The weather forecast wasn’t good for today, but we decided to go up the hill anyway hoping that the weathermen had got it wrong. We were in luck. It wasn’t exactly wall to wall sunshine, but it was bright enough. For the first time this season we skied all the way down to Brandegg, where we enjoyed a nice coffee break. More skiing at Scheidegg later on. Here comes Val.
Also for the first time this season, Uptown Lights are playing at the Braunbaer this evening, so we’re looking forward to some good music.
The final race of the weekend is the slalom. It takes place on a short, very steep slope just above the village. The Scandinavian countries have a fantastic track record in slalom, and sure enough the Norwegian team took all 3 podium places this afternoon.
As soon as the last racer crosses the finishing line, work begins to dismantle the World Cup village on the tennis courts.
In a few days time all traces of the race weekend will have been removed, and everyone’s looking forward to a couple of quiet weeks in the village before the February holidays begin.
The big day has arrived. 40,000 people will descend on Wengen for the Lauberhorn downhill race. To put this event into context, it’s the Swiss equivalent of the English FA Cup final, or the American Superbowl. It’s the biggest sporting event of the year. The flying display team are back again, Val got a nice video of them as they passed our house.
Tickets for the race have long since sold out, but many people watch on the big screens in the World Cup village that has been built on the tennis courts.
We decided to go to the Crystal bar. It’s warm, and there’s beer and food. We got a great view.
For the last 2 years the race has been won by a Swiss guy called Marco Odermatt. He’s been in good form again this season, and hopes are high for a third victory. Here’s the end of his run, and the reaction from the locals in the bar.
Odermatt has done it again. Yesterday’s winner Franjo von Allmen was second, so we had a Swiss 1-2. There’ll be a huge party in the village to celebrate.
It’s the first of three days of racing here in Wengen. Everything is in place, the village is crawling with TV crews, athletes, coaches, merchandise vendors and of course thousands of fans. We’d like to watch the race in a cosy bar away from all the crowds. We can get the cable car up to Männlichen and ski our way over to Eigergletscher, avoiding all the spectators who will go up the hill by train.
At Männlichen there are more of those ice sculptures that we saw in Grindelwald the other day.
There’s a nice bar at Eigergletscher called ‘The Wall’. It’s situated beneath the Eiger north wall.
Great views from here over to the Lauberhorn where the race is taking place.
A hush descends over the bar as the race begins. It is unthinkable that a non-Swiss racer might win.
Happily, a Swiss racer called Franjo von Allmen was triumphant, so everyone was happy. To get home we need to take the Eiger Express gondola down to the valley. Dramatic views of the north face of the Eiger.
When we eventually got back to Wengen the spectators were beginning to return from the grandstand at the end of the racecourse. The village was really busy. Naturally the bars and restaurants do their best to cash in on this influx of people. The Silberhorn had live music so we popped in for a drink. All the bars will be completely packed this weekend, but fortunately regular customers get wristbands that ensure that we can get in.
It’s the last day before the race weekend begins, so we’ve been getting through as many chores as we can before the fun starts. Our morning was interrupted by the Patrouille Swiss display team, who seem to think that flying past our house in formation is a good idea. Turn up the volume and press play.
Tonight we’re off to the Caprice for dinner, and later on Colin will be playing at the Victoria Lauberhorn.
Today we’re off to Grindelwald, where the World Snow Festival is taking place. Teams from all over the world are given a 3 metre cube of snow, from which they must produce a sculpture. The Germans are making a cow.
And here it is. The sculptures won’t be judged until the weekend, so they’re a work in progress at the moment.
The USA. Turtles.
Turkey.
Latvia.
And the Italians are making a coffee pot.
For the past 2 years the competition has been cancelled owing to a lack of snow, so it’s nice to see the sculptures back again. Grindelwald is also a good village for shopping, so we had a good look around the outdoor shops.
A nice day out. Val has started going to a yoga class on Wednesday afternoons, so we got back to Wengen after a nice lunch.
It’s another lovely day, and the World Cup ski racers are having their first training runs on the racecourse. Lots of competitors, coaches and officials at the start hut on the Lauberhorn.
Training runs are compulsory, and if you haven’t completed at least one you can’t enter the race at the weekend. The racers aren’t the only ones who learn from these training runs. All the supporting services like marshals, timing technicians, television and rescue services use these runs as a dress rehearsal for the big day on Saturday.
First competitor to go was Stefan Rogentin of Switzerland.
It takes the racers about two and a half minutes to ski the 4.4 kilometres to the finish down at Innerwengen. Once the races are over we are free to ski the course, and even at top speed it would probably take me 20 minutes, assuming I didn’t stop for a beer on the way down of course. It’s the longest World Cup downhill course in the world.
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