UKC

Hi, I'm in Grindelwald from 16th to 23rd August. Long shot, but does anyone fancy climbing the lower slopes of the Nordwand to the Stollenloch window and back down on the train? I'd also like to climb the dam at Diga di Luzzone, but this depends upon how much I can kick the pants out of a family holiday...lol
Cheers
Mike

In reply to mike steele:

Can you do this? I have a memory of someone on here a year or so ago climbing into the window in an emergency and not being treated too well by the good people from the railway.

Was it Andy Kirkpatrick who climbed in there once using a cable from a hoover which was lying around? I might be mis-remembering this.

In reply to ablackett: I always thought its open to anyone in an emergency,thats what its now used for.Then once your in, you flash your torch and the train will pick you up.Wasnt kirkpatrick hoisted in onto the huge viewing windows further up.

In reply to blackcat:

I know someone who stuck his thumb out and stopped the train!

Definitely a smart move, the trains electrically powered and anybody in the tunnel could be arced out with the train a kilometer away.

Knowing the Swiss, any attempt at a joyride without good reason could end up in prison.

In reply to ablackett:

Yes you can do this, I've found a commercial guide who has done it several times, but I'd rather find someone on here to go with, because they may also want to climb the Dam too

In reply to mike steele:

Have you looked down it from the windows? From above, it looks as though it is completely covered with loosed rock (in the summer).

In reply to mike steele:

That has to be the weirdest alpine hitlist ever devised

In reply to Robert Durran:

Yes indeed, but you have to make the most of your location...lol

In reply to mike steele: You tube(trip on the lower section of eiger north face).Dont know if youve seen this ,it goes to the window in summer.Good luck
lets know if you do it.

In reply to mike steele:
Why not take the via ferrata up the north face to the right, then down the west face?

http://www.summitpost.org/eiger-rotstock/739476#chapter_3

In reply to mike steele:

Don't think it's a very good idea to climb these lower slopes of Eiger: too dangerous, lots of rubble and rockfall. Once you make it to Stollenloch (which is different from the windows where the train stops!!!), it is rather unlikely that one of the trains will pick you up.

Two years ago, I climbed a rock route starting from Dynamitloch which is about 200m before Stollenloch. We couldn't arrange being dropped off there by the train, so we just walked through the tunnel, early in the morning long before the service started. It is strictly forbidden to do so, but nobody was around and noticed. So it is up to you to take the risk of being caught.

Because we did not make it to the top of our intended route (which is a 20 pitch 7c+ adventure), we retreated by abbing and went back into the tunnel. By then it was late afternoon and the trains were in service. However, they did no let us in. Hence we just walked down the tunnel. While my friend just took the regular exit at Eigergletscher, I chose the alternative low-profile exit where you end up in the middle of the Via Ferrata that leads to Rotstock. Nothing happened to either of us. While I didn't encounter any further trains while in the tunnel, my friend passed 3 more trains going upwards. There is not a lot of space on the sides of the tunnel, but enough for letting the train pass safely.

So using the tunnel (on foot) is possible, but completely at your own risk.