Poster: A snowHead
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I saw a report that the railway line from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen has been closed today due to land slippage? If that's the case then I guess any people arriving with luggage today will need to go to Grindelwald then take the train up to Kleine Scheidegg and from there train down to Wengen. At least there is an alternative route for them though.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The line from Lauterbrunnen was closed until about 1.30pm. Still closed to Scheidegg owing to avalanche danger. No trains from Grindelwald to Scheidegg either.
Still raining, avalanche danger officially 4/5 but to be honest you'd be nuts to try going up the hill today.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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telford_mike wrote: |
The line from Lauterbrunnen was closed until about 1.30pm. Still closed to Scheidegg owing to avalanche danger. No trains from Grindelwald to Scheidegg either.
Still raining, avalanche danger officially 4/5 but to be honest you'd be nuts to try going up the hill today. |
Some resorts like Ischgl totally closed today - and some cut off...
Hoping all ok in 3 weeks time - a week of sunshine please
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Quote: |
Hoping all ok in 3 weeks time - a week of sunshine please
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Seconded!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Spectacular avalanches coming off Schwarze monch this pm. Suspect the thaw had crept up to a higher level.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Any updates ? We are coming out to Wengen on Saturday? Any idea of next weeks weather and conditions ?
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Mild and blue skies today. Superb, and not too many people around so you can cover a lot of ground.
Pistes fine all the way back to the village, avalanche danger down to 3/5.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Right - never having been to Wengen I am guessing given a couple of clues that that is Eigernordwand?
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@buchanan101, correct! Known colloquially as 'easyJet'.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Easy ... only 3 x 6 seaters and the other two don't face south-ish....
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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looking at map I assume best to avoid going down to mid Mannlichen gondola (as probably difficult to get on and v slow) and better to use Mannlichen and Lager chairs when on that part of the mountain?
2.5 weeks now...
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Yes, that’s what most people do. However, the piste down to the middle station is a bit of a gem, (super-easy red with an entertaining compression at the beginning) so it’s worth doing, particularly if the weather's a bit iffy and you want some trees to help the viz. You do need to avoid peak periods, but the usual trick is to look at the gondolas coming up the hill before you make your decision. If you can see an empty one every so often you probably won’t have to wait too long.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Lovely sunny day today, popped over to Mürren. Spring-like weather means spring-like conditions. Pistes were great early on, but anything with a southerly aspect, e.g. Maulerhübel soon got very soft. Later in the day some of the busier spots got pretty slick. Temp at Winteregg +7C.
Sorry for the poor pic, the camera in my phone is broken so having to use an old iPhone.
Oh yeah, one more thing. No fish & chips on the lunch menu at the Bellevue! Chris can you have a word please?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@telford_mike, no fish and chips!!, will speak to Othmar (the owner....lol)
Snow and low temps from Wed night onwards, fingers X for a good amount of snow. Going warm Saturday and then dropping on Sunday with more possible snow??
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Is the cheapest way from the airport still the transfer ticket? I`m heading back over again next month.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Deedee wrote: |
Is the cheapest way from the airport still the transfer ticket? I`m heading back over again next month. |
Yes
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Colder today with heavy snow. Windy up high with intermittent lift closures.
Looks like the mild weather is gone for a while. Temp in Wengen this afternoon -1C.
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@telford_mike, and anyone else:
We (family of 4) are considering a summer hiking trip in the valley, but being Switzerland, accommodations in Lauterbrunnen and Wengen are pretty pricey. Is Interlaken the best less-expensive (we know it won't be cheap...) option? Gasthaus, AirBnb, something else I'm missing? Ideally we'd be within walking or bus distance of trailheads around Lauterbrunnen, thinking about avoiding car rental.
Thanks for any advice on the region in summer, sorry for the programming interruption.
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@Pasigal, You are right, Lauterbrunnen is more popular in summer than it is in winter (many of the hotels are closed in winter). Wengen is expensive at any time of year.
Interlaken has lots of cheaper options, particularly away from the centre of town, also look at Wilderswil. Most of the smaller places use Airbnb nowadays, and Tripadvisor should give you some good info.
To be honest if I was here on holiday in summer I'd rather stay in Interlaken anyway - there's much more variety and far better poor weather options.
The new Youth Hostel next to the station at Interlaken Ost is very nice:
https://www.youthhostel.ch/de/hostels/interlaken
Good luck!
Last edited by After all it is free on Thu 1-02-18 18:06; edited 1 time in total
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@telford_mike, Cheers, thanks for the tips. Think we'll aim for Interlaken then.
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A much better day today but it’s really cold, -8C in the village this morning and -11 up at Scheidegg. Yesterday’s snow has led to a marked improvement on and off piste. Looks like the weather will stay cold for a while.
The village is looking lovely.
Star Wars - The Last Jedi is on at the cinema tonight.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Lovely photo, telford-mike. The powder was very welcome and extremely enjoyable.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@Rogerdodger, thank you sir
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Only a week to go now ... forecast seems to be cold all next week with occasional showers. Snow-forecast has more snow/less sun than Bergfex.. Hopefully the weather holds like that for the Half Term week.
Just one question Mike - surprised How few runs there are on the Wengen aspect of the mountain - height and aspect? Too many trees would have to go?
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You know it makes sense.
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It's mostly because the terrain between the Lauberhorn and the village isn’t suitable (cliffs) and is very avalanche-prone. In addition, once you descend further than Wengernalp, there are no lifts to get you back up into the main Scheidegg / Eigergletscher area (though you can obviously do it by train).
There did used to be more runs and lifts on 'our' side of the mountain but by and large they were short and the lifts were old so they fell into disuse.
The opening of the new Männlichen cable car in 1999 made that area accessible in a mere 5 minutes from Wengen, and it really changed the whole dynamic of skiing here, as prior to that most skiers went up to Scheidegg on the train at the beginning of the day. Of course the new trains are much faster than the ones they replaced, so Scheidegg has regained some of its popularity as a starting point.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I meant below/west of the railway in Innerwengen area.
Yes train v cable car...? We will be on the train anyway. 42mins all the way. Were the old engines like the ones on Snowdon (Swiss made)?
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Poster: A snowHead
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They've been electric here since 1909, but even 28 years ago when I first came here they were slow and uncomfortable.
There used to be an additional piste down towards Innerwengen (it was called Telegraph Field). It wasn’t sufficiently popular and I think it was abandoned about 20 years back. As it is you still have about 4 or 5 variations to try from Wengernalp down to Innerwengen by combining different sections of the blue/red/black runs.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just back from the kino (Star Wars v. good!) via the pub. Noise from up the hill - snow cannons! They’re all runnng, presumably as we have lots of water from the rain last week. Never known this before in February. Still very cold needless to say.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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The reservoirs would be above the snow line surely so won’t have had rainfall? Presumably though lower slopes a bit thin. But good to hear (!)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The reservoirs can have water pumped up to them from lower down.
Telegraph field was I think removed as a run because a lot of it was basically just along a very similar parallel route to the other red run with a slightly different end to come down to Innerwengen, in the old days when pistes were only the width of a piste basher or two it made sense to have more pistes now they do the whole slope,
Mannlichen used to have more pistes, including a black that went down the old race track and came out near the Larger chair, now it's almost pisted from one side to the other.
It is possible to ski the front face of the Mannlichen down to Wengen but you do so at your own risk and if you try it with a high avalanche risk you may get arrested for putting the village in danger, I know a number of old instructors who have skied down I also know that two canadians or americans were arrested for doing so in the 80's after they caused an avalanche that made it onto the nursery slopes, it's also possible to ski from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen with enough snow but no one usually bothers.
There used to be a second route into Wengen where one would cross over the railway near Allmend station and arrive in Wengen near the Old Mannlichen bottom station, this went a long time ago (late 1950's or early 60's I think) as it was at far greater risk from the Avalanches that drop down the front of the Mannlichen.
The Bumps area (the opposite side of the bumps t-bar lift to the race track) used to be considerably bumpier and was mainly un pisted leaving a lovely natural gentle mogul field that was great for learning technique, modern practice has resulted in these moguls being virtually non existent these days which is sad and may be one reason that the Bumps Lift gets little use these days. On the other hand anyone old enough to remember the scary mogul fields that would form over on the upper slopes above Murren is probably grateful for winch equipped piste bashers that have certainly made those slopes safer
A few other short runs through the woods have been deleted due to those areas now being protected nature areas, one or two runs have been altered due to changes to lifts and one or two added e.g Gummi Nord which can only be skied safely after a lot of snow, if you have walked the area in summer you know that particular route is covered in boulders, unlike most of the other pistes which are mainly green fields.
The old trains that I remember had first and second class sections with second class being hard wooden seats and the ticket collector had to open a door and go outside between carriages with only a tiny outside step big enough for one foot outside each door, especially impressive given that one of those collectors had a club foot and wore a built up boot! Prior to those were the old green engines that were still used on busy days when I first went there in the early 70's, Ironically it was the construction of the Jungfraubahn to Jungfraujoch that led to the Early electrification of the WAB, they could not safely use steam through the 9km of continuous tunnel so built a hydroelectric station in Lauterbrunnen, they subsequently found that this could generate more than sufficient power for the WAB as well as the JB and so the Wengen side was electrified, I believe that it took a while longer to electrify the Grindelwald Side
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@telford_mike, many a time I have turned left just before the chalet with the red shutters, cold and raining here today on the sunny South Coast
40 years ago there was a nice little drag lift that went from just below the road below that slope across the road and up the hill to a spot near where you took that picture, this is back in the day when ski school did technique in the morning in the village and went op the mountain in the afternoon, classes 5 & 6 used the steeper brunner slopes, those of us who could summon the courage would use a lottle hill at the bottom to jump the road, those with more courage than me would jump the road when one of the little flat electric trolleys was on the road
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Sat 3-02-18 16:52; edited 1 time in total
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Interesting posts, thanks, The Bumps... saw the drag on footage of the downhill. No one on it
Drag lifts?!
A way off weather forecast wise but looking sunny next weekend...
On a busy weekend Murren or Wengen better bet (from Lauterbrunnen). Is there enough chair capacity in Murren?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Drag lifts yes we have a good few.They act as a natural filter, there are two on the far side of Grindelwald very rare to hear English spoken around them!
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buchanan101 wrote: |
On a busy weekend Murren or Wengen better bet (from Lauterbrunnen). Is there enough chair capacity in Murren? |
The only question is how/where to get up the hill in the first place. Once you're up in the ski area (anywhere) there’s no issue with capacity.
3 suggestions:
1. Get up early, go to Scheidegg or Männlichen before the crowds arrive.
2. Get up whenever you like, get the BLM up to Winteregg (never busy) and ski across to Mürren.
3. Get up really late, go wherever you like - everyone else is already up the mountain.
The Ski Miquel people can help you with this conundrum too.
As you're staying in Lauterbrunnen, you have an advantage over everyone else in that you can get to the station before the train from Interlaken arrives, and easily get a seat on the train to Scheidegg. Just get there 15 minutes before it's due to depart and you'll have no problems at all.
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