Bill Lester exiting the service tunnel from the train station within the mountain and preparing to rappel onto the glacier.

From the service tunnel looking across to the lower Mittellegi Ridge.  The dark stuff on the glacier is fresh rockfall.  To finnish the rappel you have to swing across the bergshrund  and onto the ice.  At that point you’re directly within the maximum rockfall impact zone.  As we rearranged our gear to begin the traverse across the glacier our attention was drawn to the  odd sound of …bees?  We looked around and then up to see a rapidly approaching swarm of ROCKS!.  That’s the sound rocks make when they fall, they buzzzzzzzzzz.  Momentarily, our tongues and eyes snapped back into place and we bolted like a couple of moose in deep snow to get away from the wall  – a myriad of rocks impacting around us. Out of breath but safe, we looked back to where the rocks had cratered a pattern of words in the ice, unmistakable even in Swiss, that said: “Welcome To The Alps!”.  

On the glacier.

Bill tries to decide whether to ride it or fly it.

Looking across at the railway station gallery windows.

The Mittellegi Hut perched atop  the ridge.  Grindelwald is 8000′ below to the right.  The glacier is several thousand feet below to the left. The protrusion on the right side of the hut is the outhouse which affords a view down through the seat which is…spectacular.  On the left is Bill peeing down the mountainside.