 Poster: A snowHead
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Started snowing late this morning. Good accumulation in the village. High winds closed all the lifts bar Bumps drag, no trains running to Scheidegg.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| DixieDean wrote: |
| I'm out solo in resort (based in Wengen) next week (wife now only hikes due to bone issues), so would be nice to meet up with some others. |
Just go into the DHO club room (in the Eiger next to the station) one evening and speak to Andrew the rep. He'll take you skiing the following day with a group and then you have a few ski buddies to hook-up with during the week. No strings attached.
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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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Super conditions up at Winteregg this morning. 25 - 35cm of fresh snow on piste, a real delight. Extremely quiet until everyone realised that the trees of Winteregg were the answer to poor viz.
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Very poor visibility up at Maennlichen yesterday. Much clearer below the Lager chair, so did a few runs to Holenstein and up on the new 10 person cable cars. Much busier than with the old 4 man cars, but we never waited more than 2 or 3 cars to get on. And there's the lovely carving piste above Holenstein 
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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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Lots of well-prepared pistes up at First this morning. Firstbahn quiet, q well Inside the doors this morning I'll post pics when I can get WiFi later
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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 wrote: |
| Just go into the DHO club room (in the Eiger next to the station) one evening and speak to Andrew the rep. He'll take you skiing the following day with a group and then you have a few ski buddies to hook-up with during the week. No strings attached. |
Thanks for that Mike, I'll have a look
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Lovely day today after all the new snow. Männlichen busy early on, but Scheidegg pretty quiet. Pistes, needless to say, are superb.
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Great pic Mike, that "model" always seems to be skiing near you!!!!!!
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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: |
| Great pic Mike, that "model" always seems to be skiing near you!!!!!! |
Haha thanks. She likes skiing with me - I make her look good 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| sherlockis wrote: |
| A couple of pics from First this morning |
Wow, really quiet. New gondola tempting everyone up to Männlichen maybe?
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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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Mike, I think so. Loads of people got off at the Terminal station today as we went through to Grindlewald. Although last Saturday we had a 30 min queue at the Terminal - the cars kept stopping, some problem with the sensors where the cars passed the door-close point...didn't seem to like SnowBoards!
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You know it makes sense.
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Fascinating to have different perspectives on things. We were up on First Thursday morning as was @sherlockis, Indeed pistes were quiet. I remarked to my buddy that there were "alot of hungry skiers waiting for a powder fix". I don't recall a midweek day when First was tracked out so quickly.
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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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Bit miserable today. Raining, snow level about 2500 metres. Feel sorry for the holidaymakers who arrived yesterday. Benni who runs the Start bar on the Lauberhorn hasn’t bothered opening today. Forecast is for things to get worse before they get better.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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After a few days of terrible weather, we finally got 24 hours of snow which finished at breakfast time this morning. Went up to Männlichen; it was busier than it looks in this picture, with lots of bumps on the steeper bits.
Tons of new snow. Piste skiing will be great tomorrow. Avalanche warning level 3.
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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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Much better weather today. Männlichen busy again, Scheidegg less so. Now that we have cold nights again, an enormous amount of artificial snow has been produced. Pistes are good.
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Hi all, we depart for Wengen on Friday. What's your advice for navigating the area during half-term week? Both of my girls will be in ski school, so we're tied to that schedule which doesn't help. Also, I'm finding the piste map a bit baffling. If I take the Mannlichen gondola from Wengen rather than the train, what's the best way up to Kl. Scheidegg? My understanding is once you're up top, you want you want to stay high until you're ready to come down for the day. How are the home runs skiing at the moment? Is it worth heading over to First if you're staying in Wengen? Is there any good places for lunch near the gondola on the Grindelwald side (Is this even a thing people do)? Lots of questions I know, thanks in advance for the responses! You folks have already been very helpful.
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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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@goweje, Start is at either the Manlichen Gondola or the Train, depends what time you set off as to what sort of queues there will be at each one. Getting round to KS from Mannlichen invloves finding your way round to the Gummi chair. There is a fast way to it, across the top of the ridge past the restaurant and beginners area, or a more leisurely down and up via the magnificently named Lager chair. Of course you can get as many runs as you like in the Mannlichen sector before swinging over.
Staying up top until "you're ready" to come down is entirely personal preference. You can easily do the runs down the tree lined reds and blues to Grindelwald. Or the Lauberhorn to Wengen. It's by no means the end of the day. There are plenty of ways back up again, Innerwenegen to Allmend and train to Wengernalp or KS. Could even ski back to Wengen and up to Mannlichen and do it all again!
Grindelwald for lunch is certainly doable but I would get over to First early, ski it all day and have lunch on the mountain.
You'll just need to get your head around the train times to make sure you're back to KS and on to Wengen preferably on skis in time for your kids. The new Gondola from Grund is super fast as well and will get you up to Mannlichen in no time. Certainly not enough time for a leisurely half hour lunch like in the old bucket.
Hope that helps, the only thing I can't tell you about is the condition of the home run but I'll find out soon enough! not long to go.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@goweje, I was out there last week and found that first thing the pistes on the Lauberhorn (back down to KS and the Wixi (everything with a W is pronounced V)), Hohnegg and Eigernordwand were all pretty empty during the morning and apart from the bottom of the Hohnegg into Arven didn't get messed up too much. I like carving down these pistes and they were great until about 11 am (I went up on the 8:24 train - the 7:54 though would get you there when the lift to the Lauberhorn opens at 8:30). The Lauberhorn race run was also pretty decent, although as Bodeswell says you've then got to get the train back up or go down to the lift in Wengen. On the days when KS and Mannlichen were shut due to high winds I went over to Winteregg and Schilgrat and they were good as well once we had had the big snowfall.
If skiing back to Wengen, it's always better to ski down to the bottom of the Lauberhorn race track (to Mary's cafe - great hot chocolate) and then get the little chairlift back to Arwen before skiing down to Wengen. Best to avoid the blue run on the track through the woods as it has a fair bit of punting in the middle. The runs down to Grindlewald from Mannlichen are also great as long as there is some snow at the bottom - check the webcam at the bottom of the Mannlichenbahn (see below) otherwise you will be walking a fair bit at the end before getting on the lift back or catching the bus to First.
An alternative route to First is the train down to Lauterbrunnen and then change to Zweiluetschine (next station towards Interlaken) and then change to Grindlewald and get the bus to the Firstbahn (cabin lift). You can ski down to Grund from Brandegg, but you then have to walk about 800 yards to catch the bus, or cross the road and catch the train up into Grindlewald and then get the bus to the Firstbahn (cabin lift). Really you've got to set out to get to First and not be put off by the messing about to get there and back. Make sure you start coming down by 3 pm at the latest as you might miss the last lift up. At the worst you can come up via KS or go around via Zweiluetschine.
You can look at the slopes here: (Mannlichen) https://www.maennlichen.ch/en/live.html , (Lauberhorn) https://panocam.skiline.cc/lauberhorn , (Allmendhubel above Winteregg and Murren) https://schilthorn.roundshot.co/allmendhubel/ , (North Face of the Eiger - eigernordwand) https://jungfrau.roundshot.com/eigergletschernordwand/ , and the view from Grund in Grindelwald by the bottom station of the Mannlichenbahn https://jungfrau.roundshot.com/luetschine/ . The last shows you how low the snow currently is, which is currently not so good.
Go here for an interactive map as to what is open at any time: https://www.jungfrau.ch/maps/ Click on the 3 dots in the top right to get maps of First (centre dot) and Murren (right hand dot). It will show what pistes are open and which lifts are running. You can also see if chairlifts are running by looking at the Mannlichen, Lauberhorn and North Face webcams above, all of which overlook or look at chairs lifts. Generally when all else is shut, Arven and Winteregg with be open.
A decent forecast can be had here: https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Grindelwald/6day/mid or https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Wengen/6day/mid . In both cases it shows a warm weekend ahead, but fortunately no rain. Then it goes cold again. It also shows the temps at different heights, town, mid mountain and at the top, and at which level there will be rain or snow.
Eating wise at First, there's a couple of decent places to the right of Schreckfeld gondola station, you'll be able to see the deck chairs as you come up the lift. There's a restaurant and a cheaper sort of counter in a little hut.
My favourite eating places are Brandegg for the renown Apple Fritters and custard, but also does fries, bratwurst etc. There's a grill on the front of KS station that does Bratwurst, and you can get the most delicious schnitzel at Allmendhubel above Murren, which is enormous but is best shared. You get an inclusive salad and bread first. They also do a great slice of apple in firm custard pie in the dutch style. If you're like me and like a couple of cuppas each day, take some powdered milk with you. If you're happy with coffee they have coffee cream. The recently rebuilt Eigernordwand restaurant by KS also does good food including Asian, but it's quite expensive.
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Looks very warm over the weekend. How are the piste Conditions anyone.
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| Baggiesfan wrote: |
| Looks very warm over the weekend. How are the piste Conditions anyone. |
Weekend is over and it’s been a bit like April. Nice for a beer on the terrace, bit slushy on the pistes, need to keep following the shade. To be fair given the generally dire snow depths the pistes are holding up well, credit to the resort for all the hard work. We found some good snow but Black rock is closed, under the Lager is closed, Gummi Nord is closed, it’s generally borderline everywhere for mid-Feb. Run into the village is open which is a small miracle..
Temps forecast to fall from tomorrow night so what is open will be great from Tuesday onwards. Think positive
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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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Winteregg on Friday morning was sensational, lovely cold fresh snow. The recurring pattern of the season is warm weather immediately after snowfall. Odd but sadly true!
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@Rogerdodger, that is a very good point..what is really obvious is that the true snow base, certainly below 2000m at least, is almost non existent. There have only been one or two deep freezes and as a result apart from where it’s being maintained or artificial there are pastures green. If it hasn’t melted it’s been blown out to space in the storms. It is a very strange winter.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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My 3 year old gave my wife and I a stomach virus en route, so Monday was my first day on the slopes. It was 50 degrees F and snow even at Eigergletscher was very patchy and marginal. It’s the kind of day that really makes contemplate the future of skiing. Between the GI bug and the spring weather it’s been a weird start to the trip.
5-10cm overnight made a significant difference. It doesn’t take a huge amount of snow here given the underlying terrain. It helped that it was almost 20 degrees colder.And more snow on the way tomorrow. But, was shocked to see nothing but a white ribbon of death below Holenstein ~4,500ft. Would post some photos but can’t figure out how to do it.
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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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Is there any better weather news from next week. Mrs Baggiesfan and I will be in Wengen in three weeks for our annual ⛷ visit and fingers crossed
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Feel sorry for those already there and not having very good conditions.
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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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Nice to see some perspective conditions not quite as bad as some previous posters have suggested snow making here is second to none and main pistes are in good shape despite the unusual winter
Natural snow line is about 1500 metres and pistes to Innerwengen and Wengen are still good
Off piste has been blown away to a large extent this year with the storm winds
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Poster: A snowHead
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Scheidegg at lunchtime today. Light snow and hardly anyone about - a big contrast with yesterday.
The wind got up and the snow got a lot heavier later in the afternoon, but by then I was long since back at home.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Looks like weather might improve next week. Fingers crossed.
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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 there any insurance attached to your lift pass in Wengen ?
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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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| Smokin Joe wrote: |
| Is there any insurance attached to your lift pass in Wengen ? |
It's optional. If you buy your pass at the station they'll offer to add insurance for you.
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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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Cheers @telford_mike.
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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, maybe we crossed paths on Wednesday. I was up at Scheidegg myself, stopped at the tipi. Might have been the best ski day off the week for me. My wife took one run from the top of Männlichen down to Holenstein and decided to call it a day. No lift lines anywhere, quite a contract to the rest of the week. Thanks to everyone here for all the helpful advice we had a great trip. I'll try and post some trip notes that other first timers might find useful in the next day or two.
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@goweje, great that you enjoyed it! Agree that Wednesday was probably the best ski day (though the cold bluebird Tuesday on the Schilthorn was also great to avoid the fog in Murren).
3 of us from the DHO got together that afternoon and did a load of runs in a mostly deserted Manlichen and KS in gently falling fresh snow, which turned into a bit of whiteout by 4pm. So on to the start bar for coffee laced with a good measure of schnapps to build up some nerve and then down the race piste to Wengen in a blizzard. Couldn't tell up from down by sight so we just let gravity do its work!
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Warm again today (+14C in Mürren). All a bit crazy really, but at least the weather’s due to turn tomorrow afternoon. Kids having great fun at Allmendhübel.
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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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Re - temperature, did a lovely short ski tour from Betleberg (Lenk) this morning.
Driving back through Zweismmen car registered 18.5 degs. Is it really February?
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Snowing big time. Fingers crossed.
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FAQ
