Winter arrives

I made it back to Wengen yesterday to find that in my absence the village had enjoyed varied weather, ranging between spring and high summer.

Yesterday though, Mannlichen had closed in the morning with the wind blowing yet again. It had reopened by the time I arrived at the cable car shortly after mid day, but nobody seemed to have noticed.  It was as quiet as the grave on the hill.

This morning, things began calmly enough, but the wind was forecast for early afternoon and turned up more or less on time.  In the meantime, it had snowed heavily, probably the best fall of the winter and, with cold temperatures, it seemed like winter had finally arrived.

As usual, the lifts began to close as the wind picked up.  By mid afternoon, only the gondola from Grund was open on the hill.  Even the railway was shut above Brandegg, so seeking to avoid the long journey home via Zweilutschinen, I bailed out for the cable car.

It is still the holiday season and the village is busy, but you wouldn’t notice really at the moment.  Sunshine is forecast for the morning, so maybe the queues at the cable car will return.

Two short days have brought 8,320 vertical metres in 20 lift rides and 54 kilometres travelled.
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