Читать книгу Walking in the Bernese Oberland. Over 100 walking routes онлайн

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Kev Reynolds

INTRODUCTION

With the classic trio of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau as its most iconic symbol, the Bernese Oberland hosts some of the best-known mountains in the Alps. Rising out of lush green meadows they tower above chalets bright with geraniums and petunias; a stark contrast of snow, ice and rock against a kaleidoscope of flower, shrub and pasture; an awesome backdrop to an Alpine wonderland.

Neatly shaved meadows at Mürren in the Lauterbrunnental

Flanking the north slope of the Rhône Valley the chain of the Bernese Alps is aligned roughly east to west, stretching from the Grimsel Pass above the Haslital in the east, to the Col du Pillon below Les Diablerets in the west, thus forming the longest continuous range of mountains in the Alps that does not comprise part of the continental divide. In truth, their more familiar title, the Bernese Oberland, refers to the northern side of the range only; the highlands of canton Bern, but of the Bernese Alps proper, among their numerous summits almost 40 reach above 3600m, while the huge glacial basin on the south side of the Jungfrau gives birth to the Grosser Aletschgletscher, the largest icefield not only in Switzerland, but of all the Alpine regions. Elsewhere lofty waterfalls cascade into gorge-like valleys carved from the mountains by glaciers long since departed, and lakes fill the lower valleys like small inland seas, while more modest tarns lie trapped here and there in hillside scoops to throw the mountains on their heads as a mirror-like bonus to those who wander their trails.