Attached were our harnesses. Our excitement rose to infinity when the door latch was opened and we whizzed down(almost flew) in a zip line soaring 84km/hr from First to Shreckfeld. Below us was the view of teeny meeny looking skiers and cable cars and snow covered mountains. Along with me was Amrita and Neelima at the same time in separate harness in separate fliers. All of us had the same exhilaration - the one that makes you almost scream with joy and let you wave your hand and feet in air like how children do.
The First Flyer experience can be bought online from here ( cost CHF 29)
Welcome to the Switzerland's Top of Adventure - Grindelwald First.
Now the term 'Schreckfeld First’ (The First Cable Station at Grindelwald) means ‘Full of Fear’ . I wonder who gave the station such a name, may be early explorers. Depending on which cable lines were open, Grindelwald had a map showing accessible areas in the mountains. Before you board the cable car, do not forget to check the roadside shops, some of the Jackets were really nice and cheap out there.
Plenty of Skiers in their ski equipment and attached skies had boarded the train with us at Interlaken OST. One thing you’d also notice in these trains is that there are ski placements at the side, so you could keep your ski there after you have boarded.
As you'd take the Cable Car after getting off the train, marks of Ski trails of previous Skiers would be seen from above. Some of them looked rather steep.
One of the ways, the areas are designated for Skiers are they have flags in the snow which meant blue is for easy trail, red for medium trail and black for hard.
Interlaken To Grindelwald : The Journey
Grindelwald is a glacier village and the village just before Grindelwald has barely any sun as it's a valley surrounded by big huge mountains. Even then they have about 400 inhabitants. They also have hydro power for electricity. There you would see many chalet style traditional homes. Grindelwald has around 5000 people but due to rush by tourists, the infrastructure needs to be developed for 12000 people every year.
As you would be taking the journey on the train, you would literally be rushing into the snow. There would be small bridges on the sides, little narrow roads, mountains that change color with shadows, chalets and the river that flows. The river is called River Lutschine which means a shiny river and two rivers coming together.
River Lutschine has white water rafting which starts from below Eiger North Face to Interlaken Valley and ends up in Lake Brienz. The rapids are class III-IV and has one of the best white water rafting in Swiss Alps.
Grindelwald year around has a lot of events that happen but winters bring out the winter sports and Ice Sculpture Competition where different countries had different themes and the ice was carved beautifully.
The local art work of Scherenschnitt , is a paper cut artwork with knife and you would see that on trains and even menu of Bergrestaurant First, the mountain restaurant. As you’d take the cable car from Grindelwald station to the mountains, you would see the mountain called Wetterhorn. Translated from Swiss German, "Wetterhorn" means "weather peak." The name fits. Like its European namesake, this part of the state is prone to sudden weather changes, as discovered by all too many runners. The peak is also used to determine weather in the region.
Grindelwald: The First Cliff Walk
Created from a rock walkaway, a unique single rope hanging bridge and a metal catwalk, it offers a spectacular vantage point at a lofty height, looking towards Eiger. The tour is suitable for everyone and the metal gratings high above the abyss and the hanging bridge guarantee thrills galore.
After the Cliff Walk we had our lunch at Bergrestaurant First. That's a 150 year old hotel and apart from great food had served us Rivella drink which is made from milk syrup.
Grindelwald: Schynige Platte and etc
Grindelwald has 4000 km of marked hiking trails. Schynige Platte has alpine garden plants in natural habitats. Some of the trails which happen mostly during summers are Tour 62 that takes you 5 hours hike of stunningly scenic views of Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau with tortoise water of Lake Brienz shimming down the valley. Another is Flower trail no 4, a hike of 2.5-3 hours that leads from First to Lake Bachalp and then continues between the two lakes via Waldspitz to Bort.
A wide variety of Alpine flowers blossoms on the whole stretch. In Summers, you could also try Trotti bike which doesn’t have pedals. They also have some biking competitions called Velo biking competition in the region.
Watch as Planet D takes you downhill on Pedal-less Trotti Bike
Summers may be busy, but we found the winter activities to be well worth it! With just a short excursion from Interlaken, we really had a great time.
Welcome to the Switzerland's Top of Adventure - Grindelwald First.
First Cliff Walk at Grindelwald First
The summit trail consists of an approximately 40-metre long one-rope suspension bridge, climbing stairs and a 45-metre long observation platform.
Now the term 'Schreckfeld First’ (The First Cable Station at Grindelwald) means ‘Full of Fear’ . I wonder who gave the station such a name, may be early explorers. Depending on which cable lines were open, Grindelwald had a map showing accessible areas in the mountains. Before you board the cable car, do not forget to check the roadside shops, some of the Jackets were really nice and cheap out there.
The Red ones ain't accessible as shown on the map
People carrying Velogemel ( wooden bike sledge)
Local Art and Craft at Grindelwald
Plenty of Skiers in their ski equipment and attached skies had boarded the train with us at Interlaken OST. One thing you’d also notice in these trains is that there are ski placements at the side, so you could keep your ski there after you have boarded.
As you'd take the Cable Car after getting off the train, marks of Ski trails of previous Skiers would be seen from above. Some of them looked rather steep.
Cable Car and the Snow!
If you could spot the past ski trails in between the trees.. !
The Traditional Chalet Homes
Because Sun has got to come..
One of the ways, the areas are designated for Skiers are they have flags in the snow which meant blue is for easy trail, red for medium trail and black for hard.
Interlaken To Grindelwald : The Journey
Grindelwald is a glacier village and the village just before Grindelwald has barely any sun as it's a valley surrounded by big huge mountains. Even then they have about 400 inhabitants. They also have hydro power for electricity. There you would see many chalet style traditional homes. Grindelwald has around 5000 people but due to rush by tourists, the infrastructure needs to be developed for 12000 people every year.
The travel time from Interlaken OST to Grindelwald is 34 minutes by train and the train fare is approx $14 and up..
The Grindelwald Station - Skiers were plenty - It looks like every one came to Ski
The view of the train with the mountains makes Switzerland just so different..
As you would be taking the journey on the train, you would literally be rushing into the snow. There would be small bridges on the sides, little narrow roads, mountains that change color with shadows, chalets and the river that flows. The river is called River Lutschine which means a shiny river and two rivers coming together.
A narrow stream of river Lutschine as seen from our train near the Hydropower Station
River Lutschine has white water rafting which starts from below Eiger North Face to Interlaken Valley and ends up in Lake Brienz. The rapids are class III-IV and has one of the best white water rafting in Swiss Alps.
Grindelwald year around has a lot of events that happen but winters bring out the winter sports and Ice Sculpture Competition where different countries had different themes and the ice was carved beautifully.
..And that all was made of ice!
The local art work of Scherenschnitt , is a paper cut artwork with knife and you would see that on trains and even menu of Bergrestaurant First, the mountain restaurant. As you’d take the cable car from Grindelwald station to the mountains, you would see the mountain called Wetterhorn. Translated from Swiss German, "Wetterhorn" means "weather peak." The name fits. Like its European namesake, this part of the state is prone to sudden weather changes, as discovered by all too many runners. The peak is also used to determine weather in the region.
Scherenschnitt on the running train
Grindelwald: The First Cliff Walk
Created from a rock walkaway, a unique single rope hanging bridge and a metal catwalk, it offers a spectacular vantage point at a lofty height, looking towards Eiger. The tour is suitable for everyone and the metal gratings high above the abyss and the hanging bridge guarantee thrills galore.
First Cliff Walk is for everyone..
Hanging Bridge on the Cliff Walk
After the Cliff Walk we had our lunch at Bergrestaurant First. That's a 150 year old hotel and apart from great food had served us Rivella drink which is made from milk syrup.
Grindelwald: Schynige Platte and etc
Grindelwald has 4000 km of marked hiking trails. Schynige Platte has alpine garden plants in natural habitats. Some of the trails which happen mostly during summers are Tour 62 that takes you 5 hours hike of stunningly scenic views of Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau with tortoise water of Lake Brienz shimming down the valley. Another is Flower trail no 4, a hike of 2.5-3 hours that leads from First to Lake Bachalp and then continues between the two lakes via Waldspitz to Bort.
A wide variety of Alpine flowers blossoms on the whole stretch. In Summers, you could also try Trotti bike which doesn’t have pedals. They also have some biking competitions called Velo biking competition in the region.
awesome! i fell in love with the place when I went there... :)
ReplyDeleteCheers, Archana - www.travelwitharchie.com
@Archanac Kapoor: It's a place to fall in love with, isn't it? When were you there - summers or winters?
DeleteIts an amazing write-up quite inspiring
ReplyDeleteVery interesting!...Thanks for sharing Rajasthan Tours
ReplyDeleteCost something for The First Cliff Walk?
ReplyDelete