 Poster: A snowHead
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In the days before helicopters and trains (but not feet) how was Wengen reached? What's the earliest known settlement of the place, DGO?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It does amzae me how quickly they do repair things in Switzerland...
Elizabeth B, but they are ok and did they get his meds etc ??
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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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David Goldsmith, Oh gosh, Wengen was reached on foot or for goods, packhorse, the oldest part of the village is the market square which stands just below the hotel Baren, my favorite hotel, the Alpenrose, is the oldest hotel (originally an Inn) in the village at arround 120 years old, although it's changed a lot since it was first built but has remained in the same family, settlement of the village was probably not much earlier, prior to that it was mainly alpine chalets for farmers, development of the village as it is today only came with the railway, this is the reason why the current village centre and high street is such a distance from the original village marketplace.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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Chris Brookes, they're both fine, thanks. My dad missed 2 days of his meds (which triggers a "contact your GP IMMEDIATELY") but he managed to take the 2nd one 12 hours late!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Elizabeth B, good o !
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D G O, has anyone written a decent book about the history of the place?
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David Goldsmith, I've no idea, I know there have been books written about the area but I'm not sure about Wengen specifically
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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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D G Orf, No book yet but hundreds of posts!
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My parents phoned last night. Their back in Lauterbrunnen and doing okay. The power had been off, so the hotels were running on emergency generators (and encouraging everyone to eat fondue by candlelight!), but power was restored at around 8pm last night.
The WAB were running an hourly service up to Wengen, but only one car and people were being interviewed before they were allowed on (to check that they HAD to go up). it was mainly being used for goods. They're hoping that the power will be back to normal today, in which case they can run a full service.
Lauterbrunnen itself is largely unaffected by the floods (just one field by Camping Jungfrau is bad) but Isenfluh had to be evacuated the other night and Wilderswil is awful ("far worse than the Ost"). The footpath across the motorway (next to the railway) collapsed, so it looks like it will be a while before they can re-open the road.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Elizabeth B, it's even worse on the line to Grindelwald, the river has washed away substantial areas under the rail line, current estimates are that it will be weeks before things are back to normal, Wengen lost power and phones for about 24 hours and my friends in the Alpenrose were managing with candles, a log fire and 2 gas cookers, the WAB hasn't got sufficient power to go above Wengen, my guess is that the main power station for the railway round in Grindelwald (only just refurbished in June this year) has been badly effected, the worst area seems to be arround Zweilutschinen where the rivers all converge
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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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Trains are now running upto Jungfraujoch via Wengen. My mum and dad are up at KS at the moment and said that the rain hasn't deterred the Japanese!! There is a service from Grindelwald to KS. but it is limited at the moment.
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This is a pic of the line to Grindelwald
Or to be more precise it's where the line should be
More pictures and news can be found here select the pictures from 23.08.05 for two pages of images
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You know it makes sense.
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Some damage a !
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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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Chris Brookes, yes and that's the small mud slide !, most of the damage appears to have occured in the Grindelwald valley, extensive flooding has occured from Interlaken Ost to Wilderswil, part of the embankment on the railway near the airfield has given way, but that should be easy to repair and will be done quickly as it ended up over the main road below, Wilderswil is I understand still flooded but I can't see any major damage there so it should be just a cleanup detail, The station at Zweilutschinen appears to have got away with just minor flood damage, now as far as I can tell the track up to Lauterbrunnen seems to have got away with negligeable damage, to Grindelwald is another matter, there has been substantial errosion of the track bed 
and several huge mud slides 
Grund station looks like it got swamped by the river alongside it but hasn't taken much structual damage, likewise the generator station at Berglaunen which has only just been refurbished seems to have got away with minimal damage, if it had been on the other side of the river it might have been destroyed !
This is the main road and rail line coming into Grindelwald, the road bridge seems to have gone and I'd want a good enginner to check the rail bridge even though it still stands
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Poster: A snowHead
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He wasn't there, he didn't do it you can't prove a thing*
I believe you, DGO.
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* He didn't overflow his bath in Wengen
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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D G Orf, that rail bridge would have to be replaced ?
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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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Chris Brookes, I'm not sure, it might be ok it might need to be replaced, it depends on how much damage it's taken, it could for example mean that the bridge itself is ok but that the supports need to be replaced.
My guess is that barring any further damage the railway to Lauterbrunnen could be open within a couple of weeks, or less, of the floods going, the route to Grindelwald appears to need a lot more work, there's at least 2 sections where the track's been completely undermined and a further 2 sections where it's been covered by landslides
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
He wasn't there, he didn't do it you can't prove a thing*
I believe you, DGO.
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* He didn't overflow his bath in Wengen |
So Wengen has been laid waste since I have been off-line 
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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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hibernia, nope no damage to Wengen except a 24 hour powercut, a small amount of flooding in Lauterbrunnen the real damage seems to have occured in the Grindelwald valley and on down to Interlaken
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D G Orf - Yup - just been reading ( catching - up ) and yes Grindelwald seems , from your photos seems to have taken a major hit  . I was there only this March skiing and from your photos it looks quite a serious clean-up/ repair job.
I did observe that the tracks go into a very steep incline once they leave the town - and the disentegration of lthe soil with the heavy rain was waiting to happen. Did'nt realise it was so bad though.
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I wonder if they will create barriers for the future..just incase this might happen again
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The river near Grund definately had built up embankments you have to go up from the car park to get over the foot bridge and I guess they will reinforce the bridges etc, but there's not a lot they can do elsewhere, if you constrict the river to stay within its banks it just flows faster and you end up with more damage down stream, the river from Lauterbrunnen down has big stone structures in it to slow the flow in flod conditions and they might do the same from Grindelwald I guess
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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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I always wondered when taking the train upto Lauterbruunen how those big boulders got into the river.. 
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Chris Brookes, the natural boulders were kicked there by the local giant, I was refering to the stone and cement artificial boulders along the sides of the river
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
the natural boulders were kicked there by the local giant
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thats a relief then
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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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The train line between Grindelwald and Grund is out of action, with a bus replacement service, but trains are running up to KS. Not sure if they're starting at Grund, or just up the road?
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Elizabeth B, I think they're starting at Grindelwald which I believe was undamaged then going down to Grund where the pictures seem to show only a thin (few inches) layer of mud over the tracks, the worst damage (rather than flooding) seems to have occured between Zweilutscinen and the entrance to Grindelwald, however I note that the First gondola is not going above Bort at the moment, the Mannlichen seems to be fully open so I guess that the Gondola station at Grund got away with little damage, given that most if not all of the machinery at Grund is on the first floor that's not a big surprise
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You know it makes sense.
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Certainly yesterday it was a bus from Grindelwald to Grund, and they were running 1 in 3 upto KS.
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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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Yep there's definately a reduced service, I think the Berglaunen HEP station took at least some damage (there was a landslide on the opposite river bank) so is probably on a restricted power output, I was only going with the news from the Jungfraubahn which seems to indicate trains were going from Grindelwald but I could be mistaken
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Poster: A snowHead
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My dad (from his vantage point at KS!) reckons that they've just resumed a full service from Grund to KS.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Elizabeth B, Good vantage point, almost wish I was there myself 
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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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They'd bought a 6 day Jungfrau pass, planning on doing some walks. But due to current conditions, KS is about the only place they can go!!
The sun has come out though 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The webcam this morning from Jungfraujoch looked lovely,clear skies above the clouds !!
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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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Well, the parents managed to walk from Busalp to Bort yesterday. They said that the gondola was only advertised as going up as far as Bort, but when they got there it was definitely going higher.
They then got the bus from Grindelwald to Interlaken. The main road is shut, and cars and coaches can't access, but the post bus is running - using a series of back roads and farm tracks!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Is it best to avoid this region during the race week, or is that something not to be missed
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IncogSkiSno, Difficult one, most of the runs will be open for the week only the Race track and the Slalom course will be shut although they may not be shut until late in the week depending on conditions, however all the other runs will be open so skiing will hardly be effected, I''m going to be there from the Monday before till the Monday after the race so I get to see all the mad partying on Saturday and Sunday night, if you have a ski pass you can watch the races from almost anywhere on the course except the VIP stands at Wengenalp and at the end of the race track at Innerwengen.
The closest I've ever got to being out there at race time was leaving on the Saturday morning before the races started and I was only a small child that year, so this year I thought I'd go and experience the whole thing
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Elizabeth B, Yep that makes sense the last of my pictures shows why the main road's not open at the moment, thereused to be a bridge there somewhere oh and the first of teh pictures also shows extensive damage to the main road, I think they'll need a lot of concrete to repair that section
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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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IncogSkiSno,
I have been out there during race week but I was very young so afraid I can't remember much! I do remember watching the end of the downhill from Innerwengen, and seeing all the Italian team as they were staying in the same hotel as us, the Falken. My parents tell me it was a great atmosphere and although the village is very busy the slopes are not as all the media / racers' entourage etc are there for the race not free skiing.
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D G Orf, beanie1, Thanks! Still not sure where to go, or when. It'll most probably will be here or Zermatt, but still looking at other options and likely to be Jan/Feb depending on work commitments.
Is the area fairly snow sure as I am getting conflicting views on this
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FAQ
