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Last night we wrapped up in our waterproof gear and headed up to Rocks. We got pretty wet but it was nice to get out. The rain finally stopped this morning, so we headed up to the village. The Männlichen cable car is running again.

Each train brings more visitors for their Christmas holidays. We have one last chance to get round the Co-op before the queues become untenable. Here comes another train load of people.

I think we finally have everything we need for Christmas dinner tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

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It rained all day. It was so bad that Männlichen didn’t even open for skiing.

And it’s still raining.

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It was very mild when we awoke this morning.

Temperatures like this obviously don’t benefit the skiing, but at least we can walk up to the village without worrying about taking a tumble on an icy path. The MeteoSwiss app tells us there’s a storm coming.

We head up to the village for supplies. If the storm is anything like as intense as the forecast believes, we may not want to leave the house tomorrow. As we climb the hill we begin to hear music. The army are in town doing work on the race track, and this afternoon their band was playing on the tennis court.

They were really good, and one soldier was handing out chocolates to the kids (Val got some).

So, we’ll wait for the storm and hope it doesn’t do any damage. Val starts work on Sunday, so hopefully everything will have settled down by then.

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Super dinner at the Eiger last night. Henri took a pic for us.

Today we were shopping – there’s bad weather on the way. We wanted to buy sprouts for Christmas dinner, but the co-op had sold out!

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The mild weather continues, but today the sun is absent without leave. We popped up to Scheidegg anyway. Val wore her new outfit.

There isn’t enough light to cast a shadow, so visibility is poor. I’m pleased to report though, that since getting my eyes fixed I can cope with this much better than I used to.

The mild temperatures have reduced the village centre to something resembling a lake, and this afternoon an avalanche came down from Männlichen, something we don’t normally see until spring.

Val is off to the hairdresser, and this evening we have a table booked at the Eiger.

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It’s Oskar’s birthday this week, so yesterday we met him and mum Jana to give him his presents. His mind was elsewhere however, as he’s been challenged to a ski race by his mate.

Off they go!

This morning the sun put in an appearance, so we headed up to Scheidegg.

There were very few people around, and the weather is mild.

Val’s leg appears to be fully healed, and she can ski as well as ever. We met her colleagues after skiing, it looks like she’ll be starting work at the weekend.

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For many years, we’ve had an event called village opening the week before Christmas. Recently it’s been rebranded the ‘Glühwein Festival’, but the format remains unchanged. The village street is closed for the evening.

The businesses along the main street set up stalls dispensing hot drinks like glühwein or Irish coffee. The stall outside the Skiset ski rental shop has mince pies which, despite their obvious popularity, are virtually unobtainable in Switzerland. It’s all very jolly.

After a while the cold got the better of us, and we retreated to Rocks where the apres ski party was in full swing. We followed this up with dinner at the Caprice, and a few drinks in the Pickel bar. Opposite the Pickel, someone has a really rubbish job.

Spraying the snow with a fire hose makes a solid base for the temporary buildings which will be here during the Lauberhorn races next month. It has to be done at night, when temperatures are at their lowest. That guy must be freezing.