Grindelwald, the village at the foot of the mighty North Face of the Eiger, which, along with the similarly massive Wetterhorn and Mettenberg (part of the Schreckhorn massive) dominates the valley. Here is your guide to Gridelwald.
Your Guide to Grindelwald
The main focus of the village is on the main street with most of the amenities, bars, restaurants and hotels spread along it. The rest of the large village is made up of traditional chalets and farms which add to the atmosphere and charm of the village.
Ski Region
Part of the Jungfrau Ski Region compromising the villages of Grindelwald, Wengen & Mürren, you are able to access over 200km of slopes in three distinct ski areas. Grindelwald First sits on a sunny South facing plateau above Grindelwald and offers a nice range of pistes ideally suited towards intermediates, although there are a couple of more challenging runs, most notably the tree lined black descent to Bort. First is also the mecca for freestylers in the region with the excellent White Elements Snow Park. Split over two levels, with the beginner/intermediate area starting from the top of the Oberjoch chairlift and the bigger kickers and elements down by the Bargelegg t-bar.
Kleine Scheidegg – Mannlichen, the largest of the areas and shared by both Grindelwald and Wengen offers a good mixture of terrain, again ideally suited for intermediates but with good options for beginner progression and some challenges for advanced skiers, including the world famous Lauberhorn downhill slope, the longest on the World Cup circuit.
Mürren – Schilthorn; a stunningly beautiful area with car free mountain village and the James Bond connection. The slopes of Mürren tend to be more challenging than the rest of the ski area, with several challenging descents including from the top of the Piz Gloria and the Kannonroehr. However, there are still plenty of options for everyone.
The Skyline park is a popular choice for freestylers as well, with a range of elements for everyone. Even for non-skiers it’s worth a visit to the Schilthorn summit to see the James Bond location from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, eat in the revolving restaurant and see the stunning views.
Grindelwald, a traditional mountain village, dating back almost 1000 years has a great history. First mentioned in documents as far back as 1146, Grindelwald was a farming village with a lush valley in the Summers and cut off from civilisation by the Winter snows. This started to change in the late 18th century as tourism started to arrive in the valley. Pictures of the stunning Grindelwald valley were widely circulated and made the area internationally famous. As more and more visitors arrived, the hotels we know and love to this day began to open their doors.
Climbing
Well known as a climbing mecca, Grindelwald attracts climbers from all over the world. The mighty North Face of the Eiger, which translates as “Ogre” has a fearsome reputation and is known locally as “Mordwand” or “Death Wall” due to the number of lives it has sadly taken over the years. The last North Face in the Alps to be conquered; it wasn’t until 1938 that the Eiger was finally summited, after many many failed attempts, via the North Face route. I can’t recommend enough, the book “The White Spider” by Heinrich Harrer, one of the party to successfully summit in 1938, which tells the story not only of how they did it and what they overcame but also why those previous attempts failed. Interesting side note, Heinrich Harrer was also the inspiration behind the film “Seven Years in Tibet” He had a very interesting life!
That first climb in 1938 took three days but in recent years that time was obliterated by world renowned speed climber and Swiss local Ueli Steck. There are some incredible videos to be found on YouTube showing his incredible and daring feat as he free climbs the imposing North Face in a record time of just over 2 hours.
As a destination, Grindelwald offers something for everyone. A great family resort with a wide range of accommodation to suit all budgets, from one of several hostels all the way up to the 5* Hotel Schweizerhof. There is a wide choice of restaurants and the bars and clubs offer a varied nightlife. Have a look at our Bars and Restaurants Blog here for more information.
Off Snow Activities
Off snow activities are also important during your stay. In Grindelwald we have a wide range of options including Europe’s biggest indoor ropes park, ice and curling rinks, an indoor swimming pool, bouldering room, extensive Winter hiking trails and a wide range of lift accessed sledging runs, including Europe’s longest sledging run. Interlaken is only a short train ride away as well and offers a town like feeling, stunning views, a beautiful river and two stunning lakes. Activities here include paragliding and Winter kayaking.
Trains are a big part of the history of Grindelwald and reason why tourism here started during Victorian times. The railway to Grindelwald was completed in 1890 and the cog railway to Kleine Scheidegg in 1893. Still in use to this day, the cog railway to Kleine Scheidegg offers a pleasant, spacious and comfortable journey to the heart of the ski area at just over 2000m.
Although the skiers disembark here, it is possible, with a change of trains, to continue from Kleine Scheidegg to Europe’s highest train station at the Jungfraujoch, a hugely popular tourist attraction throughout the year. Located at 3466m above sea level the Jungfraujoch offer stunning views over the surrounding area and sits atop the Aletsch glacier, the longest glacier in the Alps!
Famously, the first person to ski in Grindelwald was Englishman, Gerald Fox, who put his skis on in his hotel bedroom before walking through the bar to the slopes wearing them.
The future of snowsports is ever changing but Grindelwald is working hard to keep up. For the 2019/20 season the aged Mannlichen gondola was replaced by a modern high speed 10 man gondola which increases capacity and almost halves the journey time. For Winter 2020/21 a new lift will be completed from Grindelwald Grund to Eigergletscher (above Kleine Scheidegg) which will slash the time it takes to arrive on the slopes and make it a viable option to ski from the top of the ski area to the bottom several times in a day, a descent of approximately 1500m and several kilometres in length.
So, to sum up, Grindelwald is a beautiful traditional Swiss Alpine village with incredible views, a varied enjoyable ski area and plenty to do both on and off the slopes. We look forward to seeing you here soon!
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