The Sphinx, Jungfrau, Switzerland

To reach Europe’s “Top of the World” ranchers Quentin and Anne Stevick of Pincher Creek, Alta., travelled onboard a hundred-year-old rail line to the Jungfraujoch. The rail line alone is a great engineering wonder. It’s the world’s highest subway climbing through four miles of tunnels through Eiger Mountain.

The Jungfraujoch observation deck is at 11,350 feet, flanked by the jagged peaks of the Jungfrau and the Mönch which form a valley that cradles the Aletsch Glacier. To reach the spot where they are standing, they rode an elevator another 356 feet up to The Sphinx, the Jungfrau’s highest platform (11,762 feet).

The Stevick’s spent a week in Germany and a week in Switzerland, visiting young women who spent time on their ranch doing practical work in agriculture. “We had to leave our magazine with our friend in Germany as they are really keen to read about western life in Alberta,” writes Anne.

Photo courtesy Anne Stevick