Trümmelbachfall

Trümmelbachfall is without question one of the most unique waterfalls on earth. The falls occur within a sinuous slot canyon carved deep into the side of the Lauterbrunnen Valley, plunging down step after step in an exceptionally narrow gorge. In many places the canyon is so deeply carved into the mountainside that the falls are not exposed to the sky at all. To access the falls a series of tunnels were blasted into the mountain, walkways bolted to the side of the canyon, and windows carved in the walls of the gorge to allow different vantages. An underground Funicular also shuttles visitors to near the top of the falls to allow for easier access. The exact height of Trümmelbachfall is difficult to assess. Some sources found very early on in the research for this project cite the falls as 400 meters tall - this is obviously an egregious overestimate which we can't conflate with any plausible methods of measurement. Topographic maps suggest the total drop of the falls might be close to 220 meters in all, but because the walkways only access a portion of this total drop, and the river is so deeply incised in the mountainside, it might be hard to get a proper idea of what actually happens in the canyon and where the top of the falls actually are located. More frequently we've seen citations of a total drop of about 140 meters, which seems plausible given no individual drop which can be seen from the walkways appears to be more than about 15-20 meters tall.