Schilthorn

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Schilthorn

The top of the Schilthorn
Elevation 2,970 m (9,744 ft)
Prominence 358 m (1,175 ft)[1]
Parent peak Finsteraarhorn
Location
Schilthorn
Location in Switzerland
Location Bernese Oberland, Switzerland
Range Bernese Alps
Coordinates 46°33′26″N 7°50′07″E / 46.55722°N 7.83528°E / 46.55722; 7.83528Coordinates: 46°33′26″N 7°50′07″E / 46.55722°N 7.83528°E / 46.55722; 7.83528

The Schilthorn is a 2,970 metre high summit of the Bernese Alps, overlooking the valley of Lauterbrunnen in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is the highest mountain in the range lying north of the Sefinenfurgge Pass. The Schilthorn lies above the village of Mürren, from where a cable car leads to its summit.

It has a panoramic view which spans from the Titlis, Jungfrau, Mönch, Eiger, over the Bernese Alps and the Jura mountains up to the Vosges Mountains and the Black Forest. Mont Blanc is also just visible.

The Birg cable car intermediate station with the north face of the Eiger

To get to the Schilthorn from the valley floor either of a series of cable cars must be taken. The cable cars begin in Stechelberg leaving to Gimmelwald and then onto Mürren. From Mürren another cable car is taken to Birg, which is the final change before the Schilthorn. This cable airway is the longest and was the most technically challenging airway to be built. The other way up is to take the cable car from Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp and a train to Murren, from where the cable car must be taken. Between Birg and the summit, the cable car passes over Grauseeli, a small lake. It is also possible to hike to the peak, along the myriad of small, but well-marked paths to the top. The hike to the top takes roughly 5 hours from Gimmelwald for an experienced hiker.

There is a panoramic revolving restaurant, named Piz Gloria, at the summit, which is where the James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service was set. A famous black ski run featured in the film starts at the summit and leads down to the Engetal below Birg. The restaurant revolves a full 360 degrees in 55 minutes.

After considering a number of locations, the stalled construction of the sports bar atop the Schilthorn was chosen when the film's producer financed the completion of the famous revolving platform for the right to use the facility for his next film, the first and only Bond film starring George Lazenby.

Quite a number of scenes in the film were photographed by cameraman, John Jordan, hanging below a speeding helicopter. Jordan had previously lost a foot to a helicopter rotor while filming the movie You Only Live Twice. Within a year and fitted with a prosthetic limb, Jordan lost his footing and fell 2,000 feet to his death when filming similar aerial imagery used in Catch-22.

During the Winter the Schilthorn is the traditional start for the world longest down hill ski race the "Inferno" which started in 1928.

During the summer the Inferno Triathlon finishes at the summit after a run up from the Lauterbrunnen valley.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Retrieved from the Swisstopo topographic maps. The key col is the Sefinenfurgge (2,612 m).
The Alps a midst the clouds as seen from Schilthorn

External links

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