It was the 19th of December, and the middle of our stay in Mürren, in the Bernese Oberland (Swiss Alps). We’d had a fabulous first full day with a snow hike and some sledding. The kids were keen on more sledding and some ice skating today.
We were treated to a beautiful sunrise over the mountains. The view from our chalet is pretty special!
We again woke up to the (not very loud) sounds of trains coming in and out of Mürren from about 6.30am. After Anto being particularly unwell the day before, he still wasn’t feeling great but at least wasn’t throwing up any more! Soren had also regained some energy so we were hoping everyone was well enough for some sledding.
As we watched the sun emerge from behind the mountains, Anto prepared some crepes from breakfast and the kids enjoyed some banana and nutella to apparently ‘power them through the day’. The breakfast views were particularly spectacular.
The temps overnight had only been about 1 degree and after a ‘warm’ day the previous day, a lot of snow had melted on the paths. There was plenty around but a lot less than when we arrived. It was another warmish start at 4 degrees – this is why the snow was melting, it was colder in Cologne during our stay there!
Our plan for the day was some sledding to start with. We’d been sledding outside our chalet the day before. The snow melt meant it was getting harder to do that, and with everyone a bit better than the day before we decided to head up to Allmendenhubel on the Allmendunhubelbahn. There are several ski runs and a bob run up there. We’d done this bob run back in 2016 and it was a lot of fun.
We got our ski gear on, and got the sleds prepped and head out to walk up to the funicular. There was definitely a lot less snow on the run down the hill from our chalet. We’d been able to sled on this pretty well the previous day but now it was mostly just ice.
Kim wasn’t convinced on sledding, but was willing to give it a go. The kids convinced her to have a practice run near the chalet before heading up. We told her it would be more fun and less scary at the top and she stupidly believed us 🙂
We kept plenty of other tourists amused with our sleds through the village and Kim’s attempts to sled. There were plenty of sleds out and about already, although not too many skiers yet as there didn’t appear to be enough snow for them quite yet.
Mürren is at 1650m and Allmendenhubal is at 1900m. To get up to the ski and sled runs at Allmendenhubal there is a very fast and fun funicular. We bought a couple of books of kids and adults tickets as we planned to sled a few times over the coming days and all 7 of us and the 4 sleds loaded onto the funicular.
Up we went and the views over Mürren were excellent, even though it was getting cloudier as we head up. When we arrived in Allmendenhubal there were already quite a few skiers up there, and a reasonable amount of snow so were hoping the sled run would have decent coverage.
The playground certainly had plenty of snow and we had to convince Zinnia that it was time for sledding and the playground could wait for later.
With only 4 sleds we had to negotiate who was going with whom. We did this run a few times back in 2016 on our trip. At that time Soren was 2 and rode on Anto’s back in the ergo and Astrid at 4 years old had sled down with her Uncle Mikl. Alan had spent plenty of time going around corners too fast and hurtling down ski runs and ending up in giant piles of snow. We warned Kim about this and she still stupidly agreed to sled down with him 😉
Zinnia, being only 6 was sledding down with Anto. Kim was risking going down with Alan on one of the bigger sleds. Astrid and Soren wanted to go alone and had been sledding alone down in Mürren, so I agreed to wait up at the top and go on the second run. The run is about 2.5km and took approximately 25 minutes last time we did it. I wasn’t expecting a hugely long wait for them to return but today I was not in luck.
We walked down to the start of the sled run and they set off. It isn’t very steep at the start so I walked the first section with them and there were a few false starts but a little bit of sledding was happening. They set off on the run and some cross-country skiers coming up warned us there were patches you had to walk through as the snow was a bit thin.
I head back to the funicular station and took in some of the views of the mountains and entertained myself watching some little kids at the ski school doing better skiing than I could do!
It wasn’t too cold (still about 2 degrees up here) but after awhile wandering around in the snow it was starting to be less warm. I had originally decided not to get a coffee and cake in the restaurant as they would be back up pretty soon and it would be time to go on the next sled run and we’d have a hot coffee after the second run.
That plan seemed good at the time but more and more time passed and I hadn’t head from any of them. It was soon over an hour after they left and I finally got a message from Anto that they were all alive and the kids and Anto were on their way back up.
An hour and 25 minutes after leaving on the first run Anto and the 3 kids returned to the top to meet me. Kim had decided she had survived death enough for one day and her and Alan went back to the apartment to warm up.
Apparently Soren had gone down the side off a snow cliff, onto a ski run and had to be rescued with sleds and climbing by Anto and Alan. Alan and Kim had also several crashes and rolling off cliffs. Astrid had thrown herself off her sled once to avoid crashing but Zinnia and Anto made it down unscathed. The snow melt meant lots of sections of walking that made it slow going, plus the 10-15 minute rescue operation for Soren.
Between all the crashes they had all had fun and were keen to go again. I was very ready to do some actual sledding! Soren was clear he wanted to go with an adult this time, which sounded wise, so we went together. Anto and Zinnia went together and Astrid alone.
With the knowledge of where the dicey corners and gravel sections were, our second run was a bit smoother. Soren and I stayed upright on our sled and had no crashes.
There were quite a few sections where we had to get off and walk the sled over the gravel but other sections were quite fast and we did get up some good speed.
It had been a mix of raining and lightly snowing making for a very sleet filled run. Soren was very cautious after his epic stacks from the first run, and Astrid was also a bit wary over going over some edges. Zinnia was having a great time with Dad and wasn’t at all worried about crashing.
We definitely need some of the predicted snow overnight to make it a faster run tomorrow. As Soren said though, the views coming into Mürren are spectacular.
Even without rescues of 11 year olds it still took us about 45 minutes to reach the bottom as we’d had to walk about 1km of the track. Everyone decided they’d had enough for the morning and wanted to head back to the chalet to warm up and get some lunch.
We’d been hopeful with the snow at the top of sled run that the predicted afternoon snow would be arriving back in Mürren, but we had a bit of an icy and slushy walk back to the chalet, with no real snow fall yet.
We did amuse ourselves watching the constant helicopters flying over with loads of construction materials. We guessed it was one of the easier ways of getting supplies into the mountain side village. Soren, lover of helicopters, found it particularly amusing.
A fondue lunch to remember….
One of the things we were all keen on during our Swiss Alps stay was enjoying a traditional fondue. Pretty much every hotel and restaurant had a fondue on the menu but Kim had scoped out a place with great reviews and we didn’t have to sell both kidneys for. After a coffee to warm up and getting out of the ski gear it was off for some Swiss fondue lunch.
We got to sit outside with furry rugs and heaters and with views of the newly opened world’s steepest cable car which runs from Stechelberg up to Mürren at a gradient of 159.4%. It had just opened a couple of weeks prior and it did indeed look terrifyingly steep! Watching the cars drop over the edge as we were sipping on our hot chocolates, glühweins and a cold brew whiskey for Anto was rather fun.
Once the fondue arrived it was quickly devoured. It was delicious and a meal to remember. Sitting outdoors at a restaurant, eating our fondue with views of the Alps, drinking hot chocolates and glühweins, you can’t get better than that!
Snow and cooling temps had been predicted. By the time we left our late fondue lunch it was down to 2 degrees and pretty slushy on the walk back. The path had almost entirely melted. We were really hoping for that snow, although the warmer temperatures did mean we didn’t have to have so many layers on some snow to play in was what we all wanted.
Zinnia and Anto needed a rest while the rest of us chilled with some hot chocolates prepared by Astrid. We were certainly enjoying the beautiful outlook from our chalet. If only we won lotto and could stay here for a couple of months!
Ice skating…… in the snow!
Kim and Alan had had enough adventure for the day but the kids (and the big kid Anto) were keen on some ice skating. With the guest card for Mürren it’s totally free, even with the skate hire (lets not discuss how much it costs to stay up here ). Curiously the next day we got charged for skate hire but we weren’t complaining that it was free the first time.
The rink was entirely empty, except the occasional person who popped on to play ice hockey, but we had a great time all practicing our skating. The kids had their first ice skate of the trip (and first ever for Soren and Zinnia) in Cologne, so lots of practice was required.
They actually have the skate animals here so Zinnia was off and racing on her own and Soren only crashed every 30 seconds instead of every 10 seconds. Astrid showed us she can kind of sort of Australian skate. Anto demonstrated his lessons as a kid weren’t totally wasted. I have never got to skate before (as I’m always holding a kid or bags on the side), but I gave it a crack….. and yes I unashamedly used a skate animal. The rink attendant did laugh when he saw me with the skate animal and brought another one out for us to use.
Look no hands! I was clearly a skating natural 😉
When we arrived it was 4.45pm, getting dark and zero degrees. We were warming up quickly with all our super-skating…… until it rained! We were not really caring, yes we were soaked but the huge deserted rink was so much fun.
Then all of a sudden it was snow….. lots of snow. So we skated in the snow, in the dark, at about minus 2 now all on our own having a great time. Of course having been wet, we froze pretty quickly! The excitement of skating in the snow was unreal. We were all laughing and cheering. The rink attendant was laughing at the fact that we all looked like frozen drowned rats but having a wonderful time. He did tell us it was OK to stop when we’d had enough but it was indeed very beautiful in the snow.
In the 20 minutes we were skating around in the snow a good 2cm had accumulated on the ice. We were frozen blocks of ice and our wet hair was freezing, we couldn’t feel our hands and couldn’t see where we were skating and reluctantly decided we should head back. It was a pretty magic hour we’d had out on the ice.
The walk back with a blizzard in our face was not fun. There was snow billowing into our face, we were totally frozen, but it was so awesome seeing all that snow! The things that amuse a bunch of Aussies in the Swiss Alps….
The amount of snow that had accumulated on the path back to the chalet in the hour we were gone made us excited. We were grateful to get into dry clothes and warm up, but what a day!
During our dinner we continued to watch the snow fall. There was 10cm on the deck by the time we head to bed with plenty more forecast. The sledding was looking good for the next day and some finally very cold temperatures with minus 10 predicted.
We’d had an awesome day with magic sledding, fondues with views, and ice skating in the snow. What magic and adventures would the next day bring?
Up next….
Snow, so much snow and we enjoyed it with more sledding, more ice skating and some magical Mürren blue skies!
