot of frozen snowpack, giving you loads of fast slopes and natural land and rock features; conditions perfect for downhill and cross country.

The famous U-shaped corries and valleys with moraine rocks and sediment give you a first-hand commanding view of God's own geological undertaking in the formation of the High Alps. What a special place Jungfrau Switzerland is-a place where you can find preeminent Alp skiing.

The diversity of Jungfrau, Switzerland Swiss ski resort and its landscapes have been captured timeless through art-mainly European paintings-and literature-mainly during the Victorian Period-in America the Transcendentalist and Realism ages come to mind. Be that as it may, the altitude here ranges from as low as 900 meters to just over 4,270-some meters. The region's topographical conditions are covered in glacier and rock but house the famous Aletsch glacier; in size, it's western Eurasia's largest and longest glacier at 22 km. While climate change ...
... remains slow, tourist should visit the area sooner than later in order to see ongoing glacial history in the making.

Speaking of the Aletsch glacier, the Aletsch Forest is home to Switzerland's oldest trees. The Swiss pine can live over 800 years old. The alpine and sub-alpine habitats found near Jungfrau Switzerland are unique in habitat and ecosystem due to all the years of little human contact-a perfect condition for nature to develop. The area, then, is doubly well known within the geological and scientific community because of the unmistakable signs of brisk climate change. It's an ignominy that something so untouched-Jungfrau is Germanic for virgin, mind you-could perhaps all but disappear in less than a generation.

Like a tour of duty, the Jungfrau ski resort area is surrounded by the Eiger (3,970 meters), Monch (4,099 meters) and Jungfrau (Ogre, Monk and Virgin respectively) massifs, each over 4000 meters, with the tallest Jungfrau peak at 4,158 meters. The conditions are some of the most perfectly protected for powdery snow during the wintry months.

The highest summit was reached almost 200-years ago by the Meyer brothers. At that time, the Meyers completed a feat unmatched for some time. Today, however, all these zones can easily be reached while you sip a latte, nibble Swiss chocolate and skim the newspaper. Put in other words, you can access the Jungfrau area by way of the Jungfraubahn cog railway as far as the Jungfraujoch railway station, near 3,500 meters, easily Europe's most lofty iron horse station-aptly coined the "Top of Europe."

Admittingly, there is a lot of hype about the inherent beauty of the area. The hype, this time, is worthy of such swagger. However, during the certain high winter and summer seasons, lower altitudes allow you to get lost (careful you really might) in nature, taking in valleys and mountains until your eyes are saturated with nature's charm.

If you end up taking the railway, you'll pass through several tunnels. These were built about 10 years before 1900 and about 10 years after the same date. One of the longest tunnels goes for over 7 km with some steep climbs. This section of the trip can take up to an hour, while the trip back takes about half the time. During some of the route, large windows make it easy to see out over the valleys. The windows weren't places for aesthetic reasons, however. They were formerly used to unload excavated mountain debris from the mountainside. Now, though, the windows are occasionally used to help troubled climbers.

You can get lost in nature so easily because the region is so large. From the capital Interlaken all the way to the highest Jungfrau Swiss peak, you'll find endless snow and perfect ski conditions. From the allegorical Eiger North Wall to the resorts of Murren, Wengen and Grindelwald, you'll find uniting waterfalls, rivers, streams, peaks, rocks, lakes; a region so weathered by everything from Mediterranean to Sub-Artic temps, you'll be sure to wonder how "all this" got here. Moreover, you'll find the area remembered forever as once of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.