All Quiet

After the excitement of the last two weekends – the Lauberhorn and the Inferno over in Murren – the Jungfrau region has a week off.  The slopes are quiet for the most part and the local businesses take a deep breath before the onset of the half term holidays.

Monday was awful by all accounts, with constant rain at all levels, but the week picked up and by Thursday the skiing was wonderful, on almost empty pistes. Friday brought the threat of more wind, though in the end the foehn cloud just sat behind the wall of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau and all was well.

This photograph makes it look pretty grim, but it was a good day really and the sun shone in the main.

Not that it is a total week off of course.  The International schools have been racing over the last couple of days and today, Saturday, was just that, busy as ever. It was a beautiful sunny day on the hill and if ever there was an incentive to come skiing, the cloud in the valley provided it.

I am getting the hang of the technology (who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks) so here is the Grindelwald valley lost in cloud. It was busy, honestly, I was in a long lift queue when I took this photograph.

Just to cap the weekend off, tomorrow is the Migros Grand Prix.  Migros is a supermarket chain and they organise a series of children’s races culminating in a season end finals day. It might not sound like much, but it is incredibly important. I mentioned Didier Cuche in an earlier post and he was spotted first in these races.  Almost every Swiss racer of repute for the last thirty years has been part of this event.  Even Martina Hingis, who made her name in a completely different sport of course, took part.

As I say, it is important and treated accordingly.  The course is marshalled by support staff from the Swiss ski team and they are looking for the next generation of racers.  The Mannlichen cable car is open normally at 8.15am; tomorrow it is open at 6.45am  and the hillside will be full of aspiring World Cup skiers and anxious families.

The Grand Prix here has suffered weather wise over the last few years and has been postponed more than once.  It just seems to attract bad weather; so in a season of bad weather and even though the forecast is good, I am quite sure we will have all the plagues of Egypt tomorrow, or at the very least a few frogs.