At 13,642 feet, the Jungfrau is the tallest peak in a massif
that includes the Eiger (13,025 feet) and the Mönch (13,474
feet). These craggy and windswept mountains, located in the
Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps, were once
inaccessible, but the completion of the Jungfraubahn cog railway
in 1912 simplified access to the Jungfrau massif, and the easy
routes on the peaks became popular with climbers. This
popularity, combined with the inherently volatile snow
conditions throughout the Swiss Alps, has resulted in numerous
fatal accidents. According to an Associated Press report, 32
people have been killed by snow slides in the Swiss Alps during
July and August in the last 36 years. At 10 a.m. on the morning
of July 12, 2007, 12 Swiss soldiers from the Mountain
Specialists Division accompanied by two guides were traversing a
45-degree slope on the southwest face of the Jungfrau when a
slab avalanche, probably human triggered, swept two rope teams
of three each 3,000 feet to their deaths. The eight remai