The Lauberhorn weekend is over. It was 5 degrees on the balcony this morning at 8.00am and it didn’t promise well for the slalom race. On the mountain tops it was windy, although the wind would not trouble the course at Innerwengen. Still, it was not the ideal day for ski racing. In the end though, the weather gods were generous. The temperature fell and the second run of the slalom early in the afternoon took place in heavy snow. If nothing else, it would have looked good for the television cameras. Norway took victory for the third time this weekend, with a Swiss skier second on the hill again.
Sometime after heading for bed last night, it occurred to me that I had not locked our front door. This would not be a worry normally, Wengen being a long chalk from the crime capital of the world. However, on the Saturday night of the Lauberhorn there are many people looking for somewhere, anywhere in fact, as a berth for the night. The story of Goldilocks and the three bears might have been written here. It seemed worth getting up to turn the key and avoid finding someone asleep on the sofa in the morning.
The strong winds blew fitfully. Early on, all the major lifts were open, but by 11.00am Honegg and Wixi were closed. It seemed minutes later that the Mannlichen four man chair was closed also, followed quickly by the reopening of Honegg and Wixi. The skiing in the afternoon was as good as it gets, with decent light despite the heavy snow. At Allmend, the top of the slalom course, it was impossible to tell there had been a major ski race only a couple of hours before. The crowds were gone and much of the race paraphernalia had also disappeared.
A windy, snowy day brought 6,681 vertical metres in 14 lift rides and 37 kilometres travelled.
Idle thoughts from a mountain 