Alpine bliss

Mountaineer Alfred Wills' ascent of the Wetterhorn (the leftmost mountain in our picture) in 1854 is said by some to have kicked off the golden age of Alpinism, when many local summits were first conquered by pioneering climbers. Here on the shores of Bachalpsee (aka Lake Bachalp), we're not getting quite as close to the blue Swiss sky—though we're still 7,400 feet up amid the Bernese Alps. And on a crisp alpine day like this, Bachalpsee mirrors the imposing peaks of the Wetterhorn, Schreckhorn, and Finsteraarhorn, making their snowy summits feel almost within reach.