The weather looks good so it must be time for a ski. A bit gloomy on the way down to Brandegg – the Eiger does a good job of blocking out the sun along here.
We stopped for a coffee and bumped into Robert and Roger who had skied the same route. Better visibility on the way to Wixi.
And finally we found sunshine at the top of the Lauberhorn.
Cruising back to Scheidegg.
A nice ski, on a nice morning.
The cold snap seems to be behind us – it’s mild and sunny again. After lunch we walk to a viewpoint called Staubachbankli. Wengen road sign.
Curious goats. They must be well used to having their photographs taken.
Duck, and duck pond.
Behind the farm is Mary’s Cafe. The ski run that leads to it is the lowest point in our part of the ski area – slightly below Wengen itself.
Today we’re off to Grindelwald to see some art. Back in the early 1980s, a group of visiting Japanese artists carved a large sculpture of Heidi from the snow in the village square. This gave birth to the Snow Festival, which is now in its 38th year. Artists from around the world create sculptures. Here are a few of the works in progress. First, the Brits.
Next, the French, who are having great fun with their creation.
The Swiss are very organised. They have a scale model of their sculpture to work from, and a scaffold tower to help them reach the top.
As you can see from the photos, Grindelwald gets almost no sun during January. We were absolutely freezing, but I guess that’s exacly what you need for a snow festival.
Work to dismantle the World Cup village continues. We’ll soon have the tennis courts and the football pitch back.
The last ski team is leaving – these are the Croatians.
It’s been really cold for the past couple of days. Down in Lauterbrunnen the waterfall has become a wall of ice. This will disintegrate when the weather warms up, with a noise like gunfire so loud we can hear it up in Wengen.
The good news about the cold weather is that we now have a huge amount of artificial snow on our nursery slope. With February half-term on the horizon this is a big relief.
The weekend revellers are all gone, and things are beginning to get back to normal. Goods trains are queuing up at all the passing places as they shuttle up and down taking the race paraphernalia down to Lauterbrunnen. It’ll be a week or so before everything is removed, but at least the hotels, bars and restaurants can get back to their usual routines.
We had a quiet day with a quick run down to the Co-op in Interlaken. It’s still mighty cold – minus 7 when we got up this morning. Fortunately, tonight we only have to go as far as the Sunstar for Steve & Colin’s weekly sing-song.
It’s tough finding a place for a quiet beer over Lauberhorn weekend, but we managed to get a couple of seats in the Sunstar last night. I found myself sitting next to Ken Read, the Canadian who won just about everything in the late seventies and early eighties. His son is competing in the slalom today. Spectators make their way to the stadium.
We had a lovely morning in the village. It’s properly cold for the first time this season.
At lunchtime it started snowing, making the racers’ task even more challenging. Our own Dave Ryding was a creditable 16th. Here are the top 3.
First is Clement Noel (France), second Henrik Kristoffersen (Norway) and third Alexander Khoroshilov (Russia).
Now it’s time for thousands of weary spectators to make their way back down to the valley. Long (but very orderly) queues at the station.
And that’s Lauberhorn done for another year. Can we have our village back please?
Yesterday evening was the bib draw for the big race today. It’s good to watch but very busy.
Paul and Anne-Marie live opposite the stage, so we had a balcony party.
It’s the perfect place to watch.
This morning the band started early. No-one’s sleeping in late today.
We had a lot of snow overnight, so the village should look lovely on the TV during the race. To win here you need experience – there’s no beginner’s luck on the Lauberhorn. Swiss racer Beat Feuz won for the third time.
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