Kandersteg

Oeschinensee (Oeschinen Lake) lies at 1,578 meters above Kandersteg, covering 1.1 square kilometres with a maximum depth of 56 meters. The lake was formed approximately 3,200 years ago when massive rockslides broke off the Doldenhorn at an altitude of 2,100 meters, creating a natural dam with a volume of over 100 million cubic metres of debris. The dam material remains porous, so the lake drains underground. The lake has been part of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007.

The Blausee (Blue Lake) sits at 887 meters in the Kandertal, a small crystal-clear mountain lake created approximately 15,000 years ago by a rockslide. Its extraordinary turquoise-blue colour comes from mineral-rich mountain spring water. According to legend, a maiden with deep blue eyes fell in love with a shepherd; when he died in the mountains, she wept every day beside the lake, and her tears transformed the water to an eternal turquoise blue. Sculptor Raphael Fuchs placed a stone statue of the maiden on the lake bed, visible through the crystal water.

The Loetschberg Tunnel is a 14.6 km railway tunnel connecting Kandersteg (Bern) with Goppenstein (Valais). Construction began on 15 October 1906, with approximately 1,700 workers, mostly Italian. On 24 July 1908, tunnellers broke into a deep, water-filled glacial fissure beneath the Gasterntal valley. The tunnel flooded with water and glacial sediment, killing 25 workers. 1,554 meters of tunnel had to be permanently abandoned and sealed, replaced by a curved bypass. The engineers did not understand they had struck a glacial overdeepening some 170 meters below ground. The line opened to the public on 15 July 1913.

In 1921, Walther von Bonstetten, Chief Scout of Switzerland, discovered an empty chalet in Kandersteg built in 1908 to house Loetschberg tunnel construction workers. Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout Movement, had long envisioned a permanent international meeting place. The chalet and land were purchased on 12 April 1923 for CHF 15,100, and the Centre was inaugurated on 21 May 1923. Baden-Powell visited in 1922 and 1930; a hill was named B.P.'s Hill in his honour. In 1989, staff adopted distinctive pink uniforms, earning the nickname 'the Pinkies.' In 2023, KISC celebrated its centenary with 88,000 overnight stays and engagement from over 110 nationalities.

The Bluemlisalp (3,661 m), meaning 'flowering alp,' is the great massif towering over Kandersteg and the Oeschinensee. In 1707, physician Johann Jakob Scheuchzer published its legend, one of the most famous in Swiss Alpine folklore. According to the story, the Bluemlisalp was once the most lush and fertile alp, so rich that cows were milked three times a day. A vain herdsman let his sweetheart bathe in milk and paved paths with wheels of cheese while the valley below starved. As divine punishment, the thriving meadow was transformed into a wasteland of rocks and ice. The story echoes real climate history: the Little Ice Age (14th-19th centuries) saw glaciers advance over once-productive pastures.

The Gemmi Pass (2,269 m) connects Kandersteg with Leukerbad in the canton of Valais, one of the oldest north-south routes across the Bernese Alps, used since Roman times. Wealthy travellers were carried in 'Gemmi-Waegeli,' two-wheeled carriages hauled by mules. In 1863, Thomas Cook offered a guided walk over the Gemmi as one of the first organised hiking tours in Switzerland. The Schwarenbach Inn halfway across became famous in literature: Mark Twain crossed in 1878 and described the inn in 'A Tramp Abroad,' Guy de Maupassant set his story 'L'Auberge' there, Jules Verne signed its guest book in 1873, and Pablo Picasso crossed in 1933.

The Kander is a 44-kilometre river rising at the Kander Glacier. Originally it bypassed Lake Thun entirely, but its frequent flooding devastated the Thun Allmend plain. In 1698, communities petitioned the Bernese government for a diversion. Samuel Bodmer (1652-1724), a trained baker who gained engineering knowledge as an artillery officer, designed the plan. Construction began with 150 workers digging through the Straettlig hill. On 16 July 1714, the tunnel collapsed under water pressure, sweeping away five people. The river carved its own wild path, creating the Kanderschlucht gorge. The diversion increased Lake Thun's inflow by 60%, causing severe flooding in Thun. Bodmer was blamed, received death threats, and fled by 1717.

The Gasterntal is a secluded, roughly 10-kilometre-long trough valley behind Kandersteg, accessible only through the dramatic Klus Gorge where the young Kander river has carved through limestone. At its upper end lies the Kander Glacier, the source of the 44-kilometre-long Kander river. Towards the end of the 1700s, 50 year-round inhabitants lived in 12 households in the valley; today it is only seasonally occupied by Alpine farmers. Very rare and protected species thrive here, including the lady's slipper orchid. The Gasterntal is part of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage Site.