Today is Paul & Julie’s second day of ski school. We join them on the hill for a couple of runs. Here’s Julie just above Brandegg. Incredible progress for her second day on skis!
Up at Scheidegg work to build the stage for the concert at the weekend is in full swing. It wasn’t a particularly peaceful coffee stop!
Paul on Bumps this afternoon.
And Val sweeping up.
Big football tournament on the snow covered ice rink this afternoon. Very popular event with kids and adults alike.
Matt has his very first skiing lesson. He was suffering a bit as his trousers kept falling down, but he did very well!
Great day today. Got up early and went for a ski. Quite crowded as all the locals have come up from Interlaken and Berne to enjoy the sunshine. Obligatory skiing pic:
Back in the village the big air competition and pool race are in full swing.
Paul, Sally, Julie and Matt have arrived from the UK, so big night out tonight.
The weather’s getting very confusing. I’m not sure whether it’s summer or still winter. The calendar says winter, so we get up early and go skiing. We were almost the only ones, despite the snow being very good. Val descends the Lauberhorn.
Back in the village, preparations are well underway for this weekend’s festivities. On the left you can see a big pool liner. This will be filled with water to make a huge pond. On the right is a ramp with an inflatable trampoline just beyond. I wonder what they might be used for. Tune in tomorrow to find out.
If it were summer, we would go walking. Well it feels like summer, so here goes. Babbling brook that runs down the hill just along from our place.
Some of the animals are being released from their winter captivity onto the pastures below Wengen.
Needless to say all the babbling brooks have names. Good opportunity to fill your water bottle.
Snack time at a place called Staubachbankli (try saying that with a mouthful of schinken sandwich). Amazing views of the mountains and the valley from here.
A few shots to give you a flavour of the village. Firstly, here’s a view of this great metropolis from the top of the nursery slope.
If you want to ski back to the nursery slope from the higher pistes (and you do, because it is surrounded by bars), you have to ski down a slope through a tunnel under the railway.
After the tunnel there’s a road. After the road there’s a short incline onto the nursery slope – so you need to go fast. So as you pass under the tunnel there are 2 things on your mind:
As, you can see, the guy in red has been pretty lucky on both counts.
600 metres below Wengen in Lauterbrunnen, summer is fast approaching. There’s no way to ski all the way down here, so the train brings dozens of sweaty skiers down from Wengen. Lots of people stay in Lauterbrunnen; it’s much cheaper than Wengen and it has lots of places to stay.
Back in Wengen, here’s Sina’s pub & restaurant, scene of many a jolly evening out, and home of the best ribs & chicken in the Alps. It gets awful reviews on Tripadvisor, but everyone here seems to really like the place. I certainly do, but after all, it is a pub.
Sunny today. The sun has done its work on the powder we skied yesterday, so it’s back to the pistes for everyone. There are very few people about, so we can ski far and fast. Here’s a rare shot of me.
And another!
Lunch stop.
Val on a popular run called Black Rock.
A nice picture of the Eiger. It’s hard to get the whole of the Eiger in the shot without making Val look very small indeed!
Kleine Scheidegg is little more than a railway halt on top of the pass between Wengen and Grindelwald. It has become the hub of the ski area over the past 80 or so years, and it has 2 hotels and lots of restaurants.
Today was what we call a powder day – the first sunny day after a snowfall. On days like this we look forward to skiing untracked ‘powder’ snow away from the usual runs – it’s called off-piste skiing. First, the views from the top this morning.
Don’t look down! Here you can see Wengen 1000 metres below, and top left of the picture is Lauterbrunnen, 1 vertical mile below us in the valley.
Lots of fresh show away from the pistes at Mannlichen
The Wetterhorn and the Schreckhorn above Grindelwald
Later in the day you have to search a bit harder for places to make fresh tracks. Secret places…
Follow