Another day, another wind blowing. It didn’t seem obvious at Mannlichen this morning that the wind was still with us. The foehn cloud wasn’t shrouding the peak of the Eiger in the usual way, or at least I didn’t notice it. In fact, all was peaceful, with a greyish start to the day and almost no skiers at all. There were perhaps thirty people on my cable car first thing and within seconds of arriving at the top station, we were spread out over the hill. Not many others joined us.
Shortly after lunch, I decanted myself from the Gummi chair to be met by a full on gale. For a while, it seemed every run was wind assisted, or wind opposed, and some of the slopes were looking bare. The Eigernordwand lift was showing the second highest wind warning and the Eiger Express moved very slowly. Mind you, it is new, so that could be for any number of reasons. The snow which is forecast is needed. A white Christmas would be welcome.
Another blustery day brought 10,434 vertical metres in 20 lift rides and 53 kilometres travelled.
Idle thoughts from a mountain 