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We have a British racer in town – his name is Dave Ryding and he’s competing in the slalom on Sunday. We’ve checked with the manager of his hotel and it looks like we should be able to grab a few minutes with him for photos and autographs. So last night a few of us paid him a visit.

He was very obliging. Dave is currently ranked 8th is the world, so for us this is like meeting David Beckham.

And with Val’s colleagues from Ski School.

We got lots of autographs and even a few freebies. A thoroughly nice guy.

Today we have the blue-riband event – the Lauberhorn Downhill. We popped up to Männlichen to see the air show and watched the race on the big screen in the village. The race is won by the Swiss local favourite Beat Feuz. I expect tonight’s party will be quite lively.

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Pauli and Neil arrived last night. Celebratory drinks in Rocks. Pauli is staying with us for the weekend. 

Haute cuisine dinner.

Crowds watching the draw for start numbers.

We went for a ski today. Crazy busy with all the spectators. Mandatory selfie with the Eiger.

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We’re up early this morning and off up to Wengernalp. From here we hope to see the rehearsal for the air show and maybe spot some of the racers doing their final training run. Work was still going on at the new VIP area but we saw a few people in there so we wandered in. We weren’t challenged and we had the best view of the track imaginable. 

First up is the air show. This is performed by the Patrouille Swiss accompanied by a  Bombardier airliner from Swiss Airways.

Next came the racers. They fly about 40 metres off the Hundschopf jump at the top of the picture before making the tricky right turn round Canadian Corner where our grandstand is situated.

A great day out, at a total cost of zero.

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Efforts to repair the storm damage continued today. Down here in the village it looks good.

Up on the Lauberhorn the race course has been repaired, and the racers were able to have a training run this afternoon.  There’s still a lot of work to do before the hospitality tents will be usable though.

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We had a good evening out at the Sunstar last night with music from Steve and Colin. Outside a storm was raging. It was actually difficult to walk down the street. It was no surprise therefore to find that all uphill transport was at a standstill this morning. Repairs to the world cup village are underway.

Up the mountain on the race course the effect of the storm has been nothing short of devastating. The race officials have circulated a few photos. VIP area at Canadian Corner.

Hospitality tent at Wengernalp. 

The Hundschopf, a jump about a third of the way down the race course. Most of the safety netting has been blown away.

It’s going to be a very busy few days for the organisers. 

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High winds mean no skiing today, however the building work continues apace. One of our webcams caught the bar on the Eigerhubel going up this morning. 

On our way back from Interlaken we came up on the train with racers from Croatia, Canada and Austria. Here’s the TV truck arriving on the train. 

The village is getting much busier now, but it’s still a good week for skiing as the hotels are full of race teams and media people. We just need the weather to improve. 

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Val was up early for a lesson this morning. Up the hill some huge structures are being built. This one is a new hospitality area. A ticket to watch the race from here costs 900 francs.

If 900 francs is a bit much you can get a spot in this marquee for 275.

Racers everywhere. Once they’re skiing they are no bother, but they do take enormous amounts of equipment on the train.