Lauterbrunnen is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is a fairy tale mountain valley tucked away in the Swiss alps. There are over 30 waterfalls that roar into the valley as the Winter snow melts during the Summer time. And during the Winter, the white, dusted mountain peaks stand like sentinels over the lakes of Interlaken.

There are three ski areas located in this valley: Grindelwald, Wengen, and Murren. The region is known as the Jung Frau region, or young lady. The ski areas here are shadowed by the towering peaks of the Eiger, Monch, and Jung Frau. There are several famous races hosted here such as the Lauderhorn. This race is one of the most famous in the skiing World Cup and the run goes through Grindelwald and Wengen.

Accommodation: Balmers Hostel, Interlaken

Ski Slopes:

1. Schlithorn (Murren)

2. Wengen

3. Grindelwald

Bars:

1. The Lounge Lobby Bar

2. Balmers Bar & Club

3. Gondel Bar, Murren

Restaurants: Restaurant Eigernordwand, Wengen

Pro Tip: If you plan to stay in Lauterbrunnen for a couple days and want to be able to come and go to the different ski areas as you please, you can get a ski pass that covers all three resorts. If you don’t plan on skiing, you can get a ticket to ride in an alpine train up to the “Jungfraujoch”, which is known as the “top of Europe”.

Websites:

1. https://schilthorn.ch/en/Welcome

2. https://wengen.swiss/en/winter/

3. https://grindelwald.swiss/en/winter/

4. https://www.balmers.com/

Fun Fact: This mountain range inspired the logo for Schuessing Sports.

Schlithorn is the main mountain on the Murren side of the valley. The run at the top of the mountain is called the Piz Gloria and the 1969 Jame Bond movie, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, was filmed here! If you visit the top, you can enjoy a meal in a restaurant on top of the mountain, that was the villain’s lair for the film.

The views in this valley are absolutely unreal. I highly encourage people to travel and ski all over the world. However, its important to understand that each mountain is different and you cannot necessarily ski the way you do on your home mountain.

Life lesson below…

A friend of mine and I learned this the hard way. The video below was shot in 2016 the day before we both had to be rescued by the Swiss ski patrol…

After the beautiful day captured in the two videos above, my friend and I were hyped on this Swiss paradise. We had one day under our belts and felt like we could handle the off-piste terrain the next day. The unfortunate part is that the visibility the next day was approximately 10 feet. But, with the crappy visibility came a fresh sheet of powder and we did not want to let those pillows go to waste.

It’s never wise to ski off-piste in an unfamiliar location when the visibility is terrible. Part of the reason that the views are so beautiful in the Swiss alps is because there are cliffs everywhere. This makes for a picturesque location. But, the beauty can be deadly. We started at the top of the Piz Gloria and decided to chase the powder off of the piste and into a section of cliffs and chutes that were prone to avalanches. And we did not have receivers, probes, or shovels.

As you can see from the map, we dove straight into the off-piste terrain without the proper equipment, visibility, and mountain familiarity. Thankfully, we slowed down our pace to try and track out a route through the rocks. My friend was more experienced and after he found what he thought was a chute that would lead back to the mountain base, he led the way into the white abyss. I followed his tracks, keeping him at a distance, but close enough to see through the thick clouds. As we turned through the powder I heard a very distinct scrapping sound, similar to someone stopping on ice or rocks. Immediately, I braked slide-ways to stop and hugged the mountain-side, trying to find a hand hold. My buddy yelled back up to me with a shaky voice that he stopped right at the edge of a cliff. He couldn’t see the bottom. I asked if he could unstrap and climb back up. But every movement slid him closer to the ledge. For a few minutes all you could hear was our heavy breath and the screaming mountain winds as we assessed the situation. We decided to have my friend, we’ll call him Seth, slowly release his snowboard and let it fall. He was successful and watched as his board disappeared into the white. He didn’t hear it hit the bottom. Seth still couldn’t climb out and didn’t want to risk sliding closer to the edge. After a few minutes we decided that we needed professional rescuers to get Seth off of this cliff. Fortunately, I stopped high enough to maneuver around and was able to pull out my cell phone. But, I had no service. I yelled down to Seth that I would try and climb up high enough to get cell bars. I left one of my ski poles before I left to mark Seth’s location and started my climb. Every five minutes or so I would blow my rescue whistle to try and get someone’s attention and also give Seth peace of mind that I was still climbing. Those were three of the most mentally taxing hours for Seth. He knew he couldn’t do anything, but every fiber of his being suggested that he try to climb out. While I climbed, he dug his hands into the snow and let his gloves freeze in place, in order to give him a better grip on the mountain. After about an hour of climbing I was able to get cell service and call ski patrol. The dispatcher send three rescuers based on our last location. He asked me to send a picture showing him where I was.

After a half hour the patrolmen found me. One patrolman stayed with me and the other two went down to find Seth. My ski pole helped, but finding Seth was the easy part. In order to get him off of the cliff, the two men had to dig an anchor in the snow and send one patrolman down in a harness. This hero rappelled down to Seth, handed him a harness, and the third member pulled both of them off of the cliff. In the mean time, the first ski patrolman gave me a “guided tour” through the chutes and to the bottom of the cliff. Before we started skiing, he handed me an avalanche beacon. He said someone died in this area two weeks ago after being buried by an avalanche. After an hour, Seth and I were reunited at the bottom of the cliff. And as chance would have it, we found Seth’s snowboard sticking out of the snow. After 30 more minutes of guided back-country skiing we made it back to the resort runs. In all, the rescue lasted two hours.

Here is a translated transcript of the rescue from the Swiss Ski Patrol Team.

14:55: REGA sent information about two missing Americans. Gloria 30 is mobile.

14:56: REGA alerts SOS. Schlithorn Gloria 30 starting scanning from the top train.

15:15 Gloria 30 starts search from Schilthorn in the direction of Grauseeli.

15:18 Message to the REGA that the search is initiated.

15:26 Gloria 15 meets up and supports Gloria 30.

15:32 Gloria 30 sights the first missing guest, Andrew.

15:33 Gloria 35 brings two avalanche beacons.

15:45 Sighting of the blocked person (Seth).

15:46 Message to the REGA, blocked person is being saved.

16:00 Gloria 35 meets Andrew and leads him on the correct route to Tai.

16:22 Gloria 30 and Gloria 15 rescue Mr. Bruhn.

16:49 Report to REGA all persons in safety.

17:16 Everyone involved in the rescue is on the toboggan run Piste No. 41.

After the rescue we bought the rescuers beers and decompressed before riding the main gondola down. We learned a valuable lesson that day. Respect the mountain! Our story has a happy ending, but many due not. Mountains are beautiful, but they are dangerous, and if you approach them with the wrong attitude, they can be deadly. Keep shredding! But, know your terrain and don’t take risks in bad conditions.