Grindelwald-First

The small town of Grindelwald is the main part of the Jungfrau Top Ski Region, which also includes Wengen, famous for its Alpine World Cup races, and Mürren at the foot of the Schilthorn. In total the Jungfrau Top Ski Region has more than 200 km of pistes of varying difficulty. It is one of the most attractive winter sports regions in the entire Alps. Visitors come here from all over the world for a winter holiday (not necessarily a skiing one), which gives the place a remarkably cosmopolitan atmosphere. Right next to Grindelwald, skiers have two ski areas at their disposal. To the east, between the Grosse Scheidegg and Oberjoch massifs, lies First, a mecca for carvers and snowboarders. On the other side of town you can ski the slopes of Kleine Scheidegg and Männlichen. An eight-seater gondola goes up to the First ski area; its valley station is near the centre of Grindelwald, at 1,050 m. You can ride to the top station (2,168 m) without leaving the cabin, passing the intermediate stops of Bort (1,570 m) and Schreckfeld (1,955 m). Most of the pistes here (50 km) are easy and intermediate. The second nearby ski area, Kleine Scheidegg/Männlichen, is larger (110 km of pistes) and more varied. From Grindelwald you can reach it by rack railway or by cable car, whose top station is at 2,230 m. Runs of every difficulty await skiers here. One of Grindelwald's best-known attractions is the railway, running since 1912, with the highest top station in Europe, on the Jungfraujoch saddle (3,454 m). A 7 km section of the line runs through a tunnel cut into the rock to protect the trains from avalanches. Right next to the top station are the "Top of Europe" restaurant, the Ice Palace, a gallery of ice sculptures, and several viewing terraces. From here it is not far to another major tourist attraction: the Piz Gloria revolving restaurant on the summit of the Schilthorn (2,971 m), well known to James Bond fans. Below it lie the ski areas belonging to Mürren. Cross-country skiers coming to Grindelwald have about 20 km of trails. A big attraction in the First-Bort-Bussalp area at the foot of the Faulhorn is the Bort-Bussalp panoramic trail, with a superb view of the four-thousanders on the other side of the valley. The area is also popular with tobogganers. From the summit of the Faulhorn one of the longest toboggan runs in Europe, the 15 km Big Pintenfritz, leads down into the valley. The Top Ski Region, to which Grindelwald belongs, hosts many sporting events every season, often very prestigious ones. These include Alpine World Cup races. All in all, this is an area where even those for whom skiing is not the main point of a winter holiday will not be bored.