 Poster: A snowHead
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@telford_mike, fantastic! That's my weekend planned 
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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, Thanks for that update. Looks superb!
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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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Yes all figures on snow depths quite legitimate, I carry a small folding ruler in the rucksack.
Opposite Kleine Scheidegg station I measured 64cms on a couple of spots then round by the top of bumps t- bar we were down to 53 cms. Problem was, it was heavy with poor visibility.
Hoping it will stay cold tonight and possibly dryout/lighten up a little. Still fun though.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Rogerdodger, sounds good, thanks for the info.
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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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Hearing from a friend about a near miss on "Oh God", one partially buried but struggled free and quickly recovered his buddy.
We talked about , then instantly dismissed Oh God on the grounds it was too steep under todays
circumstances. Those involved are very lucky indeed.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The snow finally stopped at around 9pm this evening, heaven knows how much has fallen bit it's an awful lot. Epic snowfall, and it should be an equally epic day tomorrow in the sunshine. See you up the hill in the morning!
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This has probably been asked a million times but why are the snow cannons on after such an epic snow fall?
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| Rogerdodger wrote: |
Hearing from a friend about a near miss on "Oh God", one partially buried but struggled free and quickly recovered his buddy.
We talked about , then instantly dismissed Oh God on the grounds it was too steep under todays
circumstances. Those involved are very lucky indeed. |
Where is that?
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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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@DCG, oh god is no. 27 on the piste map. It's a black that hasn't been pisted in years. As you go down the blue from eigergletscher you have a black no. 32(black rock) that bends round to the left as the blue bends round to the right. To get onto oh god you go straight off the edge
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Perfect day.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Rode up to Fierst at 3 PM Thursday afternoon to do the Cliff walk, which is marvelous. We were a bit too late to do the FLIEG ER.
Skied Kkeine Sch in am ….. 930. Things got soft fast and a lot of folks Whether locals or in my group seemed unhappy with the conditions -it would softened up pretty fast on the sunny slopes. They really need more grooming. A local Swiss girl said the slopes had not been well prepared. I am sure there were plenty of others though who knew exactly where to go and thought it was marvelous. If we had brought our own skis with us from the USA we probably could’ve handled them better as well.
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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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@Medskisphilly, I’d echo the poor preparation sentiment. Quite surprising.
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I’ve had this before after heavy snow. Is it maybe that the pistes were prepared normally last night but then heavy snow fell on top and once a few hundred people had gone down all the fresh snow was churned up in the warming conditions making for poor piste conditions?
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You know it makes sense.
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@EdYarker, yes, that's about right. The sun was very strong today, so the fresh snow softened up rapidly. All-mountain skis really help when it’s like this. In years gone by they would have re-pisted a few runs towards midday, but alas it doesn’t happen anymore on safety grounds. Tomorrow the pistes will be firmer after a good freeze tonight, and they’ll keep getting firmer each day until we're back to normal freeze/thaw spring conditions.
It was still corduroy on Fallboden at about 11 this morning, but south or east facing stuff was already suffering by then.
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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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A pretty chaotic day here in the Jungfrau Region. A föhn storm was forecast, and sure enough Kleine Scheidegg and all the lifts there were closed down by midday. Many skiers were caught out and had to ski down to Grindelwald, whether they wanted to go there or not, owing to a lack of uplift. An issue with the First gondola kept it closed for most of the day too - I assume this was technical rather than weather related. Männlichen managed to keep a couple of lifts open until mid-afternoon. Across the valley, the Mürren-Birg-Schilthorn cable car connection closed this morning, as did the Schiltgrat chair, but the lower runs from Winteregg across to Allmendhubel remained open, if a bit breezy. Mürren is often the best place to ski in a storm like this.
To make matters worse, an issue with a piece of derailed rolling stock at Lauterbrunnen meant that trains up to Wengen were severely delayed this afternoon.
Not a great day. As I write this, the wind is howling down our chimney, and I think I'd better go out and secure the furniture on the balcony. The barometer is still falling, and the temperature is a ridiculous +9C. Tomorrow could easily be a repeat performance.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@telford_mike, yes the run down to Grindelwald was crazy busy yesterday afternoon. Honestly thought the roof was going to blow off at one point in the night!
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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, how rare is it for the trains up to Kleine Scheidegg not to be running? Or does it happen often when the weather is bad?
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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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| jonm wrote: |
| @telford_mike, how rare is it for the trains up to Kleine Scheidegg not to be running? Or does it happen often when the weather is bad? |
Maybe 2 or 3 times each season. Scheidegg will remain closed all day, but the lifties for Männlichen have turned up at Terminal, so there may be some uplift there this afternoon.
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Then after the föhn comes the rain. Stair rods down here in Lauterbrunnen, let's hope the temperature drops steadily and we get some more snow.
If all else fails we have France v Wales to look forward too.
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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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@Rogerdodger, snowing quite nicely in Wengen.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Alastair Pink wrote: |
@Chris Brookes, thanks for the link, the photos are also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fondsverkehrsverein.murren
The new carriages will replace the old ones that date from 1967 and are non wheelchair accessible. Incidentally according to Wikipedia the former funicular from Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp shared the same track gauge as the railway, enabling the use of the funicular to transfer rolling stock to and from the railway. Of course the old funicular was replaced by the cablecar from Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp in 2006, so the carriages will now have to be taken overland up the narrow path to Winteregg, a tricky operation by the looks of it! |
Someone posted on Facebook that the new BLM railway carriages are due to come into operation in June this year, so if that's the case I'll be able to check them out this winter. 
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Was talking to a guy who works for the Schilthornbahn this morning. Apparently the sections from Mürren to Birg and Birg to Schilthorn will each have 2 cable cars. The cabins are entirely independent of one another however, so they can both run together or they can just run one if demand is low.
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On 6th March I reported a close shave (avalanche incident) on Oh god. To put the severity into context, as of yesterday none of the skis had been recovered. This is a regularly skied off-piste bank with extremely easy access from the Eigergletscher lifts.
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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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| Rogerdodger wrote: |
| On 6th March I reported a close shave (avalanche incident) on Oh god. To put the severity into context, as of yesterday none of the skis had been recovered. This is a regularly skied off-piste bank with extremely easy access from the Eigergletscher lifts. |
Geez. I read about that when you posted it, Roger. Bit of a worry, for sure. There’s a lot of that kind of stuff there - I skied some of it when I was out on my own before we met up. Bit of a worry, for sure.
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How can he have lost his skis and removed himself from the slide on Oh God
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We can only assume they (2 people) had a very long and difficult walk out.
If the pisteurs were called then they may have provided transport on the skidoo.
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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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What a difference 24hrs makes! Monday was a day of persistent torrential rain. The snowline was up at 2400m, all very depressing.
Today wonderful blue sky and some delightful fresh tracks at Grindelwald : First.
The early morning snow was remarkably good. With strong sunshine south facing steep slopes were avalanching quite freely.
A delightful day.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Rowlski, yes the Swiss rail transfer ticket is no longer available, but I find the saver day pass is the best flexible ticket option for travelling from airport to resort and back (in my case to Wengen, but it covers the whole Swiss rail network). The saver day pass used to only go on sale 60 days before the date of travel, but they've recently relaxed that period so it now goes on sale up to 6 months before the date of travel. If you buy it early it's 52CHF each way (which I think is actually slightly cheaper than what the old swiss transfer ticket used to be). You said you intend flying to Zurich, but it's worthwhile noting that if you fly into Basel airport (Easyjet use Basel) the saver day pass also includes the bus from Basel airport to Basel main train station.
There is a slightly cheaper supersaver ticket but that's only valid for the particular time train booked, whereas the Saver Day Pass is valid for any train that day so gives you total flexibility in the event of your flight being delayed.
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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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Thanks @Alastair Pink, I hadn't really thought of Basel so good shout as the flights are actually cheaper too! Will most likely go for that.
Do you know if the Wengen slopes would likely be open that early? Looks like Mannlichen and Kleine Schiedegg were this year but not sure if that is typical or because they had good early snow this season?
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Rowlski wrote: |
| Thanks @Alastair Pink, I hadn't really thought of Basel so good shout as the flights are actually cheaper too! Will most likely go for that. |
German railways (DB Deutsche Bahn) run some train services that start in North Germany and go through Basel all the way to Interlaken Ost. So if you get one of those trains at Basel station they are direct with no changes to Interlaken Ost. Incidentally Swiss railways have also reintroduced some train services from Zurich airport to Interlaken Ost with no platform changes needed at Bern, I think those no platform change services run every two hours (the services in between require you to change platforms at Bern).
| Rowlski wrote: |
Do you know if the Wengen slopes would likely be open that early? Looks like Mannlichen and Kleine Schiedegg were this year but not sure if that is typical or because they had good early snow this season? |
Someone local like @telford_mike is better placed to answer that, although I think for 14th-21st December Mannlichen and Kleine Scheidegg would normally be open?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Rowlski, Here are the opening dates for this season:
Kleine Scheidegg: 02.12.23 - 28.04.24
Männlichen: 09.12.23 - 07.04.24
Grindelwald-First: 16.12.23 - 01.04.24
Mürren-Schilthorn: 09.12.23 - 21.04.24
So snow conditions permitting, you should be fine. These dates are planned months in advance as lifties, SOS etc need to have employment contracts. It doesn’t mean that absolutely everything will be open of course, but it’s a very quiet time of the season so it doesn’t really matter. There's almost 100% artificial snow coverage in the area these days, so unless it’s unseasonably mild you can have some confidence.
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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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Thanks @telford_mike, I did see those dates and wasn't sure if they were typical or earlier then usual given early snowfall and bringing opening earlier. Good to hear that's fairly typical so think we'll give it a go!
@Alastair Pink, Basel is working out cheaper on the flights by almost £200 so looking like a winner.
Fingers crossed for some more decent snow fall this weekend to keep this season going nicely.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Rowlski wrote: |
@Alastair Pink, Basel is working out cheaper on the flights by almost £200 so looking like a winner.
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I don't know if you've ever flown into Basel airport, but actually it's in France. When you exit the baggage reclaim area there are actually 3 exits, one for France, one for Switzerland and one for Germany! You obviously need to use the Swiss one. When you go through the Swiss exit and go outside you'll see the bus stop for Basel main train station. It's bus line number 50, the service is very frequent and takes about 20 minutes. The bus is a long two section bendy bus and there's usually enough space for luggage etc. As I said if you have the Swiss railways saver day pass that includes the bus from the airport to the Hauptbahnhof.
Incidentally if you get to Basel Hauptbahnhof with some minutes to spare before your train then there's a good Migros supermarket in the station where you can stock up on prepared sandwiches and water etc for the train journey.
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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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| Quote: |
there are actually 3 exits, one for France, one for Switzerland and one for Germany!
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I'm pretty certain there isn't an exit for Germany. There might have once been mention of Germany on the sign pointing to the French exit, but you can't get to Germany without transiting through France (or CH) first.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@jonm, yes although the exit signs mention Germany as you say the transfer busses to places like Freiburg in Germany actually leave from the French side.
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Thanks @Alastair Pink, really useful info as have been to Zurich, Geneva and Berne but never Basel! Getting train journey food a good bet with teenagers in tow.
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Conditions are pretty grim right now. I was there this past week and it was rain below about 2500m which continued to ruin everything below Schilthorn. Icy/hard early and slush by late morning even near the tops of Mannlichen/Lauberhorn. Even the bottom half of the Rigglie/Birg area was crunchy Thursday after the snow. There were a bunch fresh powder lines to grab off Schilthorn/Birg/Kandahar though.
The only valley run left open now is the blue from Eigergletscher to Grund, but it's no longer possible to ski from Grund to Terminal. The red piste to terminal is completely gone under Holenstien and the red/blue run from First to the bus stop bar is also gone/closed, so you have to unload down from Bort. It's horrible how much snow has melted from when I was there in mid February. At least the views are still amazing when it's clear (Jungfrau region is one of my favorites in the Alps).
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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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Super morning up at Scheidegg, this weekend's fresh snow and colder temperatures have really improved things. It’s quiet too. We had coffee at the Hütte around 11 and our group were the only customers.
Hotels in Wengen are beginning to close - the Alpine shut its doors this weekend. Most of the others will keep going for another week.
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A gem of a morning, fresh snow, cold air (at last) blue sky, great company and no crowds!
Some laps off Oberjoch finding nice fresh tracks then out towards Faulhorn.
Skins on and a delightful climb up to Fernandeshitta. The ski down was powder, hardback and most things in between. Beer and garlic bread at Waldspitz completed a wonderful day.
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FAQ
Had been planning on flying to Zurich and getting the train but wondering if it's now cheaper than hiring a car? There's 4 of us so fearing train fares may rack up! Oh and think Zürich as it looks to be a (slightly) shorter train journey.
