Warning: Crumbling Alp Ahead

Alternate title suggested by GenevaGal: Alple Crumble

Inspired by this Reuters article, we jetted (ok, trained) off to Grindelwald this weekend to see what all the fuss was about. It doesn’t take much of an excuse to get us into the Alps, especially when the weather is nice (for me, nice = anything but hot or torrential downpour). Plus, who can resist the draw of thawing permafrost?

After the 3-hour train ride from Zurich to Grindelwald, we had a quick lunch at Restaurant Rendez-vous (passable food with a great view) and then headed up to find the hostel referred to in the article. A short ski gondola ride and about 45 minutes of uphill hiking later, we started hearing the sounds of, well, crumbling.

The first couple times we scoured the rock face with our eyes, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from, to no avail. Finally we rounded a bend and reached a spot where you can actually see the rock slides. Although they looked like little more than pebbles off in the distance, the accompanying sounds made it clear that these were very, very big rocks tumbling down into the valley.

After resting and watching a couple of these rock slides, we pushed ahead another 20 minutes or so to reach the Berghaus Bäregg, which proved a lovely place to sit and have a snack while watching the Eiger crumbling away. The rock slides came intermittently; we saw maybe five or six of them within a half-hour period.

We headed back just in time to catch the last gondola ride back down to Grindelwald, and even survived a mountain goat attack along the way. We cleaned up at the hotel and then headed to Onkel Toms Hütte for some good pizza and great wine (the wine list was quite impressive).

Since the article didn’t give many specifics on how to find this Alple Crumble, here are the details for getting there for anyone who’d like to make the trip. But hurry – the crumbling is expected to stop as temperatures drop and the permafrost firms up again later this year. The easiest way to reach the Berghaus Bäregg is to first take the short aerial cableway (Luftseilbahn in German) from Grindelwald to Pfingstegg. From there, follow the hiking trail signs to Stieregg. The uphill hike takes around an hour and 20 minutes, and is pretty steep in parts, especially towards the end.

Information about the cableway and hiking trails can be obtained at the tourist information office near the Grindelwald train station, or at pretty much any hotel in town. We also found the Grindelwald Tourism Website to be helpful in booking a hotel for the trip.

See more pictures from this day here.