Day: 94 Km travelled: 19.95km Height reached: 1638m Steps: 12,412 Location: Bernese Alps
December 9, 2017
Interlaken is the gateway to the Bernese Oberland and offers plenty of opportunities for thrill seekers or those just looking to enjoy the spectacular view. With a healthy layer of freshly fallen snow already on the ground and more continuing to fall still, I set out for the Schilthorn, a summit in the Bernese Alps.
There is a revolving restaurant at the summit called Piz Gloria. It was featured in one of the older James Bond movies from the 1960’s ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ and offers a panoramic 360 degree view of the region’s most impressive sights.
The journey to reach the summit is an adventure in itself. First, I took a bus to get to a train then switched to a cable car followed by a narrow gauge train to the small village of Mürren, at 1638m elevation. From Mürren, you have to take another 2 cable cars in order to reach the summit of the Schilthorn, 2970m elevation.
There’s a handy television at the cable car station in Mürren that provides you with a live view from the summit, giving you the opportunity to decide if the journey up is worth the money. Unfortunately, the current weather was less than ideal, especially at the top where the visibility was nil. During the cable car ride up to Mürren, the view had been significantly limited, though still impressive given the circumstances (see photos, above left & right). On one of the trains that morning, I had run into from the chocolate workshop the night before and we decided to forgo the final stretch up to the summit and walk around the tiny village instead.
Mürren is a tiny village of 450 permanent residents and is only accessible by cable car / rail with no vehicle on its “streets”. The village was virtually deserted, the only other people were skiers and sledders on their way further up the mountain.
Beautiful chalet style houses built into the mountain in Mürren
Luckily, after walking around for a bit, the snow lessened and the skies started to clear up. Surprise, their was a mountain range in front of us! We could start to make out its form against the whiteness in the distance. By the time we boarded the train to start the descent, the weather cooperated and gave us exactly what we wanted: dramatic mountain scenery! Those that know me well know that I don’t often find myself speechless however words fail me at that moment! How to describe such beauty? Well, I won’t even try, I’ll let you see for yourselves.
Returning to Interlaken, the town was transformed under its blanket of snow.
I have seen many photos of Switzerland and its turquoise water. Those were often taken in the summer and I was pleasantly surprised to see that even in the winter, the colours still shone. The contrast between the crisp white snow and the smooth aqua water made me pause in my tracks.
Sometimes, you have to stop, breathe in and enjoy the moment.
Breathe out.
Absolutely Gorgeous!!