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A much better day today. We got up early(ish) and walked up to the village. It was deserted – lots of people have gone home. We caught the 10.24 up to Scheidegg and had coffee. Headed down towards Brandegg and came across our neighbours Andrew and Nuala and Andrew’s parents.

Skied with them for a bit and had lunch. Headed back towards Wengen. The VIP area for the race is huge this year. This is at Wengernalp, about half way down the course.

Although it was cloudy and a bit murky today we were happy as we only saw snowflakes falling; no raindrops!

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Val’s dad departed this morning – hope you had a good trip home Jim. It was a good day to leave, as it rained almost all day in Wengen with snow higher up.
The forecast is for more rain and snow over the next few days, so we have our fingers crossed for slightly lower temperatures.
Preparations for the race next weekend are in full swing. A stage has been built along with 2 huge wooden chalets which I assume will be used as bars. Back at home we’ve restocked the fridge and done the laundry, and we’ve tempted fate by acquiring a big snow shovel for our steps. Here’s hoping it gets some use!

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Just down the valley is a village called Wilderswil. The train from Interlaken passes through it, and I’m sure most people don’t give it a second glance, particularly in winter. However, behind the station and invisible from the train is an absolute gem of an old Swiss town. It is not a tourist attraction – people have been living here for at least 1400 years, which makes it about the same age as our home village of Shifnal.

This is the old town square. The date on the house is 1509.

There’s a fine old church. There’s been a church on this site since 1196. (First pic is not mine).

A covered bridge connects the old village with the church and the neighbouring hamlet of Gsteig. It was built in 1738, and is still in use.

This coaching inn was built not long after the bridge was completed.

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It snowed a lot last night, and it was cold. Snow all the way down to the valley.

Wengen is being converted into something like Wembley stadium. Advertising everywhere and temporary bars.

It snowed heavily while we had lunch in Grindelwald, everything very gloomy.

Yesterday my mum was complaining that she couldn’t find a pastry brush in Wolverhampton. Top tip mother – try the Co-op in Grindelwald.

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The forecast is quite poor for the next few days, so we popped up to Männlichen and had a ski while Jim got his photos. The snow is really nice at the moment.

It’s cold up here. All the snow cannons are running flat out.

We keep an eye on the property market here in the village – mostly just for laughs at the prices. Here’s today’s gem.

Yes, that’s about twenty seven thousand quid for a space in the multi story car park at Lauterbrunnen.

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It snowed again last night, the village is looking quite wintry now. Not much to report today, popped down to Interlaken for shopping – Co-op were doing fish and chips for lunch which was very nice.
Back in the village the trains are running non-stop bringing stuff up from the valley for the race. Some bits of equipment are too big for the train however, so a helicopter drops them off just by our house so they can be trailered up to town.

My question is simple. Why can’t the helicopter just take this stuff straight to where it needs to go? It would certainly make our lives a bit quieter!

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It snowed quite a bit last night, and continued to do so all day. This is nice for the skiing but it makes things a bit dull and gloomy at this time of the year.

Trains needed snowploughs to get up the hill.

We had coffee at Scheidegg, then popped down to Brandegg for lunch. The ski run that comes down here hasn’t been opened yet this season, so they were pleased to see us. Val and Jim outside the restaurant.

In the village preparations for the race are well underway. The ice rink is being covered in plastic tiles.