Kleine Scheidegg and the Jungfraubahn, the Alps.

The Story:

I shot this on my way back from Jungfraujoch, the tallest point in Europe. It was so cloudy, windy and snowy that we could't get a good view of the ranges from the top. So we started our climb downhill earlier than we anticipated allowing us to take a break and take a stroll along the pass. This was shot a few hundred metres from the railway station at Kleine Scheidegg overlooking the  majestic Jungfrau and Mt. Eiger. You can also see the Jungfraubahn making its way to the highest railway station in Europe.

 

The Scene:

 

The Kleine Scheidegg (elevation 2061 m) is a high mountain pass below and between the Eiger and Lauberhorn peaks in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. It connects Grindelwald with Lauterbrunnen. The name means "minor watershed", even though it is actually higher than the neighbouring Grosse Scheidegg. Possibly this is because Kleine Scheidegg is a watershed between the two arms of the Lütschinen river, while Grosse Scheidegg divides the Lütschinen valleys from the Reichenbach.

On the Kleine Scheidegg are hotels, as well as the station which serves the two rack railways, the Wengernalpbahn (since 1893) and the Jungfraubahn (since 1896). The Wengernalpbahn has two branches: one begins at Grindelwald; the other commences at Lauterbrunnen and climbs to the pass via Wengen. The Jungfraubahn climbs steeply through tunnels inside the Eiger and Mönch mountains up to its terminal at the Jungfraujoch.

 

The advantage of the position of the pass, which has made it celebrated beyond almost any other in the Swiss Alps, arises from the fact that it stands just north of the point where the Bernese range makes a salient angle, whose apex is the Eiger. From thence a series of high peaks rise in line towards the north-east, ever on the left hand of the traveller who follows a direct route from Meiringen, south-west across the Grosse Scheidegg, to this point.

 

The Shot:

 

Another shot with the unparalleled Canon 10-22 @ 19mm ISO 100 | f/11 | 1/60 sec.