@snowball indeed, a great photo, I was 3 then. I doubt my dad had even heard of skiing, it was certainly never mentioned in our house, how things have changed. I must admit, even though I was aware of it, I only learned when I was 54 in 2008, when my son, who was 27 at the time, went with some friends from church to Oak Hall at Lauterbrunnen. He came home and suggested that his brother and my wife and I would all like to learn, and we all signed up for a week with Oak Hall in Lauterbrunnen at the Hotel Staubach. And that was the start for us all. I've managed to fit about 20 weeks in since and really love it. These days we stay at the Victoria Lauberhorn. I can't wait to get back there. Like @telford_mike I would love to live there, but the wife wouldn't live that far from our grandchildren (who are little darlings). I must also say that we have actually been coming in the summer since 1982. Some years we'd bring our caravan for a whole month, visiting all the different parts of the country, usually with a week around Interlaken at some point. My youngest son had 13 of 16 birthdays in Switzerland, usually with a little cake from Migros for his birthday cake, as we were always on a bit of a budget!
Great to see much snow, but not so great that we can't get within a 1000 miles of there Oh dear, what a waste of such fantastic snow
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@snowball - if you have a few minutes sometime, you must tell how it has changed over the years since you first came. Have you got any old literature or piste maps around?
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?
I don't have piste maps but I do have my next (1958) pair of skis, and boots from about the same date (I'll find a photo tomorrow). However, when my mother died four years ago (age 100) I did find many reels of my father's 16mm films he took on holidays when I was young. I know some show skiing. I remember a film taken at Lech and I bet there would be something from Jungfrau too. I don't know what state they are in, but it would be great to get them put onto video. It's late so I'll sign off for now.
@snowball, Can't quite believe that your Dad allowed you to ski without a helmet?
Fantastic backdrop!
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@snowball you must get those films converted (or if you have a projector, do it yourself will a GoPro or decent smartphone (loads of video on YouTube to show you what to do) and put them on YouTube or the Facebook Ski Club page - be great to see them!
Very cloudy around the Jungfrau today on the webcams @telford_mike and the Wixi and Eigernordwand lifts don't seem to be running. Also the piste bashers are out still up the top of the Wixi. Is it too windy or too much snow?
@DixieDean, raining, & avalanche level 4. Only Gummi and Arven lifts running, so you can go to Männlichen and ski around to Scheidegg and back to the village. Grim day.
Update - everything closed now. It's raining all the way to the top, and after all the snow the avalanche danger is severe.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Pic from Steve at Central Sport
After all it is free
After all it is free
.
@northantsred, I assume that was a joke. Nobody wore helmets back then. Until, perhaps, 20 or so years ago it was still the mark of less experienced skiers who wore helmets as they were learning. But by then a generation who had grown up wearing them had made it a mark also of expert skiers and soon after that I bought one too.
Between 1962-82 I and the family stopped going skiing as my father had stopped skiing a few years before, because he had developed a type of MS. I hadn't been back since about 1958, so my memories are mostly not detailed. When I returned to the Jungfrau in about 1990 it didn't seem much changed, though I imagine Wengen village must have been a bit bigger and there were probably a few new lifts.
I have quite a strong memory in the 50s of the famous "bumps" - a steepish field always covered in big moguls on the run back to Wengen (of course there were no piste bashers).
I also have a memory of a windy day when they weren't operating the cable car up the Mannlichen but needed to get supplies up and when there was a lull they decided to run it, and I and my parents went with it. However the wind started up again and we were swinging so much they couldn't get the car into the top station and had to wait over an hour till there was a momentary lull.
Here are my Diplomat W, Kneissl skis from 1958 and and boots with inner and outer lacing. The binding is shown in the open position, with lever pulled back to show the release mechanism with its spring. The ring on the front end was simply turned to adjust. The (now rusty) edges were simply screwed onto the solid wood ski. The strap to stop the ski running away if released was simply wrapped around the ankle, so it was common to get hit by your ski when you fell over.
Last edited by After all it is free on Thu 28-01-21 12:43; edited 7 times in total
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@snowball How things have moved on, but it's good that you still have them, classics! But I'm glad that we now have much improved skis and boots.
@telford_mike that's not good to hear - do you think it is going to strip much snow away?
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@DixieDean, it's absolutely tipping it down, and the forecast is for more rain at village level over the next few days. It won’t help, that’s for sure.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@snowball, it's not a joke if I need to explain it . . . .
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.
I presume an ongoing joke, though I am too recently back on the forum to know it. Reminds me of the joke about the prisoner shouting 27 and getting a laugh...
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
No lifts open again today, and no trains beyond Wengen. Still avalanche level 4, and very windy at the top.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@snowball: thanks for sharing such amazing pictures... This is exactly the kind of skis and boots I start learning skiing with when I was 6 !
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@telford_mike What's the current situation in Wengen and indeed Switzerland. How is the town and the country getting along? How is the snow? Are you guys OK?
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@DixieDean, all good here thanks, lots of guests arriving for the holiday season this afternoon. We've had mild weather and a lot of rain - pistes are firm but we had so much snow in early January they’re still in great condition. Covid seems to have plateaued in Switzerland - the numbers aren’t going up but they’re staying persistently high. It’ll be interesting to see what the Federal Council does next, but I can’t see bars and restaurants opening any time soon. Here in the village we've had no more Covid problems since the December 'incident'. Quite nice today - about 9 degrees and dry for a change, and there's still snow right down to the valley floor.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@telford_mike Thanks for the update, glad to hear things have settled down in Wengen. Great photo, good to see snow all the way down. Is the red open down to Lauterbrunnen? A real pity the rain didn't arrive as snow! Oddly this year the rain in Scotland has mostly been snow and it's getting quite deep, especially as no-on is out on it. England is much warmer, though, although a few people have managed to have a ski down some of the steeper hills in the Pennines! Can't image us Brits at home will get the green light to come before the end of the season, in which case, if it's still open, I might head across with the caravan and have a few days up near Zermatt just so I can have a ski, before touring some other parts of Switzerland and perhaps some of Austria and Sud-Tirol. Failing that, we might have another go in September, doing something similar.
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?
@DixieDean, yes, the run down from Winteregg has been open for a couple of weeks now - fiendishly icy at the very bottom
Busy.
Like crazy busy. 7 people on this 6 seater chair.
New snow last night, pistes perfect.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Just back from a cheeky couple of days in Wengen. Very impressed with the new Gondola, and the base station in Grindelwald is super fancy. @telford_mike, agree pistes were in great condition. (Although I wasn’t expecting the moguls on red 13!)
After all it is free
After all it is free
Thanks to the virus, Wengen had a hard time in January. The Lauberhorn races were cancelled, most hotels were closed, and we were all involved in mass testing. Something needed to be done to cheer us all up. Here’s what the locals came up with – the Wengen Jerusalema dance.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
DixieDean wrote:
@telford_mike Lunch at Brandegg - don't get me going, I'd kill right now for a Bratwurst and fries!! Or a schnitzel at Allmendhubel!!
The Raclette at Grund station is the best. And, of course, the apple fritters at Brandegg.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
onefff wrote:
The Raclette at Grund station is the best. And, of course, the apple fritters at Brandegg.
Sadly I'm not a fan of Raclette, the smell makes me want to ... . But I'll go with the fritters!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
A large draught Rugen Brau takes some beating on price as well!
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.
New ski pass offer available now. Pass for the Kleine Scheidegg / Männlichen sectors - valid until the end of the season, CHF349. If snow conditions remain good, the season will be extended by a week (until 25th April).
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
telford_mike wrote:
New ski pass offer available now. Pass for the Kleine Scheidegg / Männlichen sectors - valid until the end of the season, CHF349. If snow conditions remain good, the season will be extended by a week (until 25th April).
Sadly cannot find the floods of tears emoji as this was the year with the new mannlichen and eigergletscher gondolas i was going to return when finally some decent and faster lifts had been installed
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Upper slopes are in amazing condition so we could very well see the season extended
Good conditions for XC in the Lauterbrunnen valley this afternoon.
Everywhere is very busy. The queue for the cable car at Schilthornbahn was right around the building. It's still warm and sunny - about +10C in Wengen this afternoon.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Link now live for new ski pass offer. More than 2 months skiing for CHF349, kids CHF149, 5 and under free.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Mike, love your "very busy" photos with absolutely nobody in sight. Conversely my Grindelwald mate sent me a pic this morning showing the Firstbahn Q, estimated at around 2 hours!!!
Now that's what I call busy
After all it is free
After all it is free
Rogerdodger wrote:
Mike, love your "very busy" photos with absolutely nobody in sight. Conversely my Grindelwald mate sent me a pic this morning showing the Firstbahn Q, estimated at around 2 hours!!!
Now that's what I call busy
2 hours? Wow. Surprised it's that busy, particularly as the Schilt lift is out of commission.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
It's still very mild - +13C in the village this afternoon. Pistes are fine all the way down to Innerwengen though.
There are still plenty of people around.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
The nice weather continues, but the crowds are largely gone. Typical spring conditions, hard early on, perfect just before lunch and soft later.
I only saw one queue all day, and that was when Männlichen chair broke down for 10 minutes.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
Oh dear, what a waste of such fantastic snow
