The facts

MetricValue
Distance~6 km one-way
StartEigergletscher station (2,320 m)
EndAlpiglen station (1,616 m)
Elevation loss~700 m (net descent)
Elevation gain~100 m cumulative (minor counter-climbs)
Walking time2-2.5 hours
DifficultyT2 (mountain hiking) — good paths, some exposed sections
SeasonLate June to October (snow-dependent)
TerrainAlpine meadows, scree fields, moraine; well-signed trail
Proximity to NordwandTrail passes within ~400 m horizontal of the base of the 1,800 m North Face

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiger, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eigergletscher_railway_station, jungfrau.ch.

Getting to the start

The Eiger Trail starts at Eigergletscher station (2,320 m). Two ways to get there:

Option 1 — Eiger Express (fastest). Take the tricable gondola from Grindelwald Terminal (943 m) to Eigergletscher. Fifteen minutes, direct. The Grindelwald Terminal is the new integrated transport hub (opened 2020) with a large parking garage. This is the most efficient approach.

Option 2 — Wengernalp Railway. Take the rack railway from Kleine Scheidegg (2,061 m) to Eigergletscher. This is the classic approach — the same line that continues through the mountain to the Jungfraujoch. It adds time but puts you on the historic railway.

Either way, you step off at Eigergletscher and the Nordwand is directly above. The trail is signed from the station.

Cost. The Eiger Express from Grindelwald Terminal to Eigergletscher costs CHF 54 return (CHF 27 with Half-Fare Card). If you hold a Berner Oberland Pass, the train from Alpiglen back to Grindelwald is included. A Jungfraujoch ticket includes Eigergletscher access on the way up or down — many hikers combine the Eiger Trail with a Jungfraujoch visit, walking down from Eigergletscher to Alpiglen and taking the train back. (jungfrau.ch)

The trail

The Eiger Trail is a descent. From Eigergletscher at 2,320 m, the path contours beneath the Nordwand, losing 700 m to Alpiglen at 1,616 m. The gradient is steady, never steep enough to be punishing, with occasional short counter-climbs across moraine ridges.

Terrain. The first section crosses alpine meadows dotted with gentians and Alpine asters (July-August). As you round the base of the face, the terrain shifts to scree fields and moraine — the debris deposited by rockfall from the Nordwand over centuries. In places, the trail passes through rubble fields where you can see the fresh white scars of recent rock detachment on the face above. In early season, avalanche debris fields and residual snow patches mark the gullies that funnel down from the face.

The wall above. The Eiger Nordwand is not a single cliff face. It is a complex architecture of buttresses, ice fields, couloirs, and limestone bands stretching 1,800 m from base to summit. From the trail, you look up into the Exit Cracks, the Ramp, the White Spider (the ice field from which four couloirs radiate like legs), and the Hinterstoisser Traverse — the crux of the 1938 route. The dark spot visible in the cliff at approximately 2,866 m is the Eigerwand station viewing window, cut into the rock as part of the Jungfrau Railway tunnel. Trains pass through the mountain behind that window.

Views outward. Across the Grindelwald valley: the Wetterhorn (3,692 m), the Grosse Scheidegg, and the green pastures of the Grindelwald basin. Behind, Kleine Scheidegg and the approach to the Jungfrau group. The contrast between the pastoral valley below and the lethal architecture of the Nordwand above is the defining experience of this trail.

End point. The trail terminates at Alpiglen station (1,616 m), a small stop on the Wengernalp Railway. From Alpiglen, trains run down to Grindelwald (descending) or up to Kleine Scheidegg (ascending). The frequency is approximately every 30 minutes in summer. Check the Jungfrau Railways app or the posted timetable at the station.

What you are walking beneath

The Nordwand was first climbed on 24 July 1938 by the German-Austrian team of Anderl Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer, and Fritz Kasparek. The story of its first ascent is inseparable from the story of its failures.

1935. Max Sedlmayr and Karl Mehringer made the first serious attempt and died of exposure at approximately 3,300 m. The ledge where they perished is called the "Death Bivouac." Their bodies were visible through the telescopes at Kleine Scheidegg's hotels for years — tourists paid to look through them.

1936. Four climbers — Germans Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser, Austrians Willy Angerer and Edi Rainer — mounted a joint attempt. Angerer was struck by rockfall on the second day. The team began retreating but could not reverse the Hinterstoisser Traverse — they had pulled the rope after crossing. Rainer and Angerer died first. Hinterstoisser fell to his death. Kurz, the last survivor, spent three days on the face with one arm completely frozen. Rescuers reached within voice range from the Eigerwand railway window. Kurz lowered himself toward them on a makeshift rope of cut strands knotted together. The knot jammed in his carabiner. He could not pass it. He died hanging metres from rescue. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Eiger_climbing_disaster)

June 1938. Italians Mario Menti and Bortolo Sandri fell near the Difficult Crack during a thunderstorm — the eighth and ninth fatalities before anyone had reached the top.

24 July 1938. Heckmair led the combined team through rockfall, avalanche, and a violent storm to the summit. The ascent was immediately claimed by the Nazi regime as an Aryan triumph. The climbers' motivations were personal. Harrer later wrote the account The White Spider, which became the most widely read mountaineering book in history.

Since 1935, at least 64 climbers have died on the Nordwand. The Germans called it "Mordwand" — murder wall. The face continues to produce fatalities; rockfall events in 2024 forced temporary route closures. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiger, switzerland-highlights.com)

From the Eiger Trail, this history is not abstract. You walk through the rockfall zone. You can see the Hinterstoisser Traverse. The face looms directly overhead. The scale is difficult to convey in words — 1,800 vertical metres is approximately twice the depth of the Grand Canyon, compressed into a wall you can touch at the base.

Practical details

Season. The Eiger Trail typically opens in late June and closes in mid-October, snow-dependent. The trail can retain snow patches into early July, particularly in the gullies beneath the face. Mid-July through September offers the most reliable conditions.

Difficulty. T2 on the Swiss Alpine Club scale — mountain hiking. Good paths throughout. Some sections have exposure (steep drop-offs to one side) but the trail is wide and well-maintained. No scrambling, no fixed cables, no technical gear. Trail runners and families with older children regularly complete it. Sturdy hiking shoes with ankle support are sufficient; boots are not necessary unless you plan to extend onto rougher terrain.

What to bring. Water (1-1.5L — there are no refill points between Eigergletscher and Alpiglen), sun protection (the south-facing slopes above Alpiglen bake in afternoon sun), a light layer for the start at 2,320 m, and binoculars if you have them. The face details — the Eigerwand window, the ice fields, the fixed ropes on active climbing routes — reward magnification.

Timing. Two to two and a half hours is the standard pace for the full trail. Start early if possible — the morning light hits the Nordwand directly, and afternoon thunderstorms are common in July-August. The trail faces northeast and loses sun by late afternoon.

Extension. From Alpiglen, you can walk down to Grindelwald (approximately 1.5 additional hours, steep forest path) rather than taking the train. Or reverse the route — start at Alpiglen and climb to Eigergletscher — for a more strenuous but equally dramatic experience with the Nordwand growing above you rather than receding behind.

Connection to Kleine Scheidegg. From Eigergletscher, a 45-minute walk (or short train ride) reaches Kleine Scheidegg, the railway junction beneath the Eiger. Kleine Scheidegg has restaurants and is the departure point for the Jungfrau Railway to the Jungfraujoch. Combining the Eiger Trail with a Jungfraujoch visit in a single day is feasible but full.

The alternative to the Jungfraujoch

The Jungfraujoch costs CHF 235 return from Interlaken (CHF 127 with Half-Fare Card). The Eiger Trail costs CHF 54 return for the Eiger Express (CHF 27 with Half-Fare Card).

At the Jungfraujoch, you stand inside a building at 3,454 m, look at the Aletsch Glacier through glass, visit an ice cave and a chocolate shop, and share the observation deck with tour groups.

On the Eiger Trail, you walk for two hours directly beneath the most storied wall in mountaineering history, through scree deposited by the face, with 1,800 m of vertical rock overhead, in silence broken only by the occasional crack of distant rockfall.

Both experiences have value. But the Eiger Trail delivers more visceral contact with the mountains, at a quarter of the price, in the same amount of time.

Sources