Climbing the iconic Eiger mountain in Switzerland

The Eiger, situated in the Bernese Oberland in central Switzerland, is one of the most famous mountains in the Swiss Alps. The north face of the iconic 3,967-metre peak and its other challenging routes attract experienced climbers from all over the world.

In this spectacular documentary, Matthias Lüscher, a reporter with Swiss public television, SRF, and Laura Bomio, Grindelwald’s first female mountain guide, take us to the top via the well-known Mittellegigrat route. Lüscher is the 13th person who Bomio has helped to the summit along this route.

Climbing the Eiger is not for the faint-hearted. It involves traversing a narrow ridge with steep drops of several thousand metres on either side. Bomio had a close shave on this section when a guest she was accompanying slipped on the ridge; she managed to hold onto him just at the right moment.

Fifty years after the first ascent of the Matterhorn, near Zermatt, mountaineers managed to reach the top of the Eiger via the Mittellegigrat for the first time in 1921. For over 20 years, countless mountaineers had tried to find a way over the tricky ridge. Finally, three mountain guides from Grindelwald and a Japanese climber achieved what had been deemed nearly impossible. Today, 100 years on, the mountain and the ridge continue to attract experienced climbers from around the world.

(Subtitles translated from German to English by SWISS TXT)