Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Rob Reid — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 12:08:51 GMT

[quote user="Mark Holmes"]I had the pleasure if skiing at Cairngorm on Monday twas superb. Obviously not Les Arcs etc but blue skies good snow and enough skiing for a day.[/quote]

The Gorm is cracking on a nice day but can be brutal at the top as well - typical for Scotland really! Good to see the Scottish snow scene making a bit of a comeback. If you have a spare few minutes over lunch check out this vid - a few folk I know put it together last season.

http://www.highland-instinct.co.uk/video/

Also worth a look is my mate Doug's site:

www.haggistrap.co.uk

I particularly like the webcam section on this one - nice to look at during a break in evening surgery!

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Mark Holmes — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 11:50:05 GMT

I had the pleasure if skiing at Cairngorm on Monday twas superb. Obviously not Les Arcs etc but blue skies good snow and enough skiing for a day.

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Richard Fox — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 11:35:07 GMT

No Scotland for me - bit too far

We went to Saalbach/Hinterglemm this summer and it was lovely - I did XC mountain biking and we also cycled to Zell - very pretty and lots to do there and the train station is very central

Thanks for the tip about the book - maybe I'll look into that [:])

We used the ZEST voucher code with Crystal and got £200 off the holiday but we missed out on the 2 for 1 lift pass by a few days

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Rob Reid — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:49:03 GMT

Richard - Booked to go to Zell Am See first week of March.

Have had to compromise a little on snow this year as my wife is doing a week for the first time - she has a bad back so a whole week of intense runs will probably be too much. Good thing with Zell is that have option of day trip to Salzburg, which my wife is keen on as a former musician. Also have a good mix in our group - my wife and my brother-in-law are beginner boarders, I am an intermediate boarder and my brother is an advanced skiier so can easy split up for a day if after some more demanding shred.

Zell Am See snow is supposed to be a bit unreliable but a few of my friends have been in March and all gave good reports. Got glacier skiing in Kaprun if the snow extent is poor and option of trip to Saalbach or Kitzbuhl if get bored, but think there should be enough to keep us entertained. There is supposed to be a pretty good terrain park at Zell as well which is a must for me. Other bonus was getting 2 for 1 lift passes with Crystal - saved us nearly £100 each!

Have you looked into reviewing for WTSS for next years edition? Worth getting in touch as they will often send you the next season's copy free if you do a write-up for them.

Mark - will bear that in mind re. Les Arcs for 2012, not been before. Sounds epic!!

Anybody heading to Scotland in the next few weeks? Looking a getting at cheeky day in at Glenshee on Boxing Day...

Regards

Rob

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Mark Holmes — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:52:11 GMT

Not been to Austria but if you are a skier or (or even just a boarder!) a big lifetime to do is the run from the top of the Aguille Rouge down to Villarodger in Les Arc 2000 ft vertical drop over 12km beautiful.

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Richard Fox — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:48:23 GMT

Hi Rob.

We've been to Austria once a few years ago - food good, fairly quiet and overall very good pistes as was a snow sure resort - Obergurgal - no majorly advanced skiing but very enjoyable!

Thanks for the website link - we were out today and just about to buy that book (now £18.99!!! in Waterstones) so that's great - we have the wide area pass and are will be heading for Wengen - maybe I'll try the DH course :)

Where are you going in Austria?

Wynne - I doubt we'll get much snow here in South Devon !

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:15:04 GMT

Sounds much like what's due here tomorrow

Wynne

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Rob Reid — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:11:25 GMT

Richard - have you checked out 'Where to Ski and Snowboard?' You can access their website for free (or shell out the £16.95 for the book) and you get fairly comprehensive reviews of most resorts - I have found it pretty accurate both in terms of where I am going and also in terms of resorts I have been to.

Not been to Grindelwald myself (in fact not boarded in Switzerland at all) but know of a couple of friends who have skiied there and they both echo the previous comments re. Wengen. Heading to Austria next year for the first time (done France, Italy and Canada in the past) so hoping for some good snow!

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Richard Fox — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:36:09 GMT

That sounds cool - if not a bit "all up in the air"

Getting excited now

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Camilla Edwards — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:14:07 GMT

I used to go there in the 90's, like people are saying the skiing is good in Wengen, and that's pretty easy to get to. The trains are lovely, and it really is a beautiful area. Every time I've been, there's been plenty of snow in Grindelwald, infact the last time I went there was in 2000 (I think!, early 2000's anyway!) and there were huge avalanches, no road/rail transport was available and in the end we all had to be helicoptered out (I think there was a 3 day waiting list!) - so that was a bit of an adventure! Seeing it all from the sky was quite spectacular!

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Richard Fox — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:28:25 GMT

Erm.... Thanks..... I think

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Martin Atkinson — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:13:29 GMT

Been to Wengen twice, and only went down to Grindlewald once - it is too low for the snow to remain good quality, in fact there is a camp site down there for skiers on a budget. Indeed it rained one time, my supposedly waterproof suit got soaked through and then froze when I went back up the top - yuck! Another time there was a storm and a few of us were trapped at the top of the Wengen cable car. The lifts and pistes were all closed due to avalanche danger and in the end they decided unless we were going to spend the night up there the only way down was by inching the cable car down and timing its run past the pylons as it swung in the wind to swing out - interesting to say the least. I remember the best skiing was all in Wengen - skiing under the north face of the Eiger is impressive, the First side of Grindlewald was limited and Murren OK for a day trip. Do the Shilthorn but don't eat in the restaurant, the food was poor and rip-off prices. You have to have to have a go on the Lauberhorn worldcup downhill run, you'll think you're Franz Klammer until you hit the first turn at 60mph!! And don't try to do it when they're preparing it for a race - they weren't happy. Hope that hasn't made you too depressed.

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Richard Fox — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 20:31:56 GMT

WOW - that sounds awesome - I expect they might have ski bikes instead in winter - I like the look of those :)

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Clive Ansell — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 18:55:47 GMT

Not sure if available in winter, but at the First (place name) gondola station above Grindelwald it is possible to hire, for a fairly small fee, trotti or monster bikes (not 100% sure of name) for the the downward run. They are really like big scooters, one stands on a platform, they have 12" wide low pressure tyres and disc brakes, they will descend over almost any terrain at a heck of a speed, almost impossible to fall off, and are damn good fun.

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland ?

Virginia Campbell — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 18:28:32 GMT

I went a few years ago; can't remember prices and things like that but it's a nice place to ski all day. Get the train up the hill and ski down to Wengen, it's a pretty village. The Schilthorn is worth going up too - although I didn't enjoy the view quite as much as I should have done as I was contemplating the way down- the start of the black run off the top is steep

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Swizerland ?

Clive Ansell — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 18:02:24 GMT

It appears to be much more expensive than when I was there in 2007, half fare card then was £40. Not helped I guess by sterling losing value against other currencies.

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Swizerland ?

Richard Fox — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:42:25 GMT

Brill thanks for the info Clive - very useful

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Swizerland ?

Clive Ansell — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:08:52 GMT

I was thinking of a half fare card, not a swiss pass. ticket office . may not be worth your while as you are going by bus, it depends how much mechanical uplift you use I guess, or if you decide to go up the Jungfraujoch and/or Schilthorn.

Swiss half fare card £65 valid for 1 month. (50% off all fares on trains, buses, postbuses, most mountain transport)

swiss pass £245 for 8 days. unlimited travel.

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Swizerland ?

Richard Fox — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 15:48:23 GMT

Cheers Clive - ace. It does sound good - do you know roughly how much you paid for a Swiss pass? We are getting there by bus as we are on a package deal.

Re: Skiing in Grindelwald, Swizerland ?

Clive Ansell — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 15:41:15 GMT

I've not been skiing there, but have been mountaineering in the summer. There is loads to to do there at all levels and abilities. Excellent network of marked trails and public transport links, so can get from A to B, C - - - - - Z and get transport back to where you are staying. It is worth getting a Swiss pass, particularly if getting there by train, as it gets you 50% off all trains, mountain trains, gondolas, cable cars etc.

The via ferrata to the summit of the Schwarzhorn (c3000 meters) is worth a bash, but may be off limits in the winter?, equally there is an easier walking route up it. A good days walk is from Grindalwald to the summit of the faulhorn 2681M, all on good tracks and you can get refreshments at the top if you want (May not be open in winter, not sure). Depends what you like to do I guess.

The train ride to the Jungfraujoch (3454M) is amazing if you want an easy day, it tunnels through the Eiger with stop offs where windows have been placed in the north face, one of which is the tunnel used in the Clint Eastwood film the Eiger sanction. It needs to be a sunny day, views and walks from the top are stunning. nice restaurant there too. Train ride is pricey though, about £45 with a Swiss pass (£80-£90 without)

Revolving restaurant on top of the Schilthorn, 2970M, is worth a go too.