We woke up to see that more fresh snow had fallen overnight though the temperature had risen to around 1 degree. It was still overcast. Michael, Oli and Daniel were going skiing at Kleine Scheidegg. It involves taking the train from the Grindelwald Grund station to Kleine Scheidegg (KS). KS is at about 2061m above sea level and is about half way up the Eiger and on the train line which goes up the Jungfraujoch (which is at 3466m (described as the Top of Europe and is the highest reachable point in Europe by rail). About mid-morning it became very cloudy with really poor visibility in Grindelwald and we messaged them to discover it was what is known as a ‘white-out’ up there too. Shortly after that it actually started snowing in Grindelwald.

Stephen and Lara spent a reasonable chunk of the morning out walking around the town. In fact they walked down to the river (which is really at the end of the town or in another town probably more correctly) and back again to the chalet and so they were out walking when it was actually snowing (a first for Lara).

Michael and Oli got back just after lunch time. Oli had coped well for a few runs on the mountain and then lost her confidence (by her own admission). Both Michael and Oli were pretty tired when they got back. Oli was so tired she couldn’t actually eat (which if you know Oli is a clear indicator of how tired she really was). It was Michael’s birthday yesterday and so I think skiing for him was the best way to spend most of his birthday.

In the afternoon, Stephen, Lara and Kirsten went to get their boots fitted as they planned to go up to Bodmi this morning.  Oli decided to join them to try to get her confidence back in skiing something easier than KS. My Dad and I also went for a short walk around the town to get some fresh air. I failed to wear a beanie and when I got back everyone was laughing at how red my ears were.

Dinner last night was raclette which is a Swiss specialty. It was Michael’s choice. It is basically melted cheese which you eat over potatoes (you get special potatoes for the purpose too). You eat sausages (bratwurst) with it. It is fairly rich but very nice and by the end of the night all the potatoes were consumed and most of the cheese was gone too. Michael asked for treacle sponge with custard for dessert which is a Temple family special (and I guess an English dessert).

Everyone was in bed earlier as the skiers were pretty tired. I have never seen Daniel in bed as earlier as last night (admittedly he only got back at about 6:30pm after leaving at 8am!).

It was a nice day but missing Chloe & Helen’s presence …

P, M (because it was his 19th birthday), S, O, L (because she laughed at my red ears)