It was quiet on the way to the cable car this morning and there was only shortest of queues once there, less than one car’s worth of people. I hoped accordingly that yesterday might have been the busiest day of the week. It turned out to be a forlorn hope, with the mountain already very busy when I reached Mannlichen.
Most day trippers, of which there were plenty today, arrive on the slopes via the new lifts from Grund. The journey to Grund is quick and easy by road or rail and the lifts are as fast as you might want. The number of people in Wengen is no longer a reliable guide to the crowds on the slopes.
I spent most of the morning queuing, or so it seemed. After an early lunch stop, I managed a few quiet runs whilst the hordes stopped for their own meal. Often, when a sunny terrace beckons, the afternoon slopes are deserted, but not today. Once refuelled, most people returned to the mountain and it was only late in the afternoon on Wixi that there was breathing space again.
The journey home was better today though. The pistes had fewer slushy moguls than yesterday and there was good skiing all the way to Innerwengen. It was the highlight of an otherwise tricky day.
A day of large crowds and slow skiing brought 7,200 vertical metres in 16 lift rides and 40 kilometres travelled.
Idle thoughts from a mountain 