The third of the trio forming the spine of the local mountains, the Jungfrau is possibly the least obvious, even though it gives its name to the whole area. It sits on the right of the vista from Scheidegg and shrinks before the mighty Eiger, although it is over 4,000 metres tall.
It was one of the early peaks climbed around here and local word has it that the Jungfrau is an easy trophy. However, as I mentioned before, perspective is everything. There is quite a long walk in and the usual starting point, the Monchsjoch hut, advertises a 4.00am breakfast. An overnight stay is essential. The last section to the peak is not for the nervous and reputably can take a long time to ascend if conditions are not first rate.
The photograph was taken today on a morning as perfect as you could imagine. It had rained in the village last night and it seemed warm early on. In fact though, the day was chilly and despite the sun, the early weekenders were absent. It was about as good as you could ask for and the day brought 12,463 vertical metres in 27 lift rides.
Idle thoughts from a mountain 