Winter Sports in Grindelwald

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ruly one of the world's greatest and oldest winter sports destinations. The legendary mountain railways make this area one of the most accessible to get to, and the range of skiing, snowboarding and winter walking options is huge. Underneath the North face of the Eiger, Grindelwald is the busiest and most substantial of the Jungfrau resorts. It has a wide range of accommodation, including a couple of good backpacker hostels, and plenty of activities for those who do not ski or snowboard. For the 2019/20 season a new, high-speed gondola now takes skiers from Grindelwald Grund up to Mäannlichen and access to the slopes of Wengen. On the other side of Grindelwald are the usually uncrowded, pistes at First where the best parks in the Jungfrau are located, including an 850m park at Bärgelegg, another at Oberjoch and a half-pipe usually set up at Schreckfeld.

The 15km Big Pintenfritz from the Faulhorn is the longest toboggan run in Europe, named after the innkeeper who inaugurated the run as a bet.

Every January for six days at the ice rink in the centre of the village, Grindelwald hosts the spectacular World Snow Festival in which artists carve exotic and imaginative sculptures out of snow.

Best of the Slopes

From Kleine Scheidegg the Lauberhorn chairlift takes you to the start point of the eponymous race, and you can pretty much follow the race circuit down to Wengen. From there you can either take the train back or take a short walk across the village to take the Männlichen cable car. The Männlichen run to Grindelwald Grund is suitable for intermediates and covers 12km.

Where to Eat and Party

Bergrestaurant Bussalp, overlooking the Eiger, is a casual restaurant halfway down the longest toboggan run in Europe - but also accessible by bus or skis. The TiPi tent at Kleine Scheidegg tends to be quite lively when the resort is busy. People also stop off at the Holzerbar towards Grund. The main apres bars in town are the Avocado bar and the Espresso bar. Gepsi bar is recommended for a drink before or after dinner. Challi bar is like a cross between a bar and a club and tends to be better from 9pm onwards. Several eateries do meal deals for around ten francs per person: on Sunday it is burger day at the Eiger and the cafe lounge there and Pizza night in the Espresso bar, on Mondays it is Burrito night at the Memory bar in Hotel Eiger, Tuesday is Toastie night in Gepsi bar and Thursday is the excellent Salad day in the Eiger and the cafe lounge.

Getting There

By Public Transport

The best destination to access the downhill slopes by public transport in this ski area is Grindelwald. Get lift pass at Grindelwald, then take mountain railway to Kleine Scheidegg or take bus to First (stop adjacent to gondola). The resort operates the Snow'n'Rail scheme, providing a discount on the combined travel ticket and lift pass. Click here for details of the Swiss Railways discount scheme.

• From Zurich the least travel time is 2 hrs 37 mins with as few as 2 changes going via Interlaken Ost.
• From Basel the least travel time is 2 hrs 38 mins with as few as 1 changes going via Interlaken Ost.
• From Berne the least travel time is 1 hr 35 mins with as few as 1 changes going via Interlaken Ost.

By Road

Please refer to a map and check local conditions for accurate routing information.

• The road distance from Zurich is around 135 km and the journey time is roughly 1 hr 50 mins.
• The road distance from Basel is around 166 km and the journey time is roughly 2 hrs 10 mins.
• The road distance from Berne is around 74 km and the journey time is roughly 1 hr 10 mins.
• The road distance from Geneva is around 244 km and the journey time is roughly 2 hrs 50 mins.

Get road directions at Google Maps

Nearby Resorts

Other resorts in the ski area include Lauterbrunnen, Mürren and Wengen.

Weather Outlook

View detailed snow forecast for Grindelwald at: snow-forecast.com

Latest Resort Report

MySwitzerland report for Grindelwald

Piste Map for Grindelwald