(Wengen, Switzerland)

For our last day of skiing in the Wengen area, we undertook a journey that thousands (millions?) of visitors have made:  the thrilling trip to the top of the Schilthorn.  At 2970 metres (about 10000 feet)  above sea level, it is by no means the highest mountain around:  several of its neighbours soar beyond 4000 metres.  However, several things about the Schilthorn make it unique.

Firstly, the cable car ride up is absolutely astounding.  This has to be one of the highest and  freakiest I’ve ever seen.  Secondly, on a clear day, the views across the valley to the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau are unparalleled.  You can even see all the way to Germany on the clearest days.   Alas, the weather was already deteriorating by the time we arrived (after one train, one bus, and 4 different cable cars that took us from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg to Gimmelwald to Mürren to Birg and finally to the summit).  There would be no Wunderfotos today.

Thirdly, the skiing is more challenging than at Grindelwald and Wengen.  For example, there is only one (official) way to ski down down from the top of the Schilthorn:  a black-rated piste with a maximum gradient of 75%!

And finally, this mountain (and the revolving restaurant at the top) was the location of the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”.  It was released in 1969 and was the only James Bond movie to feature George Lazenby in the title role.  The movie includes, among other scenes, the destruction of the mountaintop building and a ski chase down the Schilthorn (known as Piz Gloria in the movie).

Although the James Bond-Schilthorn connection was exploited to some extent in the past, it has now been taken to a new level.  An entire floor of the building is now devoted to “Bond World” and the outdoor viewing platform  now has (more or less) life-size cutouts of James Bond for your photographic pleasure.   The movie runs continuously in the theatre.  And the washrooms are not labeled “Men” and “Women”, but rather “Bonds” and “Bondgirls”.  Ick.

While I remember being intimidated by the 75% incline on prior visits, it wasn’t so bad this time because there were hardly any other skiers and the icy sections were kept in check by the significant recent snowfall.   Speaking of which:  the overcast day was quickly turning into a full-blown blizzard.  By the time we finished our lunch at the remote Schilthornhütte, we could hardly see anything.  We were sometimes forced to slowly descend from boundary post to boundary post, so that we wouldn’t accidentally ski off a cliff.

The slopes were *really* abandoned now but we pushed on, determined to take advantage of our lone day on the Schilthorn slopes.  We did a pretty good job, although we didn’t take any pictures for the entire afternoon.  I would have loved to share some photos of Mürren but we were strongly motivated to keep moving.  There has been little “development” of Mürren and its untouched-for-centuries appearance really contrasted with the unrestrained exploitation of the top of the Schilthorn.

It’s now time to move on from Wengen…but there’s another full week of skiing to go!