Jungfrau Ski region pt. 2

A snowHead

I don't think it matters what sort of event it is, whether sporting, music or other you'll always get the "dick head" element in the crowd! There will always be some that, despite paying their money to go, will cause trouble, make mess and generally annoy the hell out of others Sad

I have to say though that the holiday makers that frequent the Jungfrau area are a little more reserved (from what we've seen!) than the ones that holiday in say Mayerhofen etc!

But back to the ski Sunday thing.........it's the same every year! Martin does the ski down the Lauberhorn run with the camera, same run, same commentary and then the race, same shots etc. I understand that it's the same race every year but surely they could put a different spin on it?
And also........ Why not a little piece on the Inferno race in Murren? Just my opinions but I actually turned off on Sunday!

2 more days then I'm off to Murren!

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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Kijk kijk niet koopen Razz

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Beautiful morning on Schilthorn, Inferno loking good.

Unfortunately, the langlauf looms...

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Hi,
maybe one just for Chris Brookes, but back on page 21 http://airtime-paragliding.ch was mentioned as a good company (or even the best, followed by a wink)

Are any snowheads affiliated with these guys then ? As I've just rebooked to go back to Murren in June/July and am trying to decide on which company to go with for a tandem flight.

Likewise any Via Ferrata tips would be nice Very Happy

Apologies for no snow references but I'm depressed after already being back at work after our 1st stay in fantastic Murren.

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After all it is free

Whoever is on their way to wengen next week, you are in for a beauty. We have had an absolutely brilliant week. Will do full report once home. I don't want to go home.....

NE1, no matter what the conditions I never wat to come home from Wengen, sadly right now all I can do is look at the pictures from the live cams Crying or Very sad

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Ok I'm a bit puzzled - not an uncommon occurence Smile

jungfrau.ch is giving the snow depth at Kleine Scheidegg this morning as 130 cm, but Wengen.com is showing the snow depth at KS as 80cm. Am I missing something obvious? any info gratefully received. 5 weeks to go for us snowHead

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Brian T, if I were to have a guess Wengen com didn't use the latest snow report, it sometimes happens, usually if the tourist office hasn't updated their report from the previous day, I'd guess that tomorrow (or possibly Monday) both reports will give similar values, I've never known either to deliberately mislead

snow reports

There was about 10cm of fresh snow in Wengen yesterday and a dusting of snow higher up this morning, today looks like being a beautiful day in the Bernese Oberland with near perfect conditions, but make the most of it whilst you can because tomorrow brings the possibility of further snow showers though there may be sunny spells in the afternoon with similar weather on Monday, over those 2 days the area should get up to another 20cm or so of snow with Tuesday looking promissing for sunny weather at least in the afternoon, the end of the week looks likely to be cloudy again with the possibility of further snow, there may be strong winds over the next few days

Ok guys and gals we are home. Not quite the same view from my comfy chair here as the one from the belvedere bar.

We stayed at the belvedere which we loved, slightly out of the village square so much quieter. (We saw the damage to monitor window when we arrived on Saturday). It's has an 'arts and craft' feel to it, with amazing views down the lauterbrunnen valley, up to the jungfrau and over the bottom section of the lauberhorn downhill , which we sat watching from the bar (granted everyone was like ants but we enjoyed it). The Swiss ski team were staying in the hotel, so I can say I had breakfast with the winner of the downhill Very Happy

he was on the next table to us. The staff we friendly and helpful all week. We would return.

I was worried that being mileage hounds of France we would find Wengen repetitive, but it was not the case. We had a mixed bag of weather ranging from clear blue skies to whiteout, indeed we even had that in one day. The views are amazing (on a clear day), the mountains are majestic. We had fresh snowfall whilst there, indeed on Thursday night I think more came down than was forecast which lead to lots of loose snow on piste and very bumpy conditions. The pistes ranged from soft to crunchy and my are some of them so long! The pistes down to grindlewald go on forever, we particularly liked the one in the middle skiing down past the to tschuggen chair, which we were told used to be the women's downhill course. Other fave were the runs off hoenegg. We didn't get to grindlewald and although went to murren we could have been anywhere as it was a day of low cloud/fog and visibility was impossible. High note of that day was white hot chocolate in Piz Gloria, it's like drinking a white milka bar Very Happy

apparently the views are amazing, all we saw was a bank of cloud. Wednesday was the high note clear blue skies all day and much mileage undertaken. It was the busiest day by far, apparently everyone locally goes skiing on Wednesday and I have to say that we saw some absolute loonies bombing down piste with no regard for others, I think it was the worst I have ever seen. We decided everyone wanted to be a downhill racer!

We managed to do sections of the lauberhorn downhill track, I was especially pleased to have skied the narrow bit with the catch fencing. Last time I attempted a downhill track so soon after a downhill I ended up with a torn calf muscle and on elbow crutches for 5 weeks, so I did have a sense of achievement, even though they were the easy bits that we did.

The apple fritters at a Brandegg were delicious as described. I can recommend the goulash soup out of a jerry can at the self service at the top of the 'easy-jet' chair (so called by our rep due to its orange lids, the yellow one is called the wasp due to its seats).

Now for the cons- nearly every piste has an uphill section or a camber. Travelling between areas can be arduous (but part of the fun), the train from Grund to KS takes 30 mins. Being Switzerland everything runs to times, so we found we were clock watching more than in other resorts. We were once told we had plenty of time the train did not leave for 90 seconds Happy

. The tschuggen drag is too long. The little rope pull to get back into village should be improved, a conveyor belt or something. Shame there isn't more skiing above wengen itself most of skiing is on other side of mountain.

We have returned home feeling very relaxed, though aching at the knees. Would we return ? Absolutely. We are now Wengen converts. Thanks to everyone for answering all our questions and helping us to enjoy our holiday in this beautiful part of the world.

You know it makes sense.

NE1, unfortunately many of the slopes above Wengen are prone to avalanche, the worst ones have got as far as the ice rink, whilst there are several flat sections it is possible to ski the Mannlichen, Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen or Grund without having to walk, but you need to be areful selecting your route and not have people slowing you down on the flat bits, there are flat sections as follows

Kleine Scheidegg to the Wixi Chair, the initial traverse is very gentle you need to get some good speed leaving Kleie Scheidegg and stich to the higher let hand side for as long as possible, when you do slow almost to a stop gently point your skis to the right and you should make it to the ridge without having to walk

Kleine Scheidegg to Wengeneralp via the blue run, this is rarely possible to manage without at least a little walking unless the run is completly clear in front of you, if it is start as fast as possible and you might make it, fortunately this can be avoided by going up the lauberhorn just below wengeneralp station there is a flat spot, if you can make it across the footpath without slowing then you should get away without havig to walk.

Run 22 Blue Kleine Sceidegg to Brandegg there are two flat areas, the first is just before the left hand turn off to the Arven Lift, you go down the slope and through a narrow gap then have a sharp left turn onto the piste, if you go this way you won't have enough speed to go through the following dip and up the other side, instead of following the main piste to the left go straight ahead and up the steep bank in front of you, then ski from the top you will have enough speed to make it. The second spot is lower down and runs along the summer road through the woods, it's very flat here and hard to keep up speed, however you can go the alternative route, piste 24 on the left side after the arven lift, will take you down a steeper (still gentle) road that is just steep enough to keep you going.

The bottom of the runs down to Grund are all pretty flat, however you can avoid them completely by skiing to the Aspen Restaurant and taking the ski bus down to the station or gondola

Theres a gentle run from just above the arven lift to the top of the ladies downhill run, but you can avoid it completely by going up the Honegg lift.

Lastly we have the blue from Wengeneralp to Wengen, avoid the long flat to Allmend by instead going to Innerwengen and taking the chair up to Allmend, at Allmend take the high path beyond the restaurant and ski the nice piste down rather than fighting the hordes on the narrow piste below the tobbogan run, just be careful crossing the run.

That should get you past most of the walking sections in the area

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

D G Orf,

Thanks, wish i had known that before I went. Oh well next time wink

Don't forget the uphill sections heading towards the lager chair from mannlichen or the flat bit off the easy jet chair or the flat bit past wengeneralp station (especially when they are stopping you at the crossing for the clear up job). There are others but that would sound churlish. When we know the slopes better we will be able to avoid or prepare for these minor inconveniences Very Happy

A snowHead

NE1, for the larger chair it's not obvious but about 3/4 or more of the way down red piste no3 there is a cross over the ridge which lets you join red piste 5 the very end, it's possible to do this route without walking if you keep your speed up

If you know the subtle slopes at Wengeneralp it is possible to keep moving, pointing towards Wengen start on the right hand side and slowly go towards the telegraph poles, theres a very gentle slope down all the time but it's subtle, you can however keep moving without walking, the biggest problem is when following the blue from where the Lauberhorn to Wixi bridge crosses the railway, initially this is not a problem, you follow the summer road down to where it passes under the railway bridge, at this point the piste takes you over the road that leads down to the bottom of the Wixi Lift into a slight dip and then a slight uphill aand flat roughly below where the Wengeneralp hotel stands, you need to take a bit of speed through there BUT its a crossing piste with the blue from Wengeneralp going down to wixi and the footpath/tobogan run, just before the crossing is a small flat area to the right of the piste, you can stop there and check no one is on the lower crossing piste (check both to your left and below and to your right comig down the slope from the wengeneralp hotel und under the railway) then schuss down and up the other side, with a little good fortune you won't need to walk.

Oh and learn skating step, with a little bit of good fortune (not finding a crowd of walking skiers in front of you) it is actually possible to go down the Blue from Wengeneralp to Allmend without walking despite the uphill section before Allmend.

Oh and whilst I remember it, the blue run from Aspen gets you closer to Grund Railway station, the Red takes you to a flat base and you will have to walk across car parks to the Grund railway station or the Grund Gondola, If you go to Brandegg go early before the main lunch crowd and get the train up from there, the blues below Brandegg are nothing special and stay in the shadows till quite late in the day, the only time I ski down from Brandegg is if the conditions are great and theres a massive crowd in the cattle pen at Brandegg station

A snowHead

D G Orf, All noted for next visit snowHead

Thanks

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Generally speaking I found the Wengen area to be very good for flat spots, I was caught out only 3 times over the week, first was the top of 36, I chose to avoid for the rest of the week, the mid section of 21 in the trees, again avoided for the rest of the week and on the final day came to a standstill on 36 before Allmend, we had gone down to Inerwengen on the previous runs.

Being a boarder it is easy to get caught out so you tend to get very sensitive to the problem and tend to carry as much speed as possible when the terrain starts to level out.

Getting to the tow rope in the town was only just possible for me and most skiers were poling to get there due to the warm slushy conditions, I guess it would be much easier in colder conditions.

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JimboS, yes heavy snow or slush makes having to walk far more likely I'm afraid, whilst frozen surfaces make it much easier

Although Wengen is one of the homes of downhill skiing unlike many resorts it was not landscaped to suit skiers, there have been a few areas that have been sculpted, in particular there was something like 2m taken off the hundshopf and they sculpted the area near the arvengarten chair and the wixi bridge, but generally the landscape is as it was

The blue from Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen is also known as the rat run, it's pretty gentle for its whole length as is the blue to Grund, although there the piste doesn't stick entirely to the road so there are steeper sections, those roads take farm and construction equipment in the summer so need to be gentle, in theory they could probably get rid of the slight uphill incline before allmend, but the reality is that it's actually a safety feature, slow skiers coming from the blue do not generally colide with those getting off the chair lift, train or restaurant.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Hi,
Would anyone be able to give me details of the 20% discount on lift passes by booking in advance for Wengen ??
Heading out there again in week 11 .. beginning of March.

Thanks,
Giles

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Had a brilliant day today at Murren in perfect weather, the top part of the Schilthorn was a bit bumpy, but the excellent snow made that and the Kannonenrohr much easier than I was expecting. It was charming to see ladies skiing in long skirts and gentlemen in plus fours at the competition!

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

gdbn, http://shop.jungfrau.ch/en/skipass?___from_store=de book as early as possible I believe, Oh and get the more expensive Jungfrau pass which will cover you to Interlaken Ost, Murren and Grindelwald First as well as Wengen

Discounts are valid on passes from 2 - 10 days duration

After all it is free

Kandahar Ski Club 90th Anniversary

Celebrations all this week with the big Celebration dinner at the Schilthorn last night.

Honorary member Prince Edward receiving a pair of Skeida handmade 007 skis by Christoph Egger (Schilthorn Cableway CEO)

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Chris Brookes, congrats to all at the K on your anniversary. Trust you have a good week Very Happy

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Thanks guys for the help ....

Don't suppose ski hire is cheaper by booking in advance (Central Sports by the gondola) ?

You know it makes sense.

Chris - the Rotstock Ferrata is excellent, not difficult but great fun. You traverse from Eigergletscher under the Wall until you get to a grassy arête, go up that and the start is easy to find. You descend the Eiger west flank, fixed ropes. You need a full Ferrata set, if you haven't done any Ferratas I would recommend a guide at least for the first one. The Murren - Gimmelwald Ferrata is fantastic as well - just don't even think about it if you do not have a good head for heights!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

gamer2471,

I intended to do the Mürren-Gimmelwald Ferrata last summer but didn't get round to it...i'm hoping to do the Ferrata too this summer

I know plenty of local friends who have done it and given me the heads up and say its excellent. (if you can film it on a Gopro then stick it on your rented helmet). You can hire the helmet and harness at the Intersport shop (27chf) and it will take you around 3-4 hours. Make sure you have some money for the donation box at the end and enough for a celebration drink at the Mountain Hostel Gimmelwald when you drop off the gear. Depending on your ability you don't need a guide but if you know nothing and feel the need for support then Intersport will help you out too.

I hope that helps and please post here if you do it !!

http://youtube.com/v/rQACn3ONUAA

A snowHead

Mürren - Schilthorn is at a crossroads at the moment for its future, please spend 5 minutes on this survey.

by answering a few questions (will take you about 5 minutes).

Among all survey participants, we are giving away:
1 weekend for two persons in the hotel Alpenruh
(two overnight stays) including ski passes for 3 days.
Additionally we are giving away:
5 x two-day ski passes for the Schilthornbahnen
5 x one cable car ride from Schilthorn to Piz Gloria and back

http://www.mqcserver.com/heracles3/test/schilthorn

A snowHead

Dan Snows History of the Winter Olympics includes a section from Murren, which probably explains reports of the BBC filming there earlier in the season.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thanks for the videos of the paragliding and the via ferrata Chris. I certainly will post back on here when I've jumped and climbed in July. On that subject, was that Beni's or your video? Ie do they film and you can buy ? should you not have your own equipment for filming.

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NE1, you mean you didn't even see the bronze of Arnold Lunn by the railway station.

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After all it is free

We went to the railway station but couldn't even see that never mind a statue!

Snow forecast is predicting heavy snow over the next week. Any confirmation D G Orf?

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Brian T, not sure if I'd say really heavy, indications are for snow tonight and probably tommorow perhaps as much as 25cm in total with a good chance of it being a whiteout tomorrow, and then a furthrer fairly heavy snowfall (maybe 15cm) on Tuesday or possiblyWednesday with a good covering also possible on Friday perhaps as much as 10cm, the remaining days are likely to be snow showers with sunny spells but not significant amounts of snow.

Anyone out there care to report on the Allmend Restaurant condition I understand there's been a fire ....

Help!!

Jungfrau Ski region pt. 2

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