The entire area as a ski region is an interesting one. Although Interlaken is the biggest town in the area, it isn't really considered a ski town. It is more of a summer retreat for the rich and famous and people with way too much money in their wallets. Although the locals were down-to-Earth and very nice and helpful, many of the tourists were of the highfalutin variety, noses in the air and ten thousand dollar furs wrapped around their surgically-tightened necks. Basically, the pompous assholes that I generally can't stand (maybe I'm just jealous). The ski slopes themselves sat high above Interlaken, spread out below the prominent peaks such as the Wetterhorn, the Jungfrau and the Eiger (yes, that Eiger for you Clint Eastwood fans). To reach the main slopes, one could drive to either Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen, each town sitting on opposite sides of the Lauterhorn, where a train would then be boarded to take skiers to the small town of Kleine Scheidegg which sits right at the base of the Eiger and the Jungfrau. Or, if one was so inclined, trains could be taken all the way from Interlaken to Kleine Scheidegg. One interesting thing to note - the ski passes for the area covered both the ski lifts and the trains, something that was entirely new to us. The trains pulled an extra open-air car exclusively for carrying ski and snowboard gear up to the slopes while the people rode in comfortable and warm enclosed cars. Not a bad way to travel from slope to slope!
On our first day, Dawn and I took the train to Kleine Scheidegg and with a ticket we had purchased in Interlaken, boarded the train for the Jungfraujoch, elevation 11,333 feet. Although this is more of a summer trip for tourists to take, we're happy we made it. The views from the top were outstanding. Many of the areas that are open in the summer were closed in the winter for safety reasons, but we still did manage to get out on the snow and ice to snap some pictures. The sun was shining brightly, almost too brightly, but it was cold and windy - oh, and did I mention cold?
On day two, we left our hotel early and boarded one of the first trains up to Kleine Scheidegg, We were very unimpressed with the breakfast at our hotel and were on a mission to find something a bit more substantial and satisfying. We hit pay dirt at a restaurant right off of the tracks in Kleine Scheidegg, gorging ourselves on fried eggs, cheese, a croissant complimented by a huge spoonful of strawberry jam and three thick slabs of country bacon (I cheated - my first meat in a month). We also received bowls, not cups, of coffee for me and tea for Dawn. It was the best breakfast we've had on the road......ever! Dawn has pictures I can post later. I'm drooling right now thinking about it. After breakfast, I set the tripod up to take some pictures while Dawn climbed a very large hill of snow next to us, proceeding to do some yodeling from its peak and then butt-sledding down in the soft snow. We had a lot of fun that morning!
Day three found us staying in Interlaken, walking around town with other ski club members, checking out the sites and touristy junk shops. We were also on the prowl for a good fondue restaurant, as the reviews received from others about their fondue experiences the night before weren't too promising. After asking a local on the streets, we eventually ended up in a fairly non-descript restaurant across from the Interlaken-West train/bus depot and enjoyed a fantastic last feast in Switzerland.
Overall, this was a great trip and I'm glad we made it. The bus trip was long, we both weren't feeling well, but it was great to get out of sleepy 'ol Parsberg and finally get back to the mountains during the winter. I don't think we'd ever go back to ski this area as it looked pretty boring to me, but during the Summer? Heck yeah.
All pictures from the trip can be found HERE
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