At the foot of the Eiger

Grindelwald 2013

A last minute, "cease the day" decision to book a motel just outside the centre of Grindelwald, Switzerland, turned out to be one of my better decisions of the first part of 2013. We were going to get away for a week of winter fun after all. 

We packed the volvo with all our skiing gear including boots, gloves and hats and were out the door by 6am. We made great headway and only really had one hiccup around Nancy. 

The rest of the journey went smoothly and we arrived at Hotel Alfa around 5pm. Just enough time to get checked in, sort out my skis and our lift passes for the week and head into down town Grindel for a drink.

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The first couple of days turned out to be the best in terms of the weather. Blue bird skies all day and lovely fresh snow.

The Jungfraujoch is known as the Top of Europe because the railway station that takes you there (3,454m) is the highest railway station in Europe. Taking you on a magical journey through the feared Eiger Nordwand and the Mönch, the train stops at a number of viewing platforms one of which is located in the centre of the Eiger.  The train journey takes about 45 minutes and you arrive to some of the most stunning views of the Aletsch glacier and Mönch.

Kleine Scheidegg

Inside the Nordwand!

Top of Europe

Thursday the 7th of March was sleigh day!

The longest toboggan run in the world is located in Grindelwald. The route takes you from the Faulhorn, down past the Bussalp and all the way down to Grindelwald. All in all a 15km rip roaring adrenaline ride.

Faulhorn

En route to the Faulhorn saddle

With a few spills along the way...

...and lunch at the Bussalp restaurant where you get a lovely view of the valley and Grindelwald.

Bussalp

All round a lovely winter holiday in the Swiss alps with my monkey.