Switzerland serves up a treat for Annabel Croft as she explores the mountains of the Jungfrau Region

Historically, I had often thought that the Swiss were a bit blase when it came to mountaineering. Tending to see summits as scenic backdrops rather than the source of vertiginous thrills and personal achievement, they left serious rock-climbing to the British, Germans and Austrians (although they were very happy to rescue them when they got stuck). At some point in the second half of the 19th century, however, the Swiss decided to join in the fun, but in their own uniquely Swiss way.

Instead of climbing mountains, they went several steps further and built railways and cable cars up to the summits, and added visitor centres, shops, restaurants and hotels.

It was as if they were showing off, except that they would never do that. Showing off is a very un-Swiss trait. This thought occurred to me as my friend Fiona and I took the Eiger Express[1] tri-cable gondola from Grindelwald up to Eigergletscher, which is the point of departure for the Jungfrau Railway[2], the highest in Europe.

This cog railway climbs to within 700m of the Jungfrau summit, the Jungfraujoch.

From here you can see the panoramas stretching away towards France, from a bracing elevation of 3,454m. It's the loftiest of a famous trio of peaks, alongside the Monch and the Eiger, all overlooking the Bernese Oberland[3] in central southern Switzerland. The Eiger Express swung out of the airport-lounge-style cable car station at Grindelwald, and began its 1,300m climb.

As the gondola rose, it floated directly across the north face of the Eiger. From a distance, this 1,800m wall looks like the cross-section of a terrifyingly large Toblerone bar. We passed close enough to observe relief features, tiny snow ledges, sheer faces, couloirs, chimneys, pillars and its two famous overhangs, the Rote Fluh and the Gelbewand.

A truly awesome sight.

After several fatal attempts in the early 20th century, the north face was finally conquered by an Austro-German team in 1938. Alighting at Eigergletscher, we began our own ascent of the mountains, but by train. The Jungfrau Railway was the brainchild of Adolf Guyer-Zeller, a Swiss textiles industrialist and train fan.

Holidaying in the village of Murren at the foot of the Jungfrau in the 1890s, Guyer-Zeller decided that the magnificent summits should be accessible to all, not just an elite bunch of foreign mountaineers. So he decided to build a railway up to the summit of the Jungfrau. To achieve his dream, he had to build a 4.5-mile (7km) railway that tunnels and spirals its way up the inside of the Eiger and Monch mountains to emerge at the Jungfraujoch, a saddle between the summits of the Monch and the Jungfrau.

To power the line, he built a hydro-electric generating station. Oh, and to fund the project, he set up Bank Guyerzeller AG.

Completed in 1912, the railway had taken 14 years, and cost 16 million Swiss francs to complete. Guyer-Zeller, who sadly never lived to see his brainchild born, is an extreme example of a Swiss engineering, financial and entrepreneurial genius whom hardly anyone has heard of - which is typically Swiss.

I asked Doris, our guide, if Guyer-Zeller is hailed as a hero or a lunatic. She paused. "Both, I think," she said, adding with a shrug and a smile, "But we get one million visitors on the Jungfrau Railway every year."

Literary giants inspired by nature

The peaks of the Jungfrau Region not only inspired Adolf Guyer-Zeller. They also fired the imagination of Goethe, who visited in 1779, and Felix Mendelssohn, who in 1842 stayed at Wengen at the base of the Jungfrau.

Richard Wagner also visited; like Mendelssohn, he stayed at the Berghotel Faulhorn[4], the oldest mountain hotel in Switzerland. This region also excited J R R Tolkien when he hiked here in 1911. The glamorous peaks, cascading waterfalls, tumbling glaciers and deep-cut glacial valleys left a deep impression.

"I left the view of Jungfrau with deep regret," wrote Tolkien, "and the Silberhorn [satellite peak of Jungfrau] sharp against the dark blue." Tolkien's fantastical Middle Earth in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is basically the Jungfrau Region.

Like Tolkien, many great minds that came here have drawn inspiration from nature's masterpieces. How fitting that they should inspire a masterpiece such as the Jungfrau Railway.

View from the top

After the 30-minute train ride, which climbs 1,100m, I certainly felt the 3,463m altitude as I staggered breathlessly out of the rail terminus at Jungfraujoch and into the visitor centre. This vast complex includes a museum showing how the railway was built, including the pickaxes and shovels that the Italian labourers used, and memorial plaques to workers who died during its construction.

The museum is beautifully laid out, easy to understand, and cleverly avoids information overload.

Afterwards you arrive at the shops, the excellent a la carte Restaurant Crystal[5] and the world's highest chocolate factory and chocolate boutique. It appeals to children of all ages - and all for 200 Swiss francs for the return rail ticket. Leading off from the visitor centre is a brilliantly laid-out Ice Palace[6].

Built in the 1930s, this glassy labyrinth is hewn into the ice of the Aletsch Glacier that runs off the side of the Jungfrau. It houses beautiful ice carvings. As the Aletsch Glacier inches down the mountainside, the ice palace has to be recut continually.

Skis, saunas and sustenance

Descending, we took the Jungfrau Railway to Kleine Scheidegg[7], a mountain pass between the Eiger and Lauberhorn peaks (the name means 'small watershed').

This is the nerve centre and starting point of all skiing in the Grindelwald and Wengen area: 63 miles (102 km) of slopes radiating outwards from the feet of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, home to the famous Lauberhorn[8] downhill races, the longest in the world. Kitted out at the Wyss Sport rental shop in Kleine Scheidegg, we decided to give skiing a go. Taking a chair lift, we emerged into fine, clear weather above the clouds.

I'm an inexperienced and sometimes reluctant skier. I enjoy what I call the 'wide motorways'. But this was beautiful.

My friend Fiona, a better skier, went back for a second go.

The Jungfrau (4,158m), Monch (4,107m) and Eiger (3,970m) are the three most iconic and spectacular Swiss crags after the Matterhorn. Along with their numerous satellite peaks, they form a dramatic glaciated mountain backdrop to the entire region. They also mark the Continental watershed.

Dairy farming and tourism keep the local economy ticking over. Before tourism, the locals would hack pieces off the glaciers and export them as ice cubes. "Grindelwald used to be the glacier village," says our guide, Doris. "Now, it is the Eiger village." Dairy is an important part of the local identity.

Every summer the cows are led up to the Alps, to be milked daily by farmers who make Alpine cheese in mountain huts. As the summer progresses, the cows are led ever higher, until mid-summer when the process is reversed. By mid-September, the cows return to the valley floor in a blaze of flowers, ribbons and bells in a ceremony known as the Alpabzug, literally 'drive from the alpine pasture'.

I'm delighted that here in the Grindelwald valley, such traditions are proudly upheld.

Safely back at the Parkhotel Schoenegg[9] in Grindelwald, I celebrated my own Alpabzug by decompressing in the 'Finnish sauna'. There was a notice on the door saying 'No clothes allowed' but I grabbed a towel and stepped inside. As the steam cleared (like the clouds parting earlier), I found that I was surrounded by a group of naked men.

I didn't know where to look. For a moment, I thought I had entered the wrong Finnish sauna. But no.

This is how they do saunas in Grindelwald. Welcome to another proudly upheld local tradition. We dined on rosti, raclette and beef fondue in the Schoenegg's very good restaurant, washed down by excellent Swiss wines.

The beef was what I call 'clean food', reared in nature, and neither processed nor added to. When the waitress poured a slug of brandy and Worcester sauce into the fondue liquid and served it in soup bowls, I couldn't resist. Delicious.

I can easily relate to the Swiss diet of unpasteurised milk, butter, cream and cheese as well as grass-fed beef. I cut sugar out of my life a long time ago in favour of fat, and try to avoid carbohydrate, give or take the odd nibble of Swiss chocolate.

Discover Switzerland

Discover more about the Jungfrau region and plan your trip by visiting jungfrauregion.swiss[10] Switzerland is easily reachable via train from London or by Swiss International Air Lines[11].

And once you land, the famously efficient public transport will take you to the regions you want to visit by train, bus or boat using the Swiss Travel Pass[12], available from the Switzerland Travel Centre.

Discover Switzerland for yourself at switzerland.com[13]

References

1. ^ Eiger Express (www.jungfrau.ch)
2. ^ Jungfrau Railway (www.jungfrau.ch)
3. ^ Bernese Oberland (www.myswitzerland.com)
4. ^ Berghotel Faulhorn (www.faulhorn.ch)
5. ^ Restaurant Crystal (www.jungfrau.ch)
6. ^ Ice Palace (www.jungfrau.ch)
7. ^ Kleine Scheidegg (www.jungfrau.ch)
8. ^ Lauberhorn (www.lauberhorn.ch)
9. ^ Parkhotel Schoenegg (www.parkhotelschoenegg.ch)
10. ^ jungfrauregion.swiss (jungfrauregion.swiss)
11. ^ Swiss International Air Lines (www.swiss.com)
12. ^ Swiss Travel Pass (switzerlandtravelcentre.com)
13. ^ switzerland.com (www.myswitzerland.com)