Mountain Layout — Skiing

Here is a larger, more detailed map of the Jungfrau Region.

The Jungfrau Winter Region has scores of lifts including railway routes up the mountain. Grindelwald and its surrounding hills and mountainsides are divided into seven pie-slice pieces radiating out from the center of town.


Grindelwald First
The 9,609-foot Schwarzhorn, on your left as you enter town from Interlaken, is the backdrop for the Grindelwald First slopes. It used to be a real pain to reach even for those staying in Grindelwald. However, the creaky chairlift sideways ride was an experience. Alas, no more. Or should we say, Hooray! A gondola now leaves from the city core of Grindelwald, about 50 yards off the main street, taking skiers to the upper reaches of the area that is a beginner and intermediate playground.

First offers plenty of skiing on its own. In the U.S. any resort would be overjoyed to have this much terrain and vertical drop (4,705 feet—more than any resort in the United States). There are 50 km. of prepared trails here, with good limitless off-piste runs.

Most skiers stay at the higher altitudes, on the runs under the Oberjoch and the trails served by the Schilt and Grindel chairlifts. This area is shielded from the wind and provides the most varied skiing.

Kleine Scheidegg
Kleine Scheidegg is reached by taking the cog train from Grindelwald. It takes about 35 minutes to reach this Alpine ski village trisected by railway tracks. Across from the parking lot of the Grund station is the Männlichenbahn, a gondola lift.

If you take the cog train you can yo-yo your way across towards Männlichen on the Arven, Honegg, Gummi, Tschuggen and Läger lifts. The skiing gets progressively more difficult as you work your way across, until you arrive at the wide-open Männlichen area.

From the Kleine Scheidegg station take the lift to the top of the Lauberhorn and then either ski back toward Kleine Scheidegg or loop around to the Wixi lift and Wengen, more or less following the famous Lauberhorn downhill race course. It’s a delightful ski experience, with a seemingly endless variety of dips, turns, mogul fields and occasional ice patches—perfect territory for the advanced intermediate. Try the run from the Lauberhorn to the Wixi chairlift, picking your way through the mogul fields. When the snow is good, this run is exceptional.

The cog train takes skiers up to the next stop, Eigergletscher, where several steep runs drop back down toward Wixi and Wengen and over-the-ridge runs also descend toward Grindelwald alongside the Salzegg lift.

At the end of your day, you’ll have a marvelous 30-minute run to Grindelwald, that passes the Arvengarten lift base before reaching a network of intermediate trails that offer a touch of ad-venture—there is always an easier way around the tough places for the less advanced. This run to the car park of the Männlichen gondola or to the Grund cog train station may be the highlight of your stay in the Jungfrau region, unless you’re counting the chills of Mürren’s 007 Run as a fun experience.

Männlichen
Männlichen is reached by taking the gondola from Grund directly to Männlichen. You will rise 4,223 feet of vertical, which can be skied in one long expert run or one long intermediate run.

Most skiers remain at the upper level of the Männlichen and play on the wide-open slopes served by the Männlichen and Läger chair lifts. From the Läger chair skiers drop down to the Gummi chair lift and yo-yo their way over to Kleine Scheidegg. These runs between Männlichen and Kleine Scheidegg are a delight for all skiers.

Wengen
The town sits at the base of the cliff dropping from the Männlichen and the Lauberhorn areas. There is a choice of taking either the cable car from town to the Männlichen area, or the cog train around the Lauberhorn to the Kleine Scheidegg area. The only way back to town without parachute or hang-glider is around the Lauberhorn under the Wixi lift, down to the Bumps T-bar, then along the trails to the town.

Mürren
For ski challenges in this region, savvy downhillers head for the Schilthorn, the mountain above Mürren, across the gorge from Wengen. Take the cog train from Lauterbrunnen to Mürren and then go by cable car the rest of the way; or take a direct cable car from Stechel-berg, outside Lauterbrunnen.

There is less good skiing but more challenges on the Schilthorn than at any of the other areas. Overall, there are 18 slopes with about 53 km. of runs. The eye-opener is the black run from the 9,748-foot Schilthorn. Start by quaffing an extra-strong cup of espresso or have lunch in the Piz Gloria revolving restau-rant atop the Schilthorn, then tackle the famed Inferno, also called the 007 Run. The lower section, called the Kanonenrohr (Cannon Barrel), sends you hurtling down a series of narrow, steep, bumped-up, rutted and often icy trails. Actually, good intermediates can make it haltingly down the entire run. The Engetal area, approximately a third of the way down from the Schilthorn, offers plenty of wide-open skiing, with the option to take the last stage of the Schilthorn cable car up to the top for another chance to carve your way down the face of the mountain. It’s below the Engetal area that the series of narrow and steep spots come into play.

If you visit in mid-to-late January, watch at least a part of the Inferno-Rennen, the traditional (since 1928) Schilthorn race that pits nearly 1,500 (as many as 4,000 apply) would-be champions against the clock and the 15.8-km. course. It takes a world-class skier almost 15 minutes. The race is normally scheduled in mid January.

Adventurous skiers also tackle the black runs from the 7,035-foot Schiltgrat. This area has excel-lent bumps and some super-steep off-piste skiing. Intermediates stay on the flat top of the ridge. Connecting lifts take skiers to the Winteregg and Allmendhubel, the mountain’s other two ski areas, where intermediate skiing—with an occasional black run—is the rule. The best intermediate run leads down to the base of the Winteregg chair, where you can lunch at an excellent restaurant.

If you are coming up from Lauterbrunnen on the train for Mürren, get off at the stop at the Winteregg chair where you can start and work your way to Allmendhubel and over to the Schiltgrat and the Schilthorn.

Mountain rating
Grindelwald First
This is an intermediate and beginner playground with some expert flashes. The panoramas toward the Eiger and the Schilthorn are spectacular.

Kleine Scheidegg
Working one’s way around the mountain toward Männlichen from Kleine Scheidegg requires good skills, but can be handled by most intermediates. The Lauberhorn can get bumped up, but still can be skied by any intermedi-ate. The Wengen side with the Lauberhorn run is perhaps the most challenging. The runs dropping from the Eigergletscher down to the Wixi are expert territory, and intermediates can also make the drop down the Salzegg side.

Männlichen
The wide-open area at the top of the gondola is perfect for every level of skier. Intermediates and experts will have a blast playing on the trails that wend over to Kleine Scheidegg. The long run to the base of the gondola is a joy.

Wengen
The nursery slopes surrounding this town are the best in the valley. If you are a beginner or traveling with a beginner, Wengen is the best village to stay in. It’s also the sunniest of the ski areas.

Mürren
Don’t plan to ski Mürren extensively if you’re a beginner. There are some intermediate slopes that the absolute beginner may be able to handle after a few days, but just barely.Intermediates will be pushed. Experts will find that the slopes of the Schilthorn and the Schiltgrat are the most challenging in the entire Jungfrau area.