German for 'monk'. The trio Eiger ('ogre'), Mönch and Jungfrau ('maiden') above Grindelwald is conventionally read as a tableau: the monk stands between the ogre and the maiden, protecting her from him. The folk-tale almost certainly post-dates the names themselves but is now inseparable from them.
Central peak of the Eiger–Mönch–Jungfrau triumvirate on the Bern–Valais boundary. The standard route follows the south-east (Nollen) ridge from the Jungfraujoch.
Climbed on 15 August 1857 by the Viennese mountaineer Sigismund Porges with three Grindelwald guides, by the long south-east ridge. Almer would within a few years become one of the most renowned guides of the Golden Age, partnering Whymper, Stephen and Tuckett on dozens of first ascents. The Mönch's south-east ridge from the Jungfraujoch remains one of the most-climbed 4000er ridges in the Alps, accessible in a single day from the railway.
Route lines are approximate — drawn from guidebook waypoints, not GPS tracks. Don't navigate by them.
