Of all the resorts in the world, Wengen was one I'd always wanted to ski.
Every year I watch the Lauberhorn downhill race and think I'd like to try it. We'd looked at Wengen a few times in the past, but it doesn't seem to have a great snow record and compared to some, is quite expensive, but in 2014, I found a reasonably priced hotel and decided that now was the time to go.
Saturday - Travel to Wengen
I'd been to a gig in London the night before, so the 4AM start was a bit hard, but parking and check-in at Gatwick were pretty straight-forward and we had time to buy some food in Boots for the long journey ahead of us.
Given how busy Geneva is as a winter hub, it's surprising that the charter terminal isn't much more than a shed. However, passport control was light years better than we'd experienced at Grenoble the previous year and we fairly soon had our luggage and skis and were on the coach.
The first thing we noticed was, that while we're far from young these days, we were amongst the youngest people on the coach, in some cases by many decades! Wengen has a bit of a reputation as appealing to 'middle-aged' (generous I'd say) Brits who return year after year and so it was to prove as the week went on.
The journey to Lauterbrunnen was fairly uneventful, with lovely views of Lac Leman and the lakes at Interlaken, before we ascended into the Bernese Oberland.
At Lauterbrunnen, the 'Wengen Experience' began as we unloaded from the coach and boarded the cog railway, which is the only way up to traffic free (more or less, there are a few vehicles, mostly electric, but they are brought up on the train!) Wengen.
Twenty minutes of glorious landscape later (I'd really love to come back here in the Spring sometime) we arrived at Wengen station, unloaded our luggage and walked the 50 or so yards to the Victoria Lauberhorn hotel.
Our room wasn't huge (being in a new wing over the hotel's "Pasta and More" restaurant, but it was smart, spotless and featured the promised Mountain view. The shower proved to be both hot and powerful, exactly what I look for from a shower, especially on a skiing holiday.
The Victoria Lauberhorn - Our home for the week - Recommended
While Mandy unpacked, I returned to the station and bought us area lift passes, having a chance to practice my very rusty German.
Our package was half board and meals were set (You have the option to choose to take a 20 CHF voucher in "Pasta & More" instead, but we never bothered as the food was generally excellent). Most of the week we were served by a delightful waitress, Agnes, but all the staff were both friendly and effecient. Kind of what you expect of the Swiss.
Our only moan, if we have one, is that Swiss hotels even charge for water with dinner, but we knew that and just had to tolerate it.
Sunday - Wengen
We woke fairly early, had a large, typically continetal, breakfast and wandered over to Mannlichen cable car, just yards from the (heated) bootroom of our hotel - It really was in a great location!
We'd heard horror stories about this lift, which is a large cable car, but even when the trains weren't running to Kleine Scheidegg (the alternative route to the ski slopes) we never took longer than 20 minutes to be skiing.
At the top, the visibilty wasn't great, with clould limiting distance visibility and our perception of the slopes. Fortunately, most of the slopes were pretty smooth and we had a few runs on Reds in the Mannlichen area, before returning to the Cable Car top station to join the Crystal ski reps on a 'Piste Orientation' run.
The Eiger - It's an impressive peak!
Given the poor vis, we thought this was a good idea and, to be fair, they did a good job of finding us runs (mostly in the tree line) where visibilty was at its 'least worst', but they seemed overly cautious (for us, anyway) and favoured blue tracks that involved poling or walking (the two things I hate when 'Downhill' skiing) over reds which would have maintained our momentum. I can't speak for the others, but I found this frustrating and wasn't keen to go out with them again the next day, although it was fine as an introduction.
Boarding the train at Brandegg
We mostly skiied over Mannlichen, although we descended all the way down to Grund and took the train back up to Kleine Scheidegg and then returned down a blue to Wengen at the end of the day.
Grindelwald - Probably Monday
As the reps were planning to go to Grindelwald the next day, we decided to play it by ear as to whether to join their group again the next day.
Monday - Grindelwald
We woke stiff and sore from our rather tense, poor visibility, skiing the previous day and by the time we'd eaten and got going, we'd missed the reps, so decided to make our way to Grindelwald anyway, especially as Mannlichen was again in cloud.
We skiied a few runs on Mannlichen first and then skiied the long red down to Grund and picked up a bus to the First Gondola up into the Grindelwald area.
Heading for Grindelwald
On the Monday, the skiing in Grindelwald was delightful. The sun was shining, the ski was excellent (as it was everywhere, all week) and the runs refreshingly free of walking or poling sections, although none really challenged us. It was a lovely cruisey red day that we both enjoyed greatly.
We witnessed this avalachance as we ate our lunch!
Concerned that we might not find it easy to get back (the plan was to get the train from Grund to Kleine Scheidegg and ski the Lauberhorn downhill), we left Grindelwald shortly after lunch, which, in hindsight was a mistake.
The trains weren't running, so the only way back was up in the gondola. We did one run in increasingly poor visibilty and then Mandy decided to take the Gondola down. I decided to do a few more runs, but, as the wind picked up and I decided to return, the lift was shut as I stood at the gate, so I was forced to take a lift up to Kleine Scheidegg and return (in howling wind, carrying ice crystals that shot blasted bare skiing) down the mostly dull blue track to Wengen.
It turned out to be a beautiful day - We should have stayed longer...
A great start to the day in Grindelwald, where we could have stayed another two hours and returned from directly via the cable car to Wengen (had we known), rather spoilt by awful visibility and increasing wind above Wengen.
Meeting some of the other people from our group the previous day, we discovered they'd stayed in Wengen! Definitely the wrong choice that day.
Tuesday - Murren
We started very early on Tuesday as we decided to join the Crystal ski-guides again on a trip to Murren.
We took a train down to Lauterbrunnen, a cable car up to Gruetschalp, another train to Winteregg and then a chairlift, before we even got skiing. We took a quick run there to get our legs going and then continued up the resort.
Again, the guides seemed overly cautious (although most of our group, given the many years of experience they had, seemed very timid skiers, so maybe he judged it right) in their selection of runs, favouring blues and looking outright shocked when I expressed a desire to ski a particular black.
Visibilty low down wasn't great, although we saw the odd patch of blue, but as we worked our way up the mountain, things improved. I managed to get separated from the group as we headed for the Schlithorn cable car (Misreading a sign!), but caught them up again a little while later after experiencing a rather tough black mogul field in an attempt to save time. The hardest work I did all week, I suspect!
Eventually, we worked our way to the Piz Gloria cable car. If you don't know, this is the mountain top restaurant famous for featuring in the Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. As a child I recall thinking this was the coolest place on earth and years ago I remembered hearing it was at Murren, but I'd forgotten, until we arrived in Wengen and saw "007 World" on the piste map.
The Schitthorn - Or Piz Gloria of Bond fame
I'd discounted going initially as I'd imagined this would feature a high cost of entry (and I was on a skiing holiday), but the lift pass includes the cable car there and food and drink there is really no dearer than any other mountain restaurant in the area (which is to say, quite expensive!). As a group we explored the building. The restaurant itself revolves, which is a great experience as you watch the mountains pass by as you eat and drink. Outside there are viewing platforms with dramatic views over the Alps and we were well above the cloud here, so it was gloriously clear.
Way above the clouds, the restaurant revolves to give you a constantly changing vista
There's also a rather good exhibition talking about OHMSS and Piz Gloria, with interactive things such as a camera that superimposes your face onto Bonds and a chance to re-enact the bobsleigh run, which is worth a visit alone, I'd say.
Bond's shorter than you imagine...
For the more adventurous, there's also a steep black down from the restaurant, back to the cable car base station. Initially, only I, of our group, wanted to do it, but another group of Crystal ski-guided people were keener, so I joined them and a few others from my group arrived before we set off. The run is steep and quite narrow at the top, but, when I was there, meticulously groomed with hard but not icy snow. It was, in fact, a nice steep black piste and very enjoyable. Later on it flattens out, but I didn't need to pole far at the end to rejoin the rest of the group who'd taken the cable car and a blue...
Cloud came and went for the rest of the day, sometimes we could stop for 2 or 3 minutes and it would clear, other times we would descend into thick fog in seconds. We had lunch in another mountain restaurant and then, as the rep suggested yet more blues to the apparent satisfaction of the rest of the group, I decided to take the red and black route back to the cable car in Murren. This was a good choice. Mostly the runs were quiet and reasonably steep and the only point where things got a little unpleasant was on the steepest black section when cloud rolled in, but it cleared again as soon as I was below it.
Eventually I met back up with the group and we took the cable car down to the valley floor and then a bus back to Lauterbrunnen and returned to Wengen on the train.
It's a bit of a trek to Murren, but as with Grindelwald, the skiing is different to Wengen and I'm really glad we made the trip to Piz Gloria as it's very nearly as cool as I imagined it was a kid!
Wednesday - Wengen
By Wednesday our legs had stopped aching and, when visibility permitted, we were both really enjoying our skiing.
Fresh snow - Good; Flat light - Not so...
Sadly Wednesday was another day with patchy visibilty, so we restrictured our skiing to the Mannlichen area, getting into the trees as quickly as we could.
View back down to Wengen from Mannlichen cable car - No, there's no piste here!
Any day on skis is a good one in my books, but Mandy didn't enjoy the higher slopes that much and we finished reasonably early.
Thursday - Wengen
For weeks before, the weather forecast had said Thursday would be good and so it proved.
We woke early to bright sunshine and were quickly up to Kleine Scheidegg on the train, taking in the magnificent views, including the North face of the Eiger.
Our plan was to ski the Lauberhorn downhill - This looked like our best, maybe only, chance to do it in decent weather and this run, to a great extent, was the reason for even being in Wengen!
So I was a 'little disappointed' to find the piste marked as closed when we arrived as they'd set up a slalom for the local kids on the first few hundred metres...
We skiied down Wixi, a red, but as we came back up the lift, we saw others going onto the run. We skiied over and spoke to a man setting up the gate. I wasn't entirely sure what he said, but I got the impression he said it was ok to go on the run then (the race not having started), so we quickly set off past the start hut.
The Lauberhorn is one of the classic downhills (possibly the OTHER great classic with Kitzbuhel), but it's not a particularly tough recreational ski, unlike the Hahnenkahm.
From the start hut, there's a long gentle slope before it goes over a gentle crest, which is followed by another long, slightly steeper section leading into the Hundschopf (dog's head). This is an incredibly tight and narrow section. An S down a narrow track for recreational skiers, the racer's just leap off it!.
Shortly after that, there's the Minsch-Kante, a long right hand bend, which falls away to the left, towards the railway. This leads you down to the right hand turn into the Kernen-Esses, which is the section of track that looks barely wider than a skiier on race coverage and, seems to me, to go on for ages on race day. When you ski it, it's over in a blink and the track widens and steepens to drop into the tunnel.
Me about to enter the Tunnel
The tunnel (under the railway, sometimes on race day you see the train go over races) is surprisingly challenging as the drop into it is quite steep, but the middle is a compression which knocks the breath out of you even at moderate speed and it'd be very easy to get over the tails and be spat out!
After that you're into the long 'flat' (but really not that flat when you're there!) sections that make this the fastest run (over 100MPH for the fastest downhil racers!), which are great 'fast' (by recreational skiing standards) pistes.
There's a narrow section (over a road, I think) and then you're onto the last steepish drop into the stadium finish, which is actually some way out of town (and served by its own train station, above the run).
Everyone can dream!
As you reached the finish, another run comes in from the right and this is Wengen's steepest run, the Slalom.
We hopped on the lift and went to the top of it and did a run. The top is gentle, but then it suddenly drops away, so steep on the left that it's hard to see where the run goes as you stand there.
View down to Wengen from Station by Slalom run
Mandy about to board the train back to Kleine Scheidegg
We ended up doing half a dozen runs on this, trying to see how many turns we could do on each steep section. It's a short, but very enjoyable run.
Kleine Scheidegg - Under the North face of the Eiger
We did the Lauberhorn 4 times (I think, it might have been 5) that day and about 8 or 9 on the slalom.
The compulsory start hut shot!
Higly enjoyable skiing on a great day for skiing. It really was one of those days you imagine when you think of skiing.
Friday - Wengen
It was snowing when we woke up and foggy, so we congratulated ourselves for getting so many runs in on the Lauberhorn on Thursday.
We decided that Mannlichen was the best place to go (Murren, apparently, was shut, so we gave up on a plan to go back there), but with heavy snow, the visibility was truly horrible.
We skiied down the long red to Grund, but Mandy decided that was her done for the week and returned to Wengen and took the train down to Interlaken.
I was determined to ski, but after another run back to Grund and lunch at Brandegg (off the train, lunch, back in time for the next), I decided there was little pleasure in wet snow that stock to my sunglasses and helmet visor and light that both were too dark for.
Low cloud hampered our skiing on a few days
I caught the train back up to Kleine Scheidegg and the chairlift up to the top of the Lauberhorn.
I did one last run on the downhill, not as bad as Mannlichen, but still not particularly enjoyable and a couple of runs on the Slalom, which being in trees had decent visibility, before retiring to a restaurant for a hot chocolate.
I did a few more runs on the Slalom, but by then even that was in cloud and by 2:30, I'd had enough and returned to the hotel.
I'm sure Lauterbrunnen is lovely on the right day
I took the train down to Lauterbrunnen and had a quick look around. In good weather, it's probably very picturesque, but it wasn't much fun in sleet, so I went straight back to the station within 30 minutes. Funnily enough, Mandy's train from Interlaken arrived and we took the same train back to Wengen.
Saturday - Departure
We had to be at the station at 6:50 to return to Lauterbrunnen, but being right next to the station, this was no great hardship.
We boarded out train and everything was uneventful until there was a bang and a flash outside the window. The train then came to a halt...
After some whirring and clicking, the guard arrived and explained there was a problem with the train. It was stuck on a single track part of the line and wasn't going anywhere.
After about 20 minutes a train coming up arrived and we unloaded our luggage and walked down to it and it returned down the mountain. Everyone behind us was in for a challenging journey!
We were about 30 minutes late leaving Lauterbrunnen, but the coach journey was uneventful and check-in easy (As we were the last to do so!). We got through security and passport control, but had no time to admire the expensive watches as our plane was boarding immediately.
The flight home was fine, not luxurious, but it's a short trip, and we were home by mid afternoon.
Conclusion
Truth be told, I enjoyed Wengen more than Mandy.
She found the inconvenience of the trains and buses and the poorly linked resorts a pain, whilst I was prepared to tolerate them and embrace them as part of the unique charm of Wengen.
The skiing's pretty tame by many standards. The vast majority of runs are decent Reds in reality. The blues are all too often flat tracks, whilst the blacks are mostly just slightly narrower reds.
Our hotel was very good and the standard of Swiss service as excellent as you'd hope for.
I really enjoyed skiing the Lauberhorn, visiting Piz Gloria and travelling on the cog railway, but I don't think I'll rush back to Wengen.
It was, for me, an enjoyable experience, but one I can file away as 'done'.
