Lauterbrunnen Wall
Encyclopedia
Bernese Alps
The Bernese Alps are a group of mountain ranges in the western part of the Alps, in Switzerland. Although the name suggests that they are located in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern, portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Valais, Lucerne, Obwalden, Fribourg and...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. It runs for 8 kilometres from the Gletscherhorn
Gletscherhorn
The Gletscherhorn is a mountain to the south of the Jungfrau in the Bernese Alps. It forms the eastern edge of the Lauterbrunnen Wall....
(3,983 m) in the east, through the Ebnefluh
Ebnefluh
The Ebnefluh is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It lies towards the eastern end of the Lauterbrunnen Wall.-External links:*...
, (3,962 m), the Mittaghorn
Mittaghorn
The Mittaghorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland, situated in the middle of the Lauterbrunnen Wall.-External links:*...
(3,897m) and the Grosshorn
Grosshorn
The Grosshorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland, situated in the middle of the Lauterbrunnen Wall.-External links:*...
(3,754 m), to the Lauterbrunnen Breithorn
Breithorn (Lauterbrunnen)
The Lauterbrunnen Breithorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, situated at the western end of the Lauterbrunnen Wall.-External links:*...
(3,785 m) in the west, where the wall comes to an end at the col which separates it from the Tschingelhorn
Tschingelhorn
The Tschingelhorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland.The first ascent was made by Heinrich Feuz, W. H. Hawker, and Ulrich and Christian Lauener on 6 September 1865.W. A. B. Coolidge's dog 'Tschingel' The Tschingelhorn (3,562 m) is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland.The...
. The Wall is named after the village of Lauterbrunnen
Lauterbrunnen
Lauterbrunnen is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.The municipality lies in the Lauterbrunnen Valley and comprises the villages Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Mürren, Gimmelwald, Stechelberg and Isenfluh...
, which lies to the north.
The Wall has been a popular venue for ice-climbing since the 1930s, when it was tackled by Feuz, von Allmen and Welzenbach. Many of the routes are less frequently attempted today, because of relatively difficult access (in the context of the Alps) and objective danger.
On 12 April 2007 a Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
Tornado
Panavia Tornado
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...
stationed in Lechfeld, Bavaria and flying by sight rather than by instrument, crashed high into the Wall between the Mittaghorn and the Ebnefluh. The jet was "practically pulverized" and the pilot was killed on impact; his weapon systems officer, who ejected, was rescued by the mountain rescue services.