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Posts from the road

Gatineau Getaway

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(Wakefield, Quebec, Canada)

We decided to take a road trip to the Gatineau region of Québec last weekend. There were multiple reasons, with more reasons appearing as the trip progressed!

The Nepean Lawn Bowls clubhouse on Woodroffe Avenue in Ottawa, Ontario.

Our first stop was the Nepean Lawn Bowls Club in suburban Ottawa, where I could do some early-season practicing on their artificial surface. And I could also finally try out my new bowls for the first time, as they had been patiently waiting since arriving from Australia three months ago. (I borrowed some bowls when I played in Switzerland in February). My club in Kingston has a natural grass surface and it won’t be available for at least another week.

King’s Day Celebrations outside the Dutch Groceries store on Clyde Avenue in Ottawa, Ontario.

I was excited to play outdoors again, so I stayed for a long time and worked up quite an appetite. Accordingly, our next stop was the nearby Dutch Groceries deli/shop. And what a coincidence: it was King’s Day (Koningsdag) in the Netherlands, so the shop was selling fresh treats such as bitterballen and poffertjes on the sidewalk outside the shop! Of course, we had to have some. With lots of Dutch-Canadians wearing orange, and some special promotions inside the shop, it was a very festive occasion. Among other things, I picked up some Cantenaar and Parrano cheeses, two specialized kinds of sambal (sambal manis and surinaamse sambal), and a whole lot of dropjes.

The Meule & Caquelon restaurant on Boul. Gréber in Gatineau, Québec,

By dinnertime, we had crossed the Ottawa River into Québec and decided to try something that you can’t find in Kingston: a Swiss restaurant (although we have Amadeus, which is an excellent Austrian/Bavarian restaurant). Meule & Caquelon has an unassuming location in a Gatineau strip mall but it is a cozy place specializing in fondue and raclette. We had a modified raclette; we grilled our own food and then melted raclette cheese over it.

The Auberge de Mon Petit Chum B&B in Wakefield, Québec. We stayed here for a night.

That night, we stayed in the rustic Québec village of Wakefield (see the covered bridge at the very top of this post). Wakefield is in the Gatineau River valley about 35 km north of Ottawa and, unlike other places near the nation’s capital, it has seen relatively little development. With almost no lighting on the side streets, it almost seemed like the village was in a previous century. While we chose this village because it was fairly close to Ottawa, Wakefield has some other special significance for me.

View of the lower part of the very first ski lift I ever took: the beginner area at Vorlage (Wakefield, Québec), with the base lodge on the right

The Vorlage ski area was just a block away from our B&B. While Vorlage is quite small, with a vertical drop of just 140 metres (about 460 feet), it will always hold a special place in my heart. It was here, in early 1983, that I went downhill skiing for the very first time. My Grade 10 friends convinced me to go on a school-organized ski trip. They also convinced me to just follow them rather than take lessons. While it wasn’t elegant (I was skiing like a hockey player), the trial by fire gave me the skiing bug. Regular readers of this blog know how much skiing has meant to me and my travel plans ever since.

View of the Gatineau River, taken from the middle of Wakefield’s covered bridge.

Anyway, Wakefield seems to be very quiet in the spring. This is probably because its outdoor activities attract more visitors in the summer and winter months. (In addition to Vorlage, the slightly larger Edelweiss ski area is also in Wakefield.) There was absolutely nobody else on the village’s picturesque covered bridge when I used it to cross the Gatineau River. On the way back, a couple of local children rode their bikes across but otherwise…silence.

The Northfolk Cafe in Perth, Ontario. The gelato was very good.

I spent a few more hours practicing bowls in Nepean the next day, and then continued home to Kingston via the “scenic route”. To break up the drive a bit, we stopped in the historic town of Perth for a beverage and some gelato. The skies were very gray by this point, with some intermittent rain, so the gray stone buildings in the downtown area made everything feel very gray indeed. But a tart lemon gelato can help overcome that.

A very gray day in Perth, Ontario.

This was the first, but certainly not the last, road trip of 2024. Watch this space for all the details!

Posts from the road

The hardest part of a vacation

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(Winterthur, Switzerland)

I’ve always found the last 24 hours of a vacation to be the most challenging. Especially after skiing in the spectacular Berner Oberland, it is very difficult for the last (urban) stop to compare favourably.

Hotel Wartmann in Winterthur, where I stayed on my last night in Switzerland

I’ve written about this before, in a 2018 post about visiting Zürich on the last day before flying home. This time, although my flight home once again left from Zürich, I decided to mix things up and stay somewhere else for the last night of my trip.

Ventilator Records in Winterthur, where I did some browsing before turning my mind to dinner

I settled on Winterthur, a city of about 110,000 people that is just about as close to Zürich’s airport as Zürich itself. I had never been to Winterthur before, and hoped that seeing something new might change the last day dynamic somewhat. I found a convenient hotel with good weekend rates…and a good breakfast!

The pedestrian-only Marktgasse in Winterthur, Switzerland

I really can’t complain about Winterthur. It seemed quietly prosperous, in an understated Swiss way, and at times resembled a scaled-down version of some of Zürich’s nicer parts. I felt completely safe walking around after dark and near the train station, which can’t be said for every city in the world.

The Stadtkirche in Winterthur, Switzerland

Exploring a new place did help a little bit. But, in the end, I just didn’t have enough time to get to know Winterthur and develop a rapport with it. Many of the shops had closed relatively early on Saturday and wouldn’t reopen until at least Monday. It seemed like the picturesque old town was relatively empty…and, to be fair, there was a (sold out) professional soccer match in Winterthur that afternoon.

Obere Kirchgasse in Winterthur, Switzerland

But, as you can see from the photos in this post, the overcast skies didn’t help. The light was flat, and reminded me of the not-so-scenic days of low visibility on the slopes. I imagined that the many cafés and restaurants would create a dynamic street scene in more favourable weather. While a few diehards were out on patios, it still seemed kind of forced.

Something a little different on Neustadtgasse in Winterthur, Switzerland

I still enjoyed the afternoon. I found an interesting record shop in an “up-and-coming” part of the city that probably used to be quite industrial. At a grocery store, I bought some Swiss items that I wouldn’t be able to find in Canada. I gathered some snacks for the upcoming long trip home. I scoped out some restaurants, with the intention of having one final truly Swiss meal that evening.

A couple of nice-looking restaurants in the “Graben” (Winterthur, Switzerland)

I found a restaurant (Restaurant zur Sonne) that seemed to be sufficiently Swiss. I even reprised a meal from earlier in this trip: Älplermagronen und Suure Moscht. This is essentially super-deluxe macaroni and cheese, served with a cold apple cider. It was solid and undoubtedly Swiss. But it couldn’t stop the inexorable progress of time. As I finished the last few bites, I knew that the trip was now over. It was now just about going home.

Everything seems “just so” in Winterthur!

Afterward, I took a photo of the restaurant from the street. However, it was already dark and the resulting picture will never make any Top Ten list. I’ve included it anyway, as it turned out to be the last photo of my trip.

Restaurant zur Sonne – I had my final Swiss dinner here, in the second floor restaurant (Winterthur, Switzerland)

I managed to get a good night’s sleep and a satisfying breakfast at the hotel. It’s funny how the trip home seems to take so long…and how much more noticeable the various delays seem to be. Even the usually efficient Zürich airport seemed to be struggling. But finally, after a long flight (no business class upgrade this time), and what seemed like an even longer wait for my luggage, I walked out the front door of Toronto’s Pearson Airport. I was now back home. My 2024 Swiss adventure was over.

But wait! There’s more! I’ve saved some Swiss mountain photos and some closing thoughts for another post…coming soon!

Posts from the road

The costs of Switzerland

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(Wengen, Switzerland)

It’s not an outdated stereotype. Switzerland *is* expensive. But not necessarily in the ways you’d expect, and there are ways to mitigate it somewhat.

The mighty Eiger looms high above the Gummi lift

First of all, lift tickets in Switzerland are still cheaper than lift tickets in the big North American resorts. This is because skiing is not just a sport for the wealthy in Switzerland. It has traditionally been thought of as a middle-class family activity. This “accessibility” has its limits, though…Zermatt, for example, is now creeping up to North American price levels.

A very bright moment between Männlichen and Kleine Scheidegg

If you can, bring your own ski equipment. Many airlines will take a ski bag at no extra cost. Swiss ski rental costs have skyrocketed in the last few years. I always bring my ski boots from home, but renting skis is no longer the relative bargain it used to be. This partly results from high Swiss wages. There is labour involved in preparing rental skis, and that cost is partly borne by the renter.

Hut at the base of the Tschuggen T-bar

Similarly, restaurant prices can give you a serious case of sticker shock. Even though taxes and tip are included in the price, it still is quite an adjustment (despite the post-COVID price bump we saw in Canada). Unlike much of Canada, Swiss restaurant employees are paid a living wage. This is great but, as with ski rentals, it is reflected in the price to the consumer.

Looking out over the Lauterbrunnen valley, from the Black Rock piste

One option is getting a half-board hotel room. This means that both breakfast and dinner are included in your room rate. You may not have much choice on the menu, but it is usually much more economical than eating a la carte at restaurants outside your hotel. When you have half-board, you only pay extra for the beverages you consume at dinner. At the Hotel Bellevue in Wengen, we had great five-course meals every night at 7:00 p.m. It was no problem to get cleaned up in time for dinner after a long day of skiing. Eating in your hotel also saves you the time involved in deciding on and getting to/from a restaurant.

This was our table for the week at the Hotel Bellevue in Wengen. What a great view to have every morning!

Also, with buffet breakfasts, you can eat quite well and not need an expensive lunch. Lunch on the slopes can easily be just a bowl of soup (generally served with bread), which is much cheaper and quicker than having a heavy entree. Fortunately, Swiss mountain restaurants are not exorbitantly priced. They are private undertakings that must also be sustainable with a non-skiing clientele during the rest of the year.

Appetizer on Day 7 at the Hotel Bellevue. Pastetli (vol-au-vent) filled with wild mushrooms, on top of a cheese fondue sauce

Consider going vegetarian in Switzerland. Main courses without meat, or with minimal meat, are significantly cheaper than those with meat. And if you must eat meat, avoid things like steak. They are obscenely expensive and, in my non-expert opinion, not all that Swiss. Eat local specialties… largely meat-free local options like Rösti and Älplermagronen are both tastier and easier on your wallet.

View from the Eigergletscher

As for hotels, go with family-run hotels that offer a solid breakfast (and no frills). Don’t be a star snob: even a one- or two-star Swiss hotel is going to be far cleaner and more comfortable than you would expect. The stars mostly refer to the frills, not the basic quality and comfort. And the food in a locally-run hotel is more likely to be affordable too. There’s no need to pay for a major chain’s advertising budget.

One of the restaurants (and a lot of crows) at Kleine Scheidegg. We didn’t eat here.

Finally, travel costs are heavily skewed in favour of locals. They can buy various passes that really drive down costs. Tourists who are only here for a week aren’t so lucky. Do your research…if you can stay for at least two weeks, you might be able to find a pass that cuts your ground transportation costs too. Or try to visit places that are close to an international airport. Geneva or Zurich are within Switzerland itself, but don’t forget about major international cities like Milan (Italy) or Lyon (France). Airfares to those places are often much cheaper than airfares to Swiss destinations. And if your ground transportation is mostly outside Switzerland, that saves money too.

Another view of the Eiger. It’s very easy to take pictures of it from the Männlichen area!

There is still more to come on Switzerland! (All of today’s pictures are ones I didn’t use in my previous post about skiing at Wengen.)

Posts from the road

Last day on the Wengen slopes: Feels like the first time

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(Wengen, Switzerland)

After the poor visibility that plagued our first three days of skiing in the Kleine Scheidegg and Männlichen areas around Wengen, we were pleased to see the sun rise for our last day of skiing in Wengen. Maybe we would be able to properly see what we were skiing?

Getting ready for the descent from the top of the Honegg lift, just above Kleine Scheidegg

And just like the old Foreigner song…when we emerged from the cable car at Männlichen, it was like we were seeing and skiing these slopes for the very first time! We could indeed see everything, including the mighty Eiger!

Looking down from the top of the Black Rock piste, with the impending “cliff” straight ahead and the rock itself coming up on the right

The photos tell the story. But I’d like to comment on a couple of special elements of this special day. The first was being able to properly ski my favourite Wengen piste: the Black Rock (now known more generically as Piste #32). Part of this black-rated piste’s appeal is the steep slope that demands precision. But, most of all, it’s the natural beauty of the slope.

This is where the “cliff” (and the fun, and the Black Rock itself) begins!

The first part is not very challenging, although in the distance you can see that the piste appears to fall off a cliff. And then when you get to that cliff, you have to balance skiing smartly with enjoying the spectacular view of the Lauterbrunnen valley on one side and a massive nearly-black rock formation on the other.

Looking back from near the end of the Black Rock piste – it’s hard to describe just how massive that rock really is.

Once you get past the massive rock formation, the piste’s incline eases considerably and it’s a little safer to fully enjoy the beauty of your surroundings. On a sunny day like today, I find myself saying that there is no other place I’d rather be. And that’s about the time that “Right Here, Right Now” (the 1991 song by Jesus Jones) implants itself in my head.

Speaking of massive rocks: this is the Eiger. And the steep part straight ahead is an unbelievable 2 km tall (the entire Eiger itself tops out at nearly 4 km in elevation)

For our final run of the day (and week, and year), we decided to go out with a bang. We would ski the famous Lauberhornrennen, the oldest and longest World Cup downhill race in the world. Check out this video from about 10 years ago to see exactly why the Lauberhorn race is so difficult and so special.

The wedding party (bride in white dress in the centre) at the top of the Lauberhorn piste

Before starting the Lauberhorn run, we saw a group of unusually dressed skiers (one in a white dress) near the starting gate. Yes, a skiing couple from Australia was actually getting married on the slopes! Instead of a “destination” wedding on a beach, they invited their skiing friends to celebrate with them in Switzerland.

I took this photo in the starting gate of the Lauberhorn run. What a way to end the week of skiing at Wengen!

The Lauberhorn run was a demanding but great way to end our week of skiing. But if you liked the spectacular photos from the last two posts, fear not! There is lots more to come from this amazing part of the world!

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Here Comes The Sun: A Glorious Day on the Schilthorn

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(Mürren, Switzerland)

OK, so the tough weather might have been getting to me a little bit. My last two posts were a little despondent. But the weather experts were right: they said Day 4 of our ski week in Wengen would be great for skiing. And it sure was!

This view, on a piste beside the Kandahar lift, is one of my favourites. Yes, we ski through that narrow chasm to get to Mürren! And those mountains in the background just happen to be the famous Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau peaks!

We decided to travel across the Lauterbrunnen valley to the slopes above Mürren. The views from the top of the Schilthorn promised to be stunning. But rather than race to the summit of the Schilthorn, at an elevation of nearly 3000 metres, we decided to enjoy the slopes along the way. And so we took our time exploring the pistes accessible by lifts such as Winteregg, Allmiboden, Schiltgrat, and Gimmeln.

The Schilthornhütte restaurant, with the Schilthorn looming in the back centre-right. We ate at one of these outdoor tables.

The conditions were sublime. Shimmering sunshine, with nary a cloud in the sky. The snow accumulations from the previous 48 hours meant that we weren’t skiing on an icy base. And we could see! With all of those favourable factors, it only made sense to have lunch outside at the rustic Schilthornhütte, within sight of the peak we would finally ascend that afternoon.

My lunch at the Schilthornhütte: Käsesuppe und Rauchwurst.

I had Käsesuppe (cheese soup) and Rauchwurst (smoked sausage) with some Swiss mustard (senf). It hit the spot perfectly. But even better was the view. Check out the picture at the very top of this post: this is where we ate! It was so nice on this sunny shelf that it wasn’t easy to move on. But we had a mission: to experience one of the most iconic views in the Alps.

Looking north from the top of the Schilthorn. The city of Thun is visible near the top centre of the photo.

I described my most recent visit to the Schilthorn in this post from 2018. All that still applies, although I’m pleased to report that some of the ickier aspects (most notably the “Bondgirls” sign at the women’s washroom) have been replaced. And as you can see from the photos here, the weather conditions were much better this time around. Waiting until the afternoon didn’t cause any problems at all – in fact, the Schilthorn was almost abandoned by that time of day.

Now, to ski down from the Schilthorn…we have to get from the building at right to the run-out slope you see at the lower centre-left of this photo!

After taking many, many pictures of the surrounding mountains, it was time to ski down from the top. But there’s only one way down. It’s a black-rated piste (the most difficult rating). Normally, this is not a problem. But the steepness of the slope, together with a lot of snowfall and a lot of morning traffic, left us with a particularly difficult descent. Large moguls alternated with pockets of deep snow and “scraped” icy patches. This would be a challenge!

OK, first let’s take a cheesy Swiss tourist photo at the Schilthorn!

But sensible challenges are one of the reasons we ski. And so, four of us decided to tackle the dreaded “Piste 10” leading down from the majestic Schilthorn. It certainly wasn’t my most elegant descent. Nonetheless, we still felt a sense of accomplishment when we made it down intact.

We’re at the very top of Piste 10, the only way down from the Schilthorn. After the first turn, it gets very steep!

We still had some enjoyable pistes that afternoon around the Kandahar and Muttleren lifts. But all too soon, we had to start making our way towards Winteregg so that we could get back to Wengen without a long uphill walk in ski boots. We caught the crucial last lift at Maulerhubel with precisely two minutes to spare!

Looking back at what we just did: that’s the Schilthorn in the background, with the rest of my posse enjoying an easy cruising slope after the challenge of Piste 10.

I often nominate a particular piste as the week’s Traumpiste (“dream run”). But every once in a while, the entire day is wonderful. I’d have to say that was the case today. And we were all able to enjoy it together, after some tough conditions over the previous three days. So, let’s call it a Traumtag!

Looking from Maulerhubel towards Wengen (on the other side of the valley), as the sun begins to disappear behind the high peaks at 4:30 p.m. These were some of the only clouds we saw today.

After such a great day on the Schilthorn, could our last day on the Wengen slopes possibly compare? Stay tuned and see!

Posts from the road

Skiing in suboptimal conditions, Part 3: the snowy depths of despair

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(Wengen, Switzerland)

The forecast for Day 2 was 25 cm of new snow, and we received at least that much. But I think we received even more on Day 3. So, let’s say “a couple of feet” of new snow in little more than 24 hours. That would normally be awesome. But we also couldn’t see anything!

Being swallowed up by the snow, and also not knowing where it is, near the top of the Männlichen ski area above Grindelwald and Wengen, Switzerland

As you can see from some of the on-slope photos here, the light was so “flat” that we couldn’t see the slope even if we could see other objects (which we frequently couldn’t).

We had lunch here, at the Chalet Restaurant on Day 3 (Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland). You wouldn’t know that the massive Eiger was looming behind it!

I have to admit that 3 days in a row of poor visibility can be quite demoralizing, especially when the day before that was cancelled altogether because of stormy weather. We tried moving around from area to area, but any improvement was strictly temporary.

Lots of room on this usually heavily-used piste down to the Wixi lift (Wengen, Switzerland). This was probably the best visibility we had on Day 3, even though it was still hard to see changes in the slope.

I did my best to dwell on the positives, as outlined in this post and that post about suboptimal skiing conditions. But I also found that I was experiencing cumulative exhaustion. I’d be physically and mentally exhausted at the end of each day, and it was harder to recharge enough to face new (or even familiar) challenges by the next morning.

What once was green, is now white! This is just above Wengen (which is obscured by fog)

The only plus was that the slopes were virtually empty. And while I knew that the conditions would probably be amazing when the storm ended, it was becoming less and less clear when this might actually happen. What if the poor weather never left?

Some appealing chalets that we would ski by on our return to Wengen each day.

As for the pictures, I turned my attention to things I saw every day: chalets on the Talabfahrt (late afternoon valley run) and around our Hotel Bellevue home base (which you can now see with snow at the very top of this post). My ski posse referred often to a “winter wonderland”, so I tried to embrace that aspect of what I was seeing. And it was fascinating to see the transformation from green and brown to deep, deep white. Even the lowest pistes now had snow on the sides as well.

A quaint rustic chalet right beside our hotel in Wengen

Two of us decided to visit a different part of Wengen one day after skiing through the blinding snow. We stopped by the Chalet Alpenblick, which hosted the Auslandschweizer (Swiss Abroad) ski camps I attended for many years. I stayed in this house more than once, so it used to be quite familiar to me.

Nostalgic visit to the Chalet Alpenblick in Wengen

While we were looking at the Alpenblick, we were actually invited in to take a look around! This week’s occupants (a high school group from Biel, Switzerland) found our story fascinating. It was amazing how little had changed in 15-20 years. The same teapots, chairs, tables, Foosball game…it really could have been 2005 all over again.

This beautifully-situated Wengen church overlooks the Lauterbrunnen valley

With that unexpected nostalgia trip behind us, we were reassured by the ski rental shop that Day 4 would really be a great ski day. We really wanted to believe this. Was it true?

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Skiing in suboptimal conditions – Part 2

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(Wengen, Switzerland)

After skiing in suboptimal conditions for a day last week, and then having the resort shut down on my first scheduled day of skiing here, you’d think that all the iffy weather stuff would be behind me. But you would be wrong!

Restaurant Brandegg, near Grindelwald – we lunched here on day one and had the famous apple doughnuts for dessert

My first two “real” days of skiing here were plagued by poor visibility (fog), marginal snow conditions, and eventually precipitation that ranged from rain to sleet to heavy snow. We had to make do with minor victories, and keep looking ahead to the promised sunny skies on days four and five. Fortunately, the food at the Hotel Bellevue in Wengen (see photo at the top of this post) continued to impress. And there were no lift lines at all!

Great visibility, but poor snow conditions on day one at the (relatively) low altitude slopes leading to Wengen.

The poor visibility is particularly frustrating. It certainly interferes with skiing (making even seasoned skiers look like absolute beginners), but it is especially unfortunate in this part of Switzerland. One member of our ski group had never been to Wengen before and we had to assure her that the legendary and massive Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau mountains were really looming far overhead.

The Eiger appears at the end of day one! With a weird horizontal cloud formation below the peak!

At 4:30 p.m. on the first day, Mother Nature teased us a little. All of a sudden, the clouds parted, the sun emerged, and the cloud level was actually below us. We had a brief but dramatic view of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau…with a strange horizontal cloud formation just below (see above photo). It was amazing! I think my camera was overwhelmed by the sunlight, though, as all of my frantically snapped photos came out rather blurry.

The iffy visibility here (at Grindelwald First) was standard over the first couple of days, although it was frequently much worse.

Alas, day two was just more of the same fog, with rain at the lower altitudes and increasing snow at the higher altitudes. Our lunches took on increased importance, as they offered a respite from the poor weather. But some restaurants were closed (including one in Grindelwald that was a real hit in 2018) because of the low numbers on the slopes…or because the pistes leading to them were not open.

This rustic house at the end of the Talabfahrt was quite visible near low-altitude Grindelwald on day two. However, it was also quite wet!

Looking on the bright side, suboptimal skiing weather does have some benefits. It makes skiing incredibly easy once the weather improves. It is a great workout, because “skiing blind” places heavy physical demands on you. And it develops concentration skills, as assessing the snow and piste conditions by feel demands nothing less than 100% focus. Your senses are certainly heightened: on the second day, we spotted a huge herd of roughly 50 chamois as we rode the Oberjoch chairlift high above Grindelwald.

Stay tuned for my report on the third day of skiing in the Wengen-Grindelwald area!

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What to do when the ski resort shuts down?

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(Wengen, Switzerland)

I’m now staying in Wengen, a beautiful mountain village perched on a cliff overlooking the Lauterbrunnen Valley.  You’ve probably seen this valley in many photos before (see above photo), even if the name doesn’t sound familiar. It’s one of the most photographed valleys in the world. But I’m here to ski, not just to marvel at the stunning valley landscape.

View from my hotel, over the Lauterbrunnen valley

Alas, at breakfast on what was supposed to be my first day (of six) of skiing here, we learned that the entire lift system was shut down due to high winds. Parts of the railway system were shut down too. We had to find another way to spend the day.

View of another hotel, also overlooking the Lauterbrunnen valley

I’d like to say that this was unprecedented. But it isn’t: in 2017, at Madonna di Campiglio (Italy), we were unable to ski because the entire lift system was shut down…also due to high winds.

Having a chat with some Irish hikers we met on the way down to Lauterbrunnen

Anyway, we decided to start with a hike down from cliff-top Wengen to the village of Lauterbrunnen on the valley floor.  The vertical drop is about 500 metres, but it took less than an hour because it is almost straight down. It turned out to be an excellent warm-up for our remaining days of skiing.

Two goats in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

From Lauterbrunnen, I suggested hiking to the small village of Stechelberg, located at the end of the valley. I figured we could have lunch at the Hotel/Restaurant Stechelberg, an old-fashioned establishment I visited about 15 years ago. This was ambitious, given the distance…and the fact that this was the only restaurant in Stechelberg. It could have ended in heartbreak. But we went ahead anyway.

One of many waterfalls in the Lauterbrunnen valley, as seen from downtown Lauterbrunnen

Just like the descent from Wengen, the walk to Stechelberg was beautiful. The alleged high winds were barely noticeable this far down from the mountains. We encountered the usual assortment of cows, goats, and donkeys. We even passed a cheese vending machine, like the one I saw in Lenk in 2018.

A fun vending machine featuring…cheese. It’s between Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen.

We had the foresight to reserve a table at the Stechelberg restaurant, so we were able to walk right into a rustic lunch.  Nothing appeared to have changed in the last 15 years. In fact, it looked like the local Swiss restaurants I saw as a child in the late 1970s.

More goats, and other creatures in the background, this time in Stechelberg, Switzerland

Most of us walked back to Lauterbrunnen after lunch, making it a total of around 20 km of walking if you include the walking we also did in Wengen itself.

View from Stechelberg – looking towards Wengen, which you can see in the distance on a ledge high above the valley floor.

OK, so we didn’t come to Wengen to hike in March. But we still had a nice day outside and gained a new perspective on the amazing natural setting of Wengen and the valley far below.

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Skiing in suboptimal conditions

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(Zweisimmen, Switzerland)

After a stellar “biathlon” the previous day (see above for a photo from the previous day!), it wasn’t fair to expect another wholly amazing day in Zweisimmen. And while it had some fun parts, it’s not going on my all-time Traumtag list.

Complete strangers overlooking Hornfluh (the day before)

In the valley, it rained all day. It changed to snow once I got above 1300 m elevation, but most of it was very wet and heavy snow. And visibility was quite poor for most of the day. With wet goggles, seeing properly was even harder.

More strangers at the Gstaad ski area (the day before, mind you)

With that dim introduction, you might think it was a terrible day. But there were still some highlights. People weren’t skiing on the Rinderberg in the morning for some reason, so I was basically able to make first tracks in the fresh foot of snow that had fallen since the day before. And I kept doing that for at least 5 more “laps” of the upper Rinderberg pistes. The visibility wasn’t great, but it was good enough that I could focus on skiing through the fresh stuff.

Looking out from Parwengesattel towards St. Stephan (the previous day)

Eventually, however, the ski schools arrived en masse and I no longer had the mountain to myself. I figured I would return to the St. Stephan slopes where I had so much fun the day before. Alas, the conditions were terrible. The top half was OK, but there is only one lift…so you must ski the bottom half too. The bottom half featured muddy snow that felt like sand…and stopped your skis dead in their tracks. It was grim. I only did the one run there – life is too short for skiing in mud. I couldn’t return to the Rinderberg without doing multiple lifts and low-elevation pistes, so I moved on to the Saanenmöser slopes.

Parking lot for skis at the mountaintop Hotel Restaurant Hornfluh

Saanenmöser was better than St. Stephan, but even there I had to adapt. While there wasn’t any muddy snow, the warm temperatures meant that skiing anywhere “fresh and untouched” in the middle and lower sections would also bring your skis to a sudden stop. So I could only ski where other people had skied before. This goes against my skiing instincts, but the alternative was worse. And even then there were some invisible slow spots.

My lunch at the Hotel Restaurant Hornfluh: Älplermagronen with a Suure Moscht

Lunch was a much-needed escape from all the rain and snow. I ate at the Hotel Restaurant Hornfluh. I ordered Älplermagronen und Suure Moscht: this is Swiss-German for macaroni and cheese (deluxe, with ham, two cheeses, and fried onions) and an apple cider. Once again, lots of carbs to get me through the demanding ski conditions!

More of the ski rack at Hornfluh, along with an alarming cow

By the end of the day, I was exhausted and soaked. Plus, my water bottle leaked in my backpack. As a result, my dry extra clothes were even wetter than the damp ones I was wearing. It wasn’t a very glamorous way to end the day. Nonetheless, I decided to focus on a sense of accomplishment for adapting to the many challenges I faced throughout the day. And nothing can take away those dreamy first runs in the morning when I had the slopes to myself!

Next: my return to Wengen!

Posts from the road

In 12 hours, I did the ultimate Gstaad biathlon!

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(Gstaad, Switzerland)

It doesn’t get much better than this. The sun was shining, the slopes in the Gstaad ski region weren’t busy…what better way to start the morning than by heading to the Zweisimmen ski gondola station? No line-up: I walked right into a waiting gondola and began my ascent up the Rinderberg.

View from my Zweisimmen hotel

The top of the Rinderberg is around 2011 metres (about 6600 feet) high, so it’s not an especially high mountain. But it is still high enough to have a lot of snow cover even though the snow is gone in the valley. I started with some very enjoyable pistes on the back side at Parwengesattel, high above the village of St. Stephan. There was a lot of room on the slopes, so I could focus on my technique a little bit too.

View from Saanerslochgrat

And the good conditions continued, at least on the higher parts of the various linked resorts. Things got a bit wet and slushy on the lower elevations, but my ski posse knows that I usually thrive in those conditions.

View from Parwengesattel, high above St. Stephan

For lunch, I stumbled on a rare opportunity: I could eat al fresco (in the sun) at a restaurant right beside the lower part of the slope leading to Oeschseite. So I grabbed a table, ordered a panaché and some pasta, and enjoyed my slopeside meal without my jacket on. Now this is what being on holiday is all about!

I ate my lunch outside here at Restaurant Träumli, near Oeschseite. My table near the front is still empty.

I spent most of the afternoon on the slopes above Saanenmöser, before heading back to the Rinderberg for my last pistes at the end of the day. Considering this was my first day of skiing in two years, I was really happy with how it all turned out. My boots still felt good despite the passage of two years, and the Swiss skis I rented (it was too much hassle to bring mine from Canada) were just right too.

This is the piste leading to the Restaurant Träumli at Oeschseite. The restaurant is on the right side of the trail, just before it veers left. The snow was actually not too bad, despite the very warm temperatures

So what could possibly make the day even better? How about adding another sport in the evening and turning it into an extended 12-hour biathlon? Well, believe it or not, I was able to go lawn bowling in the evening in Gstaad! I know – it’s winter. But there is an indoor tennis club in Gstaad where they can roll out some special carpets to permit indoor lawn bowling.

Looking in the other direction at Parwengesattel

On top of that, I was able to play in a pairs match with the current Swiss Indoor Singles champion against the current Swiss pairs champions. They were wearing a lot of Swiss national team gear. I hadn’t played in 5 months, but they found a set of bowls in my size and I was able to find my groove very quickly. We bowled for nearly three hours.

An easy slope in the Gstaad ski region

It is remarkable how universal sports can be. We had really competitive games but we also had a lot of fun. And in addition to the guys who played, I met several other members of the club who came to watch or met us afterwards.

Like every Swiss railway station, the Zweisimmen train station has a Mondaine clock like this. I have the same clock (and watch) too!

To cap off an amazing day, we adjourned to the curling club’s pub and enjoyed some pizza and beverages! It was great to talk about our common sports passions. They were fascinated by a Canadian lawn bowler who originates from the very same mountain valley that they are from. And I never thought I would meet fellow Swiss who played the sport too. All in all, a remarkable day!