Epic Hikes of the World ( PDFDrive )

acknowledged along the trail. Near its end, just a few yards from the path, is the
point where the first successful climb of the North Face commenced, as marked by
a sign outlining the course of that route. A short distance on, just before the trail
reaches its highest point, the clay handprints of famous Eiger climbers are bolted to
the rock face.
All that remains of my walk now is a final descent into Lauterbrunnen, but it’s no
ordinary finish. It will take me 4900ft (1500m) down into one of the most dramatic
valleys in the Alps, past the revered Mönch and Jungfrau mountains. Glaciers
drape from the so-called ‘Young Woman’ like a string of pearls, and as I walk,
seracs continually shear away, the ice smashing itself apart as it avalanches down
the rock faces.
A short distance ahead are the cliffs that enclose Lauterbrunnen, a town
huddled in a valley so narrow it’s like a paper cut in the Alps. Some of Europe’s
highest waterfalls plunge over the edges of these 1650ft (500m) cliffs, but they
aren’t the only things that fall here. Lauterbrunnen is also one of the world’s prime
BASE-jumping locations, and as I approach the valley I see a handful of people in
wingsuits step to the cliff edge and leap. The Swiss Alps ring with screams once
again. AB
“Fresh snow covers the slopes and an archipelago of peaks rises from
the clouds now beneath me”
ORIENTATION
Start // Engelberg
End // Lauterbrunnen
Distance // 48 miles (77km)
Getting there // Switzerland’s major airports are Zurich, Geneva and Basel. A
superbly efficient public transport system makes it easy to access points all along
the route.
Tours // Utracks (www.utracks.com) runs a 14-day self-guided Alpine Pass Route
trip, beginning in Engelberg and ending in Saanen, covering eight of the route’s 14
stages.
When to go // Snow often lingers on high passes into early summer, so its best to