Nine climbers stand on the snowy summit of the Jungfrau, and the whole Bernese Alps seem to curl around them like a tiny planet. The image was shot from a drone for the Swiss mountaineering brand Mammut, and when it spread online in 2014, The Verge described it as a mountain turned into a snow globe.
Mammut’s drone portrait on the Jungfrau
Mammut is one of the oldest names in mountaineering. Kaspar Tanner founded it in 1862 as a rope-maker in the Swiss village of Dintikon, and the company is now based in Seon, Aargau. For its 150th anniversary, Mammut ran its “Peak Project”, sending rope teams up 150 summits around the world, and the Jungfrau portrait comes from that series of mountain shoots.
The image is credited to Mammut on its Flickr account. The climbers, roped and dressed in bright jackets, ring the summit, and the circular framing wraps the glaciers, ridges and sky around them. Their small figures give the scene its scale. Mammut also released a video showing how the shot was set up.
Mammut has a long tradition of audacious and whimsical shoots, including Robert Bösch’s other Mammut campaign images.
The Jungfrau at 4,158 metres
The Jungfrau (“maiden”) rises to 4,158 metres on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais, roughly halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. It is the third-highest peak of the Bernese Alps, after the Finsteraarhorn and the Aletschhorn, and together with the Mönch (4,107 m) and the Eiger (3,967 m) it forms one of the most famous mountain walls in the Alps.
The first ascent was made on 3 August 1811 by the brothers Johann Rudolf and Hieronymus Meyer of Aarau, with two chamois hunters from Valais, Alois Volken and Joseph Bortis. In 2001 the Jungfrau, the Aletsch Glacier and the surrounding peaks became the Jungfrau-Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Climbing the Jungfrau: the normal route
Most climbers start from the Mönchsjoch Hut, cross the Jungfraufirn glacier to the Rottalsattel saddle at 3,885 metres and then follow the south ridge to the summit. The climb is not technically extreme, but the steep, icy section above the Rottalsattel is where most accidents happen. Climb with a mountain guide unless you have solid glacier and ice experience: rope, crampons and an early start are standard.
Visiting the Jungfraujoch without climbing
You do not need an ice axe to see the Jungfrau up close. The Jungfrau Railway, a rack railway, climbs from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch, the saddle between the Mönch and the Jungfrau at about 3,454 metres. The ride takes about 50 minutes and ends at the highest railway station in Europe, with views over the Aletsch Glacier.
For more high-altitude perspectives, explore Jakub Polomski’s Aiguille du Midi photographs.
Related reading
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- The Matterhorn Through the Day: Twelve Photographs, One Remarkable Mountain
- Oeschinensee: A Mountain-Lake Visit for the Right Season and Route
- Bon and Montant’s Wing-Assisted Eiger Descent
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