With the classic trio of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau as its most iconic symbol, the Bernese Oberland hosts some of the best-known mountains in the Alps. Rising out of lush green meadows they tower above chalets bright with geraniums and petunias; a stark contrast of snow, ice and rock against a kaleidoscope of flower, shrub and pasture; an awesome backdrop to an Alpine wonderland.
Neatly shaved meadows at Mürren in the Lauterbrunnental
Flanking the north slope of the Rhône Valley the chain of the Bernese Alps is aligned roughly east to west, stretching from the Grimsel Pass above the Haslital in the east, to the Col du Pillon below Les Diablerets in the west, thus forming the longest continuous range of mountains in the Alps that does not comprise part of the continental divide. In truth, their more familiar title, the Bernese Oberland, refers to the northern side of the range only; the highlands of canton Bern, but of the Bernese Alps proper, among their numerous summits almost 40 reach above 3600m, while the huge glacial basin on the south side of the Jungfrau gives birth to the Grosser Aletschgletscher, the largest icefield not only in Switzerland, but of all the Alpine regions. Elsewhere lofty waterfalls cascade into gorge-like valleys carved from the mountains by glaciers long since departed, and lakes fill the lower valleys like small inland seas, while more modest tarns lie trapped here and there in hillside scoops to throw the mountains on their heads as a mirror-like bonus to those who wander their trails.
Perhaps it is no surprise that the most visually diverse and dramatic part of the range has been declared a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site – the first in the Alps. The Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn site covers an area of 540sq km (208 sq miles), and a number of its footpaths are included in this guide. (See www.jungfraualetsch.ch.)
But the whole of the Oberland region is a paradise for walkers. Footpaths – thousands of kilometres of them – lead enticingly through the valleys, over hillsides and across high passes. Waymarked with the thoroughness and efficiency for which Switzerland is noted they offer sufficient scope and variety to satisfy the dreams of most mountain walkers for a decade or more of holidays, while the resorts of Grindelwald, Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, Mürren, Kandersteg and Adelboden – to name but a few – have their own unique atmosphere and appeal. They are, of course, among the most popular in all Switzerland.
The heart of the region is an arctic wasteland. In a huge basin behind the walls of rock that glower over Grindelwald’s pastures there lies a vast tract of snowfield and glacier jelled into a mass of permanent winter, like some displaced polar ice-cap. It’s a monochrome landscape of stark, yet resounding beauty; a wonderland of white from which stiletto peaks and abrupt massifs emerge as islands of stone in a great ice sea.
Glaciers hang suspended on north-facing slopes too, but by comparison these are just modest streams, the last remaining vestige of those tremendous icefields that once carved and fretted some of the loveliest valleys in all of Europe.
But by far the greater part of the Oberland is covered with flower-rich grasslands; meadows and pastures steeply tilted below broad crests from which you gaze with a sense of wonder at a backdrop of towering mountains, at their snowy crowns with blue-tinged glaciers snaking between them. This visual contrast is one of its major attractions, and the reward for those who take to the footpaths; the winding highways that explore an alpine wonderland.
The Bernese Oberland
Every corner of the range has its own touch of magic. There are the rock climbers’ slabs of the Engelhörner above Rosenlaui, and the multi- summited Wetterhorn which peers down on Grindelwald and stands as a cornerstone, not only of the Oberland, but of mountaineering history. Grindelwald boasts so much of appeal; its glaciers, its tremendous scope for walkers, climbers and skiers, its magnetic views and, of course, the Eiger. But in truth the Eiger is only one of many great peaks here. More attractive still are the Schreckhorn, Finsteraarhorn and the Fiescherhorn, seen to great effect from some of the walks outlined within these pages.
A short walk from Schynige Platte reveals an ever-changing panorama. The Jungfrau invariably dominates (Route 9)
The Jungfraujoch railway is one of the engineering marvels of Switzerland and is accessible from either Grindelwald, Wengen or Lauterbrunnen. But since this volume is primarily intended for walkers, the railway lies outside the scope of this book. Wengen, of course, is not. Set on a natural shelf high above the Lauterbrunnen Valley, it has an exquisite outlook – especially to the Jungfrau, one of the loveliest mountains to be seen anywhere. Among the more popular outings from this resort is the walk to the Wengernalp, from whose safe and gentle pastures one may gaze on avalanches that pour from the Jungfrau almost every day in summer.
Lauterbrunnen lies in its own deeply-cut trench, an amazing place of huge walls and feathery cascades. At the head of its valley, in a more open level of grassland, is the little hamlet of Stechelberg which makes a superb base for a walking holiday, for it has numerous possibilities for exploratory outings to mountain huts, to ‘lost’ tarns, seemingly barren screes and hidden hillside terraces.
On its own hillside terrace on the west side of the Lauterbrunnen Valley, Mürren has a deserved reputation for its stunning mountain vista. Perhaps better-known these days as a skiing centre, it is no less lovely in summer when a splay of footpaths lead to scenes of enchantment. A little lower than Mürren, but a near-neighbour, Gimmelwald shares those scenes, and shares too a cableway to the Schilthorn, whose summit restaurant is known as Piz Gloria since a James Bond movie was shot there.
To the west of Gimmelwald the high pass of the Sefinenfurke, approached in the shadow of the Gspaltenhorn, will take adventurous walkers over the mountains to the charming little hamlet of Griesalp at the head of the Kiental. This is a gentle pastoral valley whose unfussed charm contrasts with the blockbuster tourism of Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen. With the sub-valley of Spiggengrund nearby it gives plenty of scope for walkers who prefer to wander in solitude.
From the Kiental one peers up at the big snowy mass of the Blüemlisalp whose several 3500m summits overlook the ice-cap of the Petersgrat to the south, and the deep fjord-like bowl that contains the Öeschinensee to the northwest. This lake is pictured on so many calendars, chocolate boxes and jigsaw puzzles that it’s a familiar sight to many long before they actually see it for themselves, and is probably the most visited mountain feature around Kandersteg. Kandersteg draws walkers and climbers alike with its wide choice of outings. There’s so much to explore nearby, including the superb Gasterntal, a peaceful valley whose walls are streaked with waterfalls, and whose meadows are so rich in flowers that it’s sometimes difficult to find the grass.
Running parallel to the Kandertal (the valley of Kandersteg) is the Engstligental, with Adelboden in its upper reaches. The village is set on the hillside, not in the valley bed, looking south to the Wildstrubel, a mountain that Adelboden shares with its neighbour to the west, Lenk.
Lenk’s valley is the Simmental, one of the most important in the Bernese Oberland by virtue of its ease of communications with country to the west over a brace of passes. But Lenk lies near its head in a tranquil landscape, untroubled by through-traffic, unbothered by big mountains. It’s a neat village set in a shallow plain, with a fine western wall of pastureland pitted with limestone hollows, and with easy walkers’ passes that lead across the hills to the Lauenental, which has the Wildhorn at its head.
By comparison with Lauenen, Lenk is a bustling metropolis. For Lauenen is a secretive place that nevertheless deserves to be on the list of all who delight in mountain walking. It has much to commend it; not least a day’s circuit that takes you to a green tarn, a nature reserve, a superb waterfall and a mountain hut in an idyllic setting. There are other outings of value, too, of course, one of which takes you over another gentle pass among woods and meadows, and down to Gsteig, last of the villages tucked under the mountains on the northern side of the chain. Above Gsteig rises the big massif of Les Diablerets which marks the last of canton Bern and the first of canton