Eiger Excess

( yes, I think we all realise by now that you can have too much of a tall pointy thing, but I’ve written the headline now, so I’m committed .. or should be …)

28th – Saturday

After yesterday’s exertions, my wimpy old ankles went on strike, so Lianne had a solo walk near First while I did domestic duties.

We did manage to rendezvous in Grindelwald eventually, once the First cable car decided to bring L back down.

But that is incidental :

This whole post is only really to show you the fancy-schmancy set up of the new EIGER EXPRESS, a space-age cable car which whizzes the 4miles up from Grindelwald to the foot of the Eiger glacier in 15 mins – a lot faster than the old cog train it replaces .  We would never have paid the £70 asking price had it not been included on our rail passes , but the “rude not to” logic, combined with the tight Yorkshireman/Dutchwoman psyche, was irresistible.

It starts from the new ” Terminal” station in Grindelwald – which indeed looks more like an airport terminal than like any gondola entry station I’ve ever seen.

And once in the cabin itself – well, it’s really a multi-occupancy chair lift more than a cable car. The cabins come around every minute or so in a continuous loop , unlike a traditional cable car where there is a pair of large cabins balancing each other and a 10-20 minute wait for them to swap places.

And we snagged one all to ourselves !

To remind ourselves what a PROPER cable car is – here is the 50 yr old “standing room for 4, wooden benches for 4” version at Isinfluh – very much the Where Eagles Dare model with a lick of red paint.

Meanwhile , on the Eiger Excess, seats are  SOFT and PADDED, and there are wide-screen , floor length windows all round to give clear views of the Eiger and other peaks. Plus a security cam in the ceiling to check you are not being too creative in your use of the facilities. ( Lucky I spotted that in time).

On Your Own Two Feet

After that experience, the only way is down. But in a good way. We found a new route that headed off directly towards Lauterbrunnen valley , from just below the Eigergletscher (glacier), and off we went.

It was about at this point, groggy with altitude, heat and dangerously-high levels of internal punning, that I had a nasty turn

But the rest of the way down was quieter and generally gorgeous.  Only 2 walking days left !