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Despite having been regular visitors here for half our lives, there are still places we haven’t seen. Today we’re off to a village called Habkern. It’s hidden away in the mountains to the north of Interlaken. To get there we get a bus from the railway station at Interlaken West. Total cost CHF5.20.

Habkern’s population is 640 so it’s smaller than Wengen. The bus drops us off in the spookily quiet village.

Lovely views to the south. 

We buy a doughnut from the bakery and walk up the hill away from the village centre. After a while we begin to hear kids voices. It can’t be a school because it’s Saturday. Before long all is revealed. The village has a ski lift.

It’s brilliant. One single ski lift is enough to occupy all the kids in the village and quite a few grown-ups too. 

There are several routes back down, and the kids just tear about. There’s a big coat rack at the bottom where they leave their rucksacks.

We liked Habkern a lot. It’s probably the most laid-back ski village in the country.

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Less cold today and still very sunny. Ascending Männlichen on the gondola.

Very few people around. This is the main drag from the top.

Cloudy and cold down in the valley under the fog.

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Lovely morning. Here’s Val coming down from Honegg.

Lunch in the teepee.

Up on the Lauberhorn after lunch it started to get windy, and before long we had a big storm with lifts and even the trains stopping for a while. We skied back to the village in double-quick time.

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Good ski up at Männlichen today, the snow is fast and grippy. Lovely sunshine. Every Tuesday evening the Inghams reps organise curling. You need teams of four for curling so as we live 50 yards from the curling rink we get a call to make up the numbers.

Val was the winning skipper. I’ll never hear the last of it. John would be proud. 

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Lovely day up the hill, cloudy down by the lake.

Ice sculptures on Männlichen, it’s the International Snow Festival in Grindelwald. 

Usual apres ski drinks.

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Not much to report from the last couple of days. Here’s Mike, our resident American consoling himself after the Trump inauguration. 

Marching bands in Interlaken yesterday. There’s a music festival on all week.

Good party in Rocks last night. 

Today was spent cleaning and watching Dave Ryding get Britain’s best ever slalom result in Kitzbuehel.

Later on Jana popped round from next door with a chocolate cake that she’d made. Delicious!

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Another sunny day, and it’s getting milder. Not too busy at Scheidegg.

Enjoyed the sun on our balcony this afternoon. All you can hear is the sound of dripping water as the snow finally admits defeat to the power of the sun. The icicles that form on the sunny side of nearby buildings come crashing down every few minutes.

Off to Grindelwald for a curry tonight, must dash as we’re getting the 17.03 train.