Jungfrau: A thrilling day on ‘top of Europe’

The summit is home to boundless snow, ice and chilling cold that attracts tourists from across the world on a daily basis. Invariably, once you are at Jungfrau, you can confidently say you have climbed the rooftop of Europe. Findings reveal that the summit of the mountain was first reached about 204 years ago, precisely […]

The summit is home to boundless snow, ice and chilling cold that attracts tourists from across the world on a daily basis. Invariably, once you are at Jungfrau, you can confidently say you have climbed the rooftop of Europe.
Findings reveal that the summit of the mountain was first reached about 204 years ago, precisely on August 3, 1811, by the Meyer brothers of Aarau and two hunters from Valais.
The ascent reportedly followed a long but risky voyage over the glaciers and high passes of the Bernese Alps.
By 1865, a more direct route on the northern side was opened; paving the way for a year-round trip by explorers, and much later, the journey became the delight of fun seekers.
At present, one can get to the ice top through the Lauterbrunnen and via Grindelwald even though you must snake your way through valleys, tunnels and slopes, an equally enchanting experience.
Similarly, though extremely pleasurable, the excursion is not in any way cheap despite the fact that it is very unique, priceless and a worthy endeavour.
I was lucky to be there in June 2015, when we had a one day off from the highly interactive Peace Mediation Course that we attended in the sleepy town of Oberhofen in Switzerland which took place between June 6h and 19.
Together with Mr. Zannah Mustapha, a philanthropist and director of Future Prowess Foundation for orphans in Maiduguri, I joined 27 professionals and diplomats from across the world for the two weeks training which dwelt on solving global social, economic and religious upheavals through mediation, instead of endless fighting with guns.
Midway into the training, the opportunity to visit Jungfrau came our way and it was indeed an unforgettable relief from the rigours of conference activities.
Days before the expedition, our guides, Matthias Siegfried, Corinne Von Burg and Valerie Sticher, advised that we should wear warm clothes, boots and carry umbrellas.
“Some predictions and forecasts about the weather in Jungfrau may disappoint you, so you should be prepared for both rain and sunshine,” said Siegfield.
But I took their advice for granted. While most of my colleagues put on rough shoes and wore warm clothes and head gears, I only put on a light jacket, a pair of sandals, left my head bare and held just an umbrella. And I paid dearly for underrating the bone-breaking chill on top of the hill!
After the day’s voyage, I went back to the hotel with a cold; frozen feet (for wearing sandals) and a running nose.
However, this did not in any way wash away the wonderful experience of reaching thousands of miles above sea level in a train. We had exciting moments to the extent that some of us slept on while the train was ascending.
Others took our photos with their cameras and the pictures turned out to be the best shots for the whole training.
The Jungfrau is situated some 4,158 m/13,642ft above sea level. The second peak, known as the Mönch is situated 4,099 m/13,449ft and the third, known as the Eiger is situated some 3,970 m/13,026ft above sea level.
After reaching Grindelwald, we embarked on our journey to Jungfrau from Kleine Scheidegg, which can also be reached by train, having travelled many kilometers by bus from Oberhofen.
The train enters the tunnel running eastward through the Eiger shortly above Kleine Scheidegg. We stopped for 10 minutes each at Eigerwand (north of the Eiger) and Eismeer (on the southern fringes) where we watched ice through the holes excavated from the mountain.
Unbelievably, on reaching the top, we saw a beautiful hotel, restaurants, shopping malls an observatory, a research station, a small cinema, a ski school, and the ‘Ice Palace’ which hosts a collection of elaborate ice sculptures among others.
We also had access to telephones, internet facilities and of course uninterrupted electricity.
We equally had the opportunity of passing through another tunnel that unveils a flat, snow-covered area, where one can walk, touch the snow and look down to the Konkordiaplatz and the Aletsch Glacier and the beautiful mountains.
In the spring, summer or autumn, the attractions in Jungfrau are exceedingly spectacular because hikers and mountain bikers besiege the place and compete for various trophies.
Couples and students equally visit the place for fun, birthday parties and celebrations for graduation from school.
Excitedly, anyone going up to Jungfrau will cover a distance of seven kilometers in a tunnel that criss-crosses mountains Eiger and Mönch.
The remaining three kilometers exposes the visitor to the scintillating beauty of sceneries, ice and rocks.
Most visitors take time to think of the motivation behind the rail project that takes people to Jungfrau which was successfully executed over 100 years ago.
The initiative tells a story of quality leadership, investment for the future generation and crave for economic diversification and prosperity.
Swiss forbearers saw the need to diversify their economy through various sectors, including tourism, banking and peace building.
Adolf Guyer-Zeller (1839-1899), who in 1893 conceived the idea for a railway tunnel to the Jungfrau, remains one of the great men of Switzerland.
Though he died before the completion of the project, his predecessors went on with the initiative and today, Jungfrau has opened the gates of Switzerland to the world.
In 2012, it was gathered that a total of 833,000 guests made the journey to the highest-altitude, a money spinning venture that also provides thousands of job opportunities for Swiss citizens.
Said to be a life threatening adventure before the rail project was initiated, the mighty range of mountains in the heart of the Bernese Oberland has now been brought within easy reach for fun seekers.
It was gathered that at the initial stage of the discovery, the Meyer brothers of Aarau first set foot on the summit of the Jungfrau in 1811; and 100 years later, in 1912, the rack-railroad to the summit was opened.
Similarly, the skiing area of the Jungfrau region around Grindelwald, Wengen, Lauterbrunnen and Mürren offers 175km/109mi of pistes with 43 stations.
If I have another opportunity of traveling to Switzerland, I will surely visit Jungfrau. But I will make sure that I put on raincoat, boots and head gear so as not to come back with frozen feet.
Switzerland is not an exporter of petroleum products but the resolve of its leaders to explore to the fullest its tourism, banking, and textile sectors makes it a hub for foreign investment.
 No wonder, the Swiss are among the happiest people in the world!