Jungfraujoch

View from the south side of the pass

The Jungfraujoch is a col or saddle between the Mönch and the Jungfrau in the Bernese Alps on the boundary between the cantons of Bern and Valais, inside the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area.

Strictly, the Jungfraujoch is the lowest point on the mountain ridge between Mönch and Jungfrau, at 3,471 meters (11,388 ft). It is just above this location that the mountain station of Jungfraubahn is located, Jungfraujoch railway station, which at an elevation of 3,454 meters (11,332 ft) is the highest railway station in Europe. The Jungfraujoch is often called the "Top of Europe" in tourist literature.

View of the Eiger, Mönch, Jungfraujoch (centre-right) and Jungfrau

The Sphinx (3,571 meters (11,716 ft)) is a peak that lies just to the east of the col. It begins from the Jungfraujoch on the Valais side and at the Great Aletsch Glacier. There is an elevator to its summit, where a small viewing platform and a scientific observatory, the Sphinx Observatory, are located. Europe's highest radio relay station, the Richtfunkstation Jungfraujoch, is installed atop the ridge to the west of the railway station.

 The north side of the pass

The Jungfraujoch houses one of the Global Atmosphere Watch's atmospheric research stations. The Jungfraujoch can only be reached through a 7.3 km long cog railway tunnel, served by the Jungfraubahn, the highest in a series of cooperating railway companies that provide access to the Jungfraujoch from Interlaken.

 The Mönchsjoch Hut trail

Jungfraujoch railway

HistoryAdolf Guyer-Zeller first thought of the idea of a tunnel in 1893 and at that point he had planned to have 7 stations inside the tunnel before reaching what is now the Sphinx. The building of the tunnel started on July 27, 1896 and took 16 years to complete. The construction phase was troubled by many problems including monetary shortages, inclement weather and mounting deaths due to construction accidents. The worst accident occurred in 1908, when 30 tons of dynamite accidentally exploded.

 View from the pass

Once construction was halted, the tunnel reached only to the height of the Jungfraujoch, rather than the Sphinx, with only two intermediate stations. However, even in its current state, the Jungfraubahn is a significant achievement in engineering and construction, still holding the title for highest railway in Europe.

 The Jungfraujoch railway station at 3,450 meters (11,320 ft) above sea level

Railway

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 kilometers (4.3 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.

The Jungfraujoch complex plays an important role in John Christopher's The Tripods novels.

Posted in: SWITZERLAND