Mönch

4,107 m

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.

Card

Coordinates46.5583° N · 7.9967° E

UIAA rank№ 52 / 82

CountriesSwitzerland

Normal gradePD · peu difficile

First ascent1857 · Sigismund Porges with Christian Almer, Christian Kaufmann & Ulrich Kaufmann

Typical seasonJune to October

Photo of Mönch — Photo: Xperience · Public domain

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.

History

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.

Location

Summit · huts that serve as bases for routes on this peak

Major routes

SE ridge (Normal route from Mönchsjochhütte)

PD · peu difficileTopo ↗

Vertical / summit day450 m gain · 4h

The easiest summit reachable from the Jungfraujoch. From the Mönchsjochhütte the route follows the airy SE (Nollen) ridge with mixed snow and rock (II), a few short fixed-rope sections, and a knife-edge summit ridge. Popular as a single-day acclimatisation tour.

Sections

Jungfraujoch (3454 m)→Mönchsjochhütte (3658 m)+204 m1h

Mönchsjochhütte→Summit (4107 m)+449 m3h

Huts on this route

Mönchsjochhütte3,657 m

Nearby huts

MönchsjochhütteSAC · mid-February to mid-October3,657 m

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