Beneath the towering north face of the Eiger, Grindelwald is set in magnificent scenery and offers some great skiing with links to Wengen.
Set along a narrow valley with buildings in a mainly traditional chalet style, the resort has great skiing and is suitable even for non skiers. Beginners can enjoy the nursery slope just above the village, and great long runs available served by the railway to Kleine Scheidegg.
Grindelwald has ideal intermediate runs, with nearly all the runs from Kleine Scheidegg being long blues or gentle reds. At the top of the Lauberhorn lift there are some more challenging pistes, for advanced skiers; the Lauberhorn World Cup downhill, or the Black Rock Run, which starts at the base of the Eiger.
The Ski Areas:
Kleine Scheidegg - Männlichen Lies in the heart of the Jungfrau Region and at the foot of the world-famous Eiger North Face. The Kleine Scheidegg-Männlichen ski paradise comprises of 19 modern lifts and 110 beautifully prepared slopes and belongs to one of the most popular winter sport regions in Switzerland.
Wengen Wengen, a gorgeous, car-free haven perched on a shelf of tranquil southwest-facing meadow. Wengen is one of Switzerland’s best-known ski resorts, most famous for hosting World Cup downhill and slalom races on the Lauberhorn every January. The resort stays bustling with skiers well into April.
Mürren-Schilthorn Mürren At an altitude of 1'650 m - 3'000 m, Mürren-Schilthorn is the highest winter sport resort in the Bernese Oberland and guarantees optimal ski conditions well into spring.
Grindelwald-First Bärgelegg-Snowpark, Grindel-Superpipe, Oberjoch-Run with timing, Boardercross, 50 km of skiing fun and even a "30 limit" zone, the Grindelwald-First ski area is an absolute must for ski and snowboard fans and those aspiring to be it.
Bodmi With its sunny location and beginner's lift, the nursery slope on Bodmi is the ideal area for beginners of all ages.
Grindelwald also offers 15.5 km of cross-country skiing tracks of all levels of difficulty. Sunny skiing tracks on Bussalp and skating tracks with guaranteed snow in Grindelwald Grund.
Apres-Ski:
The bars at Kleine Scheidegg, including the rocking teepee tent, and the Lauberhorn bar by the start of the downhill are the main on-mountain spots, with the prospect of the long descent, either to Grindelwald or Wengen at the end of play.
There are 17 bars in Grindelwald, many of them in hotels.
The tiny Espresso Bar in the Hotel Spinne is always crowded. Loud music and a lot of beer, with a friendly atmosphere – the perfect meeting place after boarding or skiing. Nearby is a large plastic tent that thumps out après ski music.
More sedate is the Gepsi Bar in the Hotel Eiger – cosy, with comfortable sofas and live music in high season. The C&M is a café and restaurant in a wooden chalet towards the 'First' end of town, ideal on your way home after skiing this side of the resort.
The Hotel Central Wolter has a café-bar with outside tables and chairs from which you can watch the world go by. Later into the evening two of the best nightclubs are the Mescalero (Hotel Spinne) and the Plaza (Hotel Sunstar).
Other Activities
Grindelwald has a long history as a climbing village and Grindelwald Sports, the Mountaineering Centre, is one of the best in the world. They organise all kinds of activities for outdoor enthusiasts of all ages and abilities including glacier hikes and glacier walking tours of 1 -7 days, climbing courses, Summit courses and training courses on rock and ice. New ideas such as canyoning, bungee, gorge crossing, rafting and 'Spider highway', canyon-jumping and adventures in a glacial gorge.
Paragliding is offered by a number of instructors and still outdoors you will find 80km (50 miles) of cleared winter walking trails, guided snowshoe hikes through untouched winter landscapes towards the Eiger are offered by the Mountaineering Centre. There are also 10km of cleared winter hiking routes.
There are a number of toboggan runs, the longest 15km (9 miles) long from the Faulhorn (2681m) down to Grindelwald.
The major base for indoor sports is the Sports Centre where an indoor ice rink offers figure skating and hockey as well as four curling rinks. There is also an integral indoor swimming pool with sauna, solarium and steam bath as well as table tennis, billiards and a games room.
Grindelwald has a cinema and a local history museum showing the history of climbing, mountain sports and alpine cheese making in the area. The Hotel Hirschen has two bowling alleys. No visit to the area is complete without a cog-railway trip up to the Jungfraujoch, the highest rail station in Europe at 3454 metres (11,330 feet).
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