Wengen - Have you been..?

Hi fellow Piste lovers, just wondering if anyone has experience the white stuff in Wengen recently...? I'm concidering it for a trip in January. Any info about good runs to try would be great..

I have been, but only at the tail end of last season.

Even without any snowboarding, i loved it so much I'm going back there in Jan. Its such a nice spot.

I have only been riding my bike in Wengen, which is also fabulous, but my friend lived there two years and he said Wengen provides one of the best backcountry skiing facilities in Europe. Not much tourists, high mountains, lots of god forests, glaciers and awesome aeriel views. Be awere of the cliff from where some guys go basejumping. I went there with my bike and I have to say it is a scary place even though I used to go parachuting some years ago :)

So I definitely recommend Wengen for you. My friend is a experienced telemark skier. You could ask him some good runs by email. Just send him (teemuhellman AT hotmail.com) email and say greetings from me. Just replace AT with @.

Wengen is strong in charm and breathtaking mountain scenery (the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau dominate). The village itself is attractive and even in poor snow cover when I was there for 3 weeks last season the run back from Kleine Scheidegg to the village was kept open. The railway to and from Kleine Scheidegg is a very civilised form of uplift and would suit parents with very young children. There is also a cable car from the village to the top of Mannlichen from where there are several good red runs (and a blue route) down the line of the gondola from Grindelwald. This area offers the widest pistes. You can work your way from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg and vice versa but allow for the time it will take.

The whole area is well suited to intermediate skiers and offers quite a choice of runs. Beginners should beware of blue runs which have some surprisingly and dauntingly steep sections but there are tracks which offer more predictable blue level skiing. The track from Kleine Scheidegg to Brandegg is a great run with the choice of a restaurant there and a station if you want to catch a train back up. Be aware that the track can get very icy in poorer conditions. With good snow cover you can ski right down to Grindelwald.

There are particularly good red runs from the Lauberhorn and of course skiing the downhill course is a must: just put in a few more turns than the racers do. :lol: Stop where the run goes through between rocks and try to imagine these guys flying through the gap at speed.

I have to doubt, however, if Wengen is an attractive proposition for the advanced skier looking for challenges but I can't speak for off-piste: there just wasn't any while I was there.

A day's skiing in Murren is well worthwhile, though a bit of a trek by train and bus from Wengen. Head for the Schilthorn revolving restaurant for lunch and a mountain panaroma.

And finally, there is the option of the railway trip to the Jungfraujoch.

Colin L wrote:Beginners should beware of blue runs which have some surprisingly and dauntingly steep sections but there are tracks which offer more predictable blue level skiing. The track from Kleine Scheidegg to Brandegg is a great run with the choice of a restaurant there and a station if you want to catch a train back up. Be aware that the track can get very icy in poorer conditions. With good snow cover you can ski right down to Grindelwald.

Hoping to go to Wengen for a few days at the end of the month. I'm an advanced beginner I suppose, done a few blue runs in other resorts. My wife is a little bit behind me, done the baby slopes and needs to progress onto some easy blues.

One mentioned above was the Kleine Scheidegg to Brandegg run. What about the blue run at Mannlichen, which is accessed easier from the Wengen side? From what I can see it's supposed to be quite wide and reasonably flat, Or would any parts (or all) of the long blue run back down to Wengen from Kleine Scheidegg be good to do? Looking to avoid if possible any dauntingly steep sections as mentioned above, so that my wife can get her confidence up.

I had Wengen and the Jungfrau region down as a place to consider, but was put off by the many stories of ridiculously long queues and travel time up to the slopes.

Don't think the queues should be too long at this time of year. I know what you mean about time getting up to the slopes though, but don't think that will bother me too much. By the sounds of it, the scenery is spectacular, fair number of blue runs for novices and the village is nice. Childcare available as well, so ticks most of the boxes for me.

Tony_H wrote:I had Wengen and the Jungfrau region down as a place to consider, but was put off by the many stories of ridiculously long queues and travel time up to the slopes.

Tony_H wrote:I had Wengen and the Jungfrau region down as a place to consider, but was put off by the many stories of ridiculously long queues and travel time up to the slopes.

I think Engleberg has more mileage for you Tony.


AJ Adele