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The weather is fine and dry, and in Wengen we get a few hours of sunshine every day, despite the lateness of the year. The same cannot be said for the villages down in the valley where, for the most part, it remains dark and cold all day. We were in Lauterbrunnen at lunchtime, and we were lucky enough to see the few minutes of sunshine that will reach the valley floor today. It’s certainly spectacular.

The temperature down here is much lower than it is up in Wengen. At Kleine Scheidegg, which is higher still, it is even warmer. This phenomenon is known as a temperature inversion – it’s a day when it’s colder at the bottom of the mountain than it is at the top. We had a nice lunch at Airtime Cafe, and headed back up to sunny Wengen.

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Every year the children from the local school put on a nativity play in the church. We make a point of going as we know some of the kids and most of the parents.

The play tells the traditional story of Mary, Joseph and the baby. It is, however entirely secular – there is no mention of God, Jesus or any other deity. It was very enjoyable, and the children did very well to learn so much material. Afterwards we called in at Mira’s steakhouse, which has opened for the season today. If you like red meat you’re in for a treat here.

The poor weather that we’ve endured over the past week or so is behind us, and this morning we awoke to a glorious day. The village is looking perfect, just in time for the holidays.

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We’ve had 3 days of non-stop rain, but this morning the temperature dropped and it turned to snow. Time to put up some Christmas decorations.

The snow stopped just before dinner time, so we’ll head off up to the village for a few drinks later.

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At the beginning of the season, the Central Sport ski shop holds a fashion show, to showcase their offerings for the winter. It’s fun, with plenty of food and drink, so despite the pouring rain we didn’t want to miss it. The models are the shop staff. Some photos of the latest gear.

Afterwards we slithered down the wet, icy hill that leads back to our house. It was good to be home. This morning Val was teaching up at Männlichen, fortunately during a pause in the wet weather. I was content to stay here at home.

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There are many events which define the opening of the winter season, but arguably none are so significant as the opening party at the Tanne bar.

Everyone was there. Here we are with Angela and Michael.

A splendid night out. The weather is dreadful, with a mixture of rain and snow, so it’s nice to be tucked up in a cosy bar.

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At the beginning of the season we have a ‘shakedown’. This is a day set aside for ensuring that everything we need for skiing still works. Today it’s gloomy up the hill, so it’ll be very quiet; an ideal day to try out equipment and clothing. We met Will up at Kleine Scheidegg and had a potter down an easy run called Arven.

Having established that everything still works, we had a long coffee stop at the Eigernordwand restaurant. I think there were more staff than customers. The Crystal bar is opening today, so we’ll pop in for a beer later.

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It’s a lovely morning, but bitterly cold. Fantastic views up the valley.

Val got the snowshoes out of the cellar, and we headed up to the village. There’s masses of snow.

The ski run back to the village isn’t officially open yet, but the kids ski it anyway.

We caught the train up to the restaurant at Allmend, just above the village, where we enjoyed a drink. Views back to Wengen.

A nice day out, if a little cold.