The long awaited big dump of snow and plummeting temperatures started during our evening ice skating the previous day. We’d had an amazing (and freezing time) skating around in the rain and snow and then watched the snow falling during dinner, from our much warmer chalet!

We were all watching the snow come down all night and, excitedly checking out the windows every time we woke up. In the morning there was a good 40cm of thick snow and very excited kids and adults.

It was definitely a Winter wonderland when we looked outside. The deck was coated in a big fluffy layer and those mountains looked very different!

We couldn’t contain the kids from playing in the piles of snow……. It was minus 8 (feels like minus 13) so we did at least insist on some warm clothing.

Out came the sleds…..

The icicles hanging from the the roof and piles of snow made us warm weather Aussies rather excited!
The kids continued to play around the chalet and we watched excitedly as they locals were out clearing all the paths.

After we had all played in the snow around the apartment we put on all the clothes for the much colder weather and grabbed the sleds out of the drying room with a plan to head up to the funicular to do the long sled runs again.

The run down the hill from our chalet was rather different today and we took advantage of some sledding all the way down the hill

What a difference a day makes, so much snow was now everywhere! It was a real Winter wonderland.
Kim had decided that after surviving death on the sled run the day before she would explore the snow covered Mürren while we went sledding.

Up to Allmendenhubel

Off we went to the funicular, all excited to see how much snow was at the top!

There was certainly a good cover compared to the previous day where there was bits of exposed ground. Mürren looked like a Winter wonderland and there were plenty of snow covered roofs.

The signs at the top of Allmendenhubel were half buried, and there was now a thick cover of snow on all the bob track. The playground was definitely under snow so no chance of playing on that for Zinnia today!

Sledding ….. now with extra snow!

Off we set. Soren and I were riding together again and Zinnia with Anto. We were hoping for less walking than the day before. The track had been groomed but not compacted so it was very slow going as there was a lot of fluffy snow everywhere.

……. and still plenty of crashes!

A few hundred metres into the bob track, a section was closed, diverting us into the ski run. Unfortunately Astrid, followed by Alan and then Soren and I all misjudged the corner and ended up coming off down a snow cliff, dropping down several metres and in more than waist deep snow. Another few bruises were added. This was followed by another rescue involving climbing using sleds.

Back underway the kids were a bit nervous on a few of the ski run sections making for some slow going and Alan had at least one more corner stack. We think we got down a fair bit faster than the previous day but it was still not all sleddable as there was now too much snow! We managed to get most of the rest of the way down with only a couple of minor stacks and no more rescues required. The sections towards the end were a bit faster and we again enjoyed the views coming into Mürren.

Off for another run……

Soren, Astrid and Alan were sore and cold so decided to go back to the chalet for some hot chocolates and warmth. Anto and I headed back up for another run with Zinnia. She was keen to go again and we thought we at least knew where the tricky bits were now.

As we set off we saw and heard the helicopters coming over setting off the avalanche bombs. We were just happy they were staying away from the ski and bob runs! Zinnia had decided she wanted to ride with me this time and Anto was looking forward to a fast run without a kid on his sled. With lots more people out on the track we thought it might be a bit more compacted by now but the top was still very fluffy and we had to do a fair bit of walking. Zinnia enjoyed being dragged on the sled by me.

This time through the bob run section was open at the top as they had obviously cleared it, which meant we didn’t have to divert on to the super steep ski run. This made me pleased. However there were a lot of large guided tour groups out on the run and they were taking quite awhile to get through sections, and then all stopping on corners so once we got going we were having to stop to go around them.

There were no more crashes though as we made it to the bottom in ‘only’ around 35 minutes. The views were still stunning and the snow was falling gently on us added to the atmosphere.

It was now about 12pm and still about minus 7 with an apparent of minus 13. The three of us were all feeling hot as we did so much walking through thick snow! Those back in the chalet had sent us a message to stop past the Coop for some lunch supplies, so Zinnia got to sled back on one sled and the lunch supplies on the other 🙂

Lunch with a view!

Astrid had hurt her shoulder between falling ice skating and the sledding so had been whingey. Apparently hot chocolates, soup and toasted sandwiches with the beautiful mountain views helped somewhat!

Despite her ‘hurty’ shoulder Astrid insisted we fit in another ice skate. Everyone had miraculously perked up enough to want to go out in the cold again. The morning cloud had given way to partially sunny skies and the views were just getting better and better!

This village is so pretty and we were all wishing we were staying longer! The views were so good they’d hurt your eyes 🙂

Ice skating ….. this time with sunshine!

After our very fun, but rather freezing ice skating in the falling rain and snow, the previous evening the kids were desperate for another skate. This time in daylight and not rain and snow. Unlike the pretty much deserted rink we had last night, it was much busier with groups of youths showing off their skills.

We still got free entry to the rink but today got charged for skate hire. As Astrid was somewhat injured I thought I wouldn’t bother hiring skates and just use hers once she’d had enough. It was now minus 8 so while it wasn’t too bad while you were actually skating, standing around on the side, watching, was not particularly warm.

For her third ever ice skate, Zinnia was building up heaps of confidence. She was now trying some skating without the skate animal. The local teens were putting our skills to shame and even Anto looked average compared to most of them.

It was still freezing if you stood still too long so we had to keep skating. Astrid’s hurty arm meant she wasnt doing much skating, but she wasn’t going to let me have a go but did eventually let me have her skates for a bit at the end. I definitely was still worse than most 2 year olds.

The kids would have stayed all afternoon but we had limited daylight left and Soren and Anto were keen on one more bob run so we had to eventually drag them away from the skates.

Afternoon sledding and snowmen……

Astrid and Zinnia were not keen on going up the funicular to the big sled run so I let the boys go have their fun. Anto had designs on doing one super fast but apparently Soren wanted to ride with him so that was going to cramp his style a bit.

Astrid was now succumbing to her injuries and went off to have a rest so Zinnia and I decided to do some sledding around the village. The snow had nicely compacted and we could do some fast sleds between our chalet and the train station. Zinnia added to her bruises nicely stacking it on one corner, but luckily was OK after a few initial tears as she’d scared herself a bit. I burnt plenty of energy off dragging our sleds up and down the hills.

Once Zinnia was tired from me dragging her up and down the hill we built a snow man out the front of our chalet.

While we were even trying to get the snowman’s body together, Anto and Soren returned from their bob run unscathed, and having made it down in under 30 minutes. Anto said it was compacting nicely and it was tempting to grab the sleds and head up again, sadly it was about to get dark though 🙁

We had to make do with a bit more sledding up and down on the road outside our chalet. It was now minus 11 but with no wind we didn’t feel too cold and we were treated to a stunning sunset on the mountains!

Mountain sunsets…….

While Anto went to attend to dinner cooking and the dreaded packing up. I took a little wander with the camera to catch the sunset.

We were treated to a beautiful clear evening and the light on the mountains was amazing.

Our final dinner in the chalet we were treated to those amazing sunset colours.

Anto whipped up a last Mürren dinner of baked Camembert, pasta and baked potatoes. It had been a memorable stay in the Swiss Alps again and we most definitely did not want to leave!

Build me a snowman!

While we did our last bit of packing up the kids built another snowman on the deck. Kim had gone out to help them wearing only thongs and then regretted that as it was minus 15!

The lights twinkling through the Lauterbrunnen Valley showed it was another clear night. No more snow tonight but we were pleased we’d managed to have some snow for our stay here.

It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to this place but we still had plenty of adventures to come on this trip and plenty more snow!

Up next……

A final morning in beautiful Mürren before the scenic trip through to Basel where we met up with the rest of our traveling party who had just hopped off their Christmas cruise. Unfortunately the run of illness continued and Zinnia was the next to have a bad day 🙁