Mönch

A 4,107-metre peak in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, the central peak of the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau triad. The name comes from the German for "the monk" — the mountain stands between the Jungfrau and the Eiger, the maiden and the ogre, in a triangulation that has held for as long as the peaks have been named. The Mönch is the least famous of the three but is climbed substantially more often than the Eiger and somewhat more often than the Jungfrau. The standard route is shorter, technically less demanding, and does not require the long Aletsch Glacier approach that the Jungfrau climb involves.

The first ascent came in 1857 by an English party led by Sigismund Porges, with the guides Christian Almer, Ulrich Kaufmann, and Christian Kaufmann. The climb followed the Southeast Ridge from the Bergli Hut — a route that has remained the standard line. The technical difficulty is moderate by 4000-metre standards: a steep snow ridge in the lower section, a series of rock pitches in the middle, and an exposed corniced ridge for the final 200 metres to the summit. The route is typically completed in a single day from the Mönchsjoch Hut, accessible from the Jungfraujoch railway.

The Mönch has been climbed approximately 5,000 times per year in recent decades. The infrastructure is the most developed of any 4000-metre peak in the Alps; the railway access to the Jungfraujoch and the proximity of well-equipped huts make the mountain accessible to climbers who could not undertake the more committing approaches of other Alpine 4000ers. The fatality rate has been low. Most accidents have involved falls on the corniced summit ridge during deteriorating visibility.

For climbers progressing through the Alpine 4000-metre summits, the Mönch is often the first or second peak attempted. The mountain teaches the standard skills required for higher Alpine objectives — glacier travel, snow and ice climbing, exposed ridge work — without the duration or commitment of the Mont Blanc routes or the Monte Rosa massif. The summit views toward the Eiger Nordwand and the Aletsch Glacier are among the most photographed in the Alps.