Jungfrau Ski region pt. 2

A snowHead

gamer2471, Not having kids I have no idea when next years Feb Half term will be, but previous experience suggests that the week before half term is usually pretty good Early February tends to have the most reliable snow, slightly longer days and uncrowded slopes, but quite honestly if you time things well you can go skiing in Wengen at half term week and still not worry about big queues.

Remember the following things, the 10am (ish) train up from Wengen is usually the busiest one of the day as a lot of the ski school classes are on it, so avoid it and try to catch an earlier one, likewise if going up the Mannlichen get there early I've walked straight on to a cable car at about 9am and had 2 runs down to the Mannlichen chairlift with almost no one else on the slopes, stop for lunch early and then whilst everyone else is stuffing themselves full enjoy the quiet pistes, the run from Lauberhorn down to Wixi is busy all day as it's in the sun from early on so go there first thing or during lunchtime to avoid a queue at the Wixi Chair (though this should change next year with the new chairlift going in) If the pistes are busy but you have good snow low down then take the runs all the way down to Grund and pick up the train or Gondola from there back up the lower runs are usually all but deserted because everyone is using the lifts from halfway to go back up .

telford_mike, I'm not sure that the Swiss will do a discount but they do know the meaning of the words "special offer" They can also be very generous if you don't take the mick, I've had special prices on ski hire for friends, free drinks in several bars, larger than normal portions in one restaurant and so on, if you respect their culture and the people you can be treated very well indeed and for less than you might think

A snowHead

Thanks for the advice there... It actually seems like what we done this year in terms of dates stayed and also how we 'managed' our time on the mountains ties in with what you recommend.. For example, we were always on the 1st cable car out of wengen... (as we always stay in a nice little place above the resident DHO bolt hole Just down the road from the high street wink

) and had lunch early each day to avoid the crowds... If you could cal them that... Never once q'd.
the newly renovated berghaus by the Eiger sledge run was a little secret we wil return to again next year... But still prefer the food at Brandegg.

So thanks for confirming... Looks like next year we'll do the same as this then.. and go just before half term to avoid everyone... Grumble grumble hehe

1st week of feb I reckon 2013....

I want to go twice a year, but the mrs is holding firm on that at the mo... I'll keep working on her.. So to speak.

Thanks for replies .. Appreciated

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

gamer2471, Just do what I've done on many an occasion and go for longer, it is after all cheaper, only one expense to get there and home, ski passes get cheaper the longer you stay you will enjoy the trip more Laughing

You need to Login to know who's really who.

hmmm that will take some work... elbow twisting and incentives.. could prove costly to me personally Laughing

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I guess I'm a lucky bunny. Mrs T and I had 4 days in Wengen at the end of February and have another week there beginning a week today. all the family are joining us (including 3 month old 1st grandson Laughing

Hope the snow stays goodish till then. we have no experience of spring skiing so any tips would be helpful!
D G Orf, Looks warm for the next week before we go. will snow be ok? not anxious, of course..........

You'll need to Register first of course.

Can't see all that snow they have melting but would expect it to be spring snow or even heavy wet slush by the end of each day, only tips I can suggest :

Avoid Lauberhorn after mid day, it faces into the sun so the snow will get very heavy and wet

Get up to the slopes early and come back early, at this time of year I'd want to be on the slopes right after breakfast and probably be back (or nearly back) by about 3.30pm even though the lifts will be open much later, stop off at Mary's Cafe or Allmend for a spot of afternoon tea and a cake/pastry in the sun maybe ?

The best snow will be on the Blue run to Brandegg, the Larger gully and the Middle run to Aspen where they spend much of the time in shadow

Mannlichen will tend to be better skiing than Wengernalp side

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

Pool race and a big air comp tomorrow.

Still great skiing all the way back to the village. Look out as you exit the tunnel above the nursery slope - the snow on the road melts after lunch!

After all it is free

telford_mike, yeah but considering a year or two ago the pool race was basically ending up on grass by the bar this years conditions are amazing, I can still see plenty of snow on roofs which at this time of year is very rare

The Canadian ski designer Paul Mathews had taken the Jungfrau region under the microscope, pointing to a possible future scenario.

His suggestions to the Jungfrau region can be accommodated in the future, in a nutshell:

The relationship between parking, beds and feeder systems must be improved(Mürren-Schilthorn, Kleine Scheidegg and Grindelwald-First Male) lanes would be replaced or renewed. In addition to first create a new freeride area that is accessible from the Bachläger again (see chart).
http://www.bernerzeitung.ch/region/thun/SeilbahnVisionr-skizziert-Skigebiete-neu/story/24799688

New 8-person gondola from Grindelwald to Bodmi station (450 meters in the tunnel).
New group orbit of the reason for the sports center and a car-free village street.
New Central Railway (Project Ypsilon, 3600 person capacity per hour) from the ground after Tschuggen with connection to the Scheidegg and masculine.
New cable car from the water station in Wengen over to Winteregg to link the areas of Kleine Scheidegg and Schilthorn better.

"Today you need from Grindelwald to the Schilthorn approximately one and a half hours, this should be doable in a new half-hour to be," said Mathews. belaufen. The estimated cost for all plants in the current situation would amount to some 300 million . "But do not panic, everything else is perfect," he says at the end of his remarks with a laugh.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Paul Matthews speaks a strange form of English that interests me strangely

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Yeah that's what you get from an automated translation from a Swiss German newspaper, some of his ideas may have merit, I'm still not sure about a gonola link across the Lauterbrunnen Valley and his suggestion of taking it from Wasserstation seems stupid to me, Wasserstation used to be the start point for the sledge run down to Wengen, prior to that it was the watering point when there were steam trains on the WAB I can still remember when it had great piles of logs outside and the trains would stop there, but it's in the wrong place for a transport link, it's difficult to get to on skis and it would just add to the congestion on the trains , and that's before we get to the issue of an unsupported wire holding the gondolas over a 3000 ft deep valley with the risk of aircraft hitting the wire, don't forget there's a helicopter airport in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, if we assume a 6 person gondola spaced every 20 Meters then one accident cutting the cable would probably kill up to 500 people as the gondolas fell to the ground, possibly double that if it was busy with people going both ways

snow reports

In keeping with this thread, thought I'd share a couple of photo's we took whilst in the area in Feb this year. Bit late, but better late than never or not sharing at all.
First time/holiday that we used the camera, it was so cold (-21) it refused to work after 1 hour of leaving the apartment in Wengen Laughing

View from our balcony of a morning in Wengen across the Valley towards Murren and Grutschalp..

View from Mannlichen down towards Grindelwald with inversion..

View above Mannlichen taking in the whole vista (not a soul in sight - apart from me on the right Very Happy

looking straight down the Valley)..

Needed a head for heights, perched on the ledge looking straight down towards Murren ..

gamer2471, Great pics, and it does look cold! Were you staying at Residence Breithorn? Your balcony view looks very familiar.

Big Air comp yesterday.

You know it makes sense.

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

gamer2471, Lovely pictures and thanks for sharing

sharing is caring Laughing

A snowHead

gamer2471, thanks for the lovely pics I particularly like the panorama from the Mannlichen with the clouds below

A snowHead

DHO looking for a Wenegn resort manager

http://www.downhillonly.com/site/vacancy.shtml
A one-bedroom apartment in Wengen is available free of charge to the successful applicant throughout the ski season. Lift pass, ski jacket and insurance are provided. The salary is negotiable.

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

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

gamer2471, http://www.chalet-service.com Very Happy

You'll need to Register first of course.

hmmm we use Dorothee too for #9 ... Can't see #3 on their website, do you have a private agreement Laughing

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

After all it is free

Everything still good in the Jungfrau Region. Barely a soul about at Scheidegg this morning, Mannlichen a little busier.
Warm weather continues, but still no problem skiing back to the village.

telford_mike, I keep meaning to ask, there's a great big sign down by the Innerwengen chairlift does it say anything interesting or is it simply someone building more flats ?

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

telford_mike, Not surprised, the large building that overlooked the Innerwengen Lift used to be a childrens home (or maybe a place were kids in childrens homes could come to for a break I don't remember the exact details) I believe that flat area was owned by them

snow reports

Filmed on the 25th March : freeride Sous with a bit of climbing (that shows it coming to the end of the season)

Freeride: Sous chilling 25.03.2012 from danA

http://vimeo.com/39164196

Off to Wengen early Friday morning snowHead

You know it makes sense.

Brian T, Enjoy, it's all good. Gloomy this morning with light rain in the village and a little snow up at Mannlichen.
Pistes lasted longer than usual owing to the cloud cover. Sun broke through about midday.
Skiing back to the nursery slope is a bit marginal now - you can do it but there's a bit of mud-hopping involved. Piste to the Hirschen still fine.

A last trip up the (current) Wixi lift.

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

Alpine Sensation opens on Jungfraujoch

In celebration of its centenary, the Jungfrau Railway today opened a new attraction on the Jungfraujoch – the Alpine Sensation. The history of the Jungfrau Railway and development of tourism in the Alps are staged in a 250-metre-long experience subway.
A 360° cinema has been built in the Sphinx Hall. A film carries visitors into the high-Alpine world surrounding the Jungfraujoch. A 250-metre-long tunnel and two halls have been created between the Sphinx Hall and the Ice Palace to provide space for staged presentations. Switzerland is presented as a wonderland. In a hall decorated with edelweiss lights, stands a giant snow globe depicting life in the Jungfrau Region and Switzerland. In a teeming crowd of wooden figures, the public are shown typical clichés and surprises in a constant interchange of day and night. On a moving walkway, visitors pass a 90-metre-long mural showing romantic paintings and illustrating the passion for the Alps and the development of tourism.

http://www.jungfrau.ch/nc/en/tourism/news-events/news/details/archive/2012/03/article/alpine-sensation-auf-dem-jungfraujoch-eroeffnet-1048/

A snowHead

telford_mike, Thanks Mike. Arrived 6:00pm in beautiful sunshine. Tomorrow should be busy with the concert at KS so may stay over Maanlichen side. Great to be here.. snowHead

A snowHead

Slopes almost empty today - perhaps most people attracted to Bryan Adams at KS. Skiing at Maanlichen was great but got soft after 12.00. Wonderful morning, then lunch on sun terrace and not a bad afternoon at Alpenrose with a few beers snowHead

(contented sigh) Happy

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

I miss Mürren and the amazing winter views -

and its only April.....booking flights next month Little Angel

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

About 10cm of fresh snow at Kleine Scheidegg today but it's of the wet, heavy variety and drop below about 1900m and the snow feels like setting concrete. Rain below Wengernalp. Should get much colder on Sat though.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Reading an interesting book about skiing in the Berner Oberland published in 1974. I was surprised to see a black run down from Maennlichen to Aspen, nr Grindelwald , described as a racetrack - perhaps where the Ritas Speedway sledge track is now? There was also a drag lift below Aspen. A black also went from Alpiglen down to Grindelwald via Brandegg and then off to the left as you look at the piste map. Again, perhaps this has become the sledge run?

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

pjd, The black down the Mannlichen I can remember doing myself, these days its (at least in part) a red, probably due to it having been widened over the years, they sometimes set up a slalom course on the upper section with a finish point a little above the Mannlichen chair bottom station, the black run used to go down the right hand side of the main slope as you look from the top towards Grindelwald, I believe it was used at some time pre 70's as an international level race course but I'm not sure when, the Mannlichen was being skied down long before any lifts went up, though in those days you traversed across the high path (avalanche prone even in the summer let alone the winter) before skiing down, I only know this because somewhere I have a picture of my Father and the rest of his ski school class, sitting in the sun at the top of the Mannlichen having a picnic before they skied down, there's not a single ski track to be seen below them.

The Drag lift at Aspen went relatively recently, not long after they removed the little lift at Eggplatz (if I remember correctly) which went from the Bottom of the Wixi up to the Blue run just above Wengeneralp, it was rarely used save under horrible conditions that resulted in both Wixi and Fallboden lifts being shut.

I'm not sure about the other black, there's a blue run that goes that way but I can't recall a black, unless it's the high White Hare route that starts near Eigergletscher, though that to my knowledge wasn't ever an marked run

From the 1970's you should also find that there was a red from just below the bumps lift that went down to Innerwengen though it might not be clearly marked, there was also a second run to Innerwengen (possibly marked Telegraph field) which no longer exists.

You might also find a small drag lift shown on the flat slopes between cafe Oberland and Allmend station that was used occasionally by the ski school (one of those horrid red plastic handle pull along things), lastly you may well see a drag lift up the brunner slopes, these are the slopes that go from the hotel Alpenrose up to the hotel Brunner, taken out in the late 70's they used this slope as a more advanced slope in the mornings for the top classes for ski school, I think it was classes 5 and 6 that used it, a great lift but it didn't have enough use to pay it's running costs, it used to take you up across the road on skis, mind out for the odd vehicle please

From earlier than that there was an other route into Wengen that ran from Allmend above the railway line back to the resort, there was also a drag lift up plum pudding hill (the mound just below Wengeneralp station to the left of the piste), that was ripped off the hill in a single night by very high winds which also badly damaged the buildings at Wengeneralp (before my time) I can remember the old concrete footings still that used to show through the snow on that hill, I think they were removed some time ago though. Cool

After all it is free

D G Orf, Thanks. Very interesting. The Brandegg black ends up in a place marked 'Sand'. It was only recommended for good skiers on account of it's steepness and narrow pistes.

pjd, Intresting, Funnily I remember the name Sand, but I couldn't tell you where it was. I suppose the run could have followed what is now the sledge run down to Brandegg, that certainly never used to be there in the 70's, in fact there used to only be one sledge run on the whole ridge from Manlichen to Kl Scheidegg, that used to start at Wasserstation, just below Wengeneralp or if you prefer just above the top of Bumps, I can well remember trains stopping there to let of dozens of people at a time with their sleds back in the 70's, as I recall the trains didn't used to stop at Alpiglen, where they now stop to let off the sled users, but did stop at the Salzegg halt, I know they stopped at Salzegg because my mother went up to the top on the train from there when she broke her leg in the 60's, in those days helicopters were a rarity and on the Grindelwald side they would take you all the way down to Interlaken hospital if you broke a bone, wheras on the Wengen side they would take you to the local doctor who could do most jobs himself, So when mum broke her leg in the punchbowl area (she fell and leg actually broke in mid air also tearing ligaments) her ski instructor gave her a piggyback to Salzegg station and then once they got her up to Kl Scheidegg she had the sled down to Wengen which was much faster than the train. The Ski instructor was the late great Heinz Von Allmen, a great ski racer in both Slalom and Downhill from the 1930's and 40's.

As an aside several runs in the area have been regraded since the 70's with modern piste machines able to cover the whole slope no matter what the angle and with runs made wider the level of difficulty has been reduced, also with the environmental lobby strongly in force in Switzerland many tree covered areas one used to be able to ski through are now restricted as nature reserves, I can remember being taught to ski through the trees with the ski school in the woods by the racetrack near the bumps lift, that said you can now take the turnoff from the racetrack to the bumps lift and that wasn't there in the 70's you had to cross back to the bumps side and ski down where the race track turns to the right

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Via Twitter - 'The Maennlichen skiing region will be open until 9th of April. Kleine Scheidegg until 15th of April. Schilthorn until 22nd of April'.

Help!!

Jungfrau Ski region pt. 2

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Resort Reviews and Trip Reports