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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.

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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.

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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?

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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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It’s the first race of the weekend today, a downhill in the morning and a slalom in the afternoon. Lowest total time for both races decides the winner. Needless to say we start with an air show.

As you can see we have high clouds today – not so good for photos. This guy is cruising around the village giving away coffee.

We usually get a super deal on tickets to the races, but this wasn’t offered this year. We can therefore watch at home on TV or on the big screen at the World Cup village.

And here are the winners. Austrian Matthias Mayer was first, with French compatriots Alexis Pinterault and Victor Muffat-Jeandet second and third.

Tonight we have prize giving and the bib draw for tomorrow’s downhill.

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It’s the final practice day for the racers. We ski around to Scheidegg and head up the Lauberhorn after grabbing a coffee. It looks like the whole Canton is up here trying to get a good view.

It’s not just the skiers having training. We always have an air show on race day, and the pilots also need to practice. A few snaps.

They’re behind you!

The airforce jets are very impressive (they are Northrop F-5E fighter/bombers), but it’s the Airbus that really amazes – you’d never believe how it can be thrown around as it dives in and out of the valley. The Airbus is called ‘Wengen’.

As I type this the house is shaking from the noise of the public address system at the World Cup Village – it’s only 50 metres away. Lauberhorn has begun.

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We met Ali and started at Männlichen this morning, pausing at Scheidegg for a quick lunch. It’s another beautiful day.

It all went a bit wrong on the way back to the village. The run to Mary’s is open for the first time this season, and if we use it we can avoid slogging along the path through the forest. It was a poor decision. The run was icy and very narrow alongside the race track, but somehow we made it down to the lift in one piece. We certainly enjoyed our drinks at Allmend.