Where in most cases one would have to ascend a steep climb to reach the gushing mouth of a waterfall, you need to descend deep into the bowels of the earth to catch a glimpse of Trümmelbachfäll. Through a caged lift that drops you ten feet under and a narrow platform snaking past the crack in the deep gorge you go. Steps cut out into the rough flooring bring you deeper still into the maze of tunnels. It is not until much further that the constant thunder of water materializes before you, the walls of the canyon having been carved into intriguing vertical waves by the sheer force of the waters that have run against it over the ages. Pouring out before is 20,000 liters of melt water with each second that passes, now a foaming, churning mass raging through a single outlet into the woods beyond. Running pell-mell down the steep passes and cliff faces, the waters are a force to be reckoned with as they batter and shove their way through directly from the solid glaciers of the Jungfrau. Out in the open, the waters of Europe’s largest subterranean waterfalls tumble through 10 other falls over a range of heights to wind their way back to the main lakes of the Bernese Oberlands in the end.

Daylight filtering in from the hole above strikes the fine mist hanging in the air to create mirages of iridescent rainbows that are gone as soon as you spot them. The stone walls partially encasing the falls are crusted with moss and lichen, bringing back the impression of the Old World preserved in its raw form. In a land where dominating land masses and rock giants demand most of your attention, the Trümmelbachfäll is a rare sight that will steal your breath with its simultaneously mystifying and ferocious appeal.