Switzerland 2012 – Unteraegeri and Grindelwald | Sharon and Lee

Switzerland 2012

Grindewald and Aegeri GPS Links || Grindelwald and Aegeri Videos

Wir Gehen Sweiss Velo Riding Again!

Lee liked Switzerland so much last year we had to go again. This time we flew on the Charter airline –Edelweiss Air – direct from Vancouver to Zurich.

Our stuff wiating for SBB

We have friends in Unteraegeri who came to ride in North Vancouver in 2007, and skied in Vancouver in 2012, we also rode with them in 2011 in Davos. They said we HAD to check out their trails so we stayed with Guido and Nicole for a couple of nights to check out the Trail Rider bike shop and some of the trails in Unteraegeri. While the trails were challenging and good for local goods, they didn’t quite have the views offered by the rest of Switzerland. I did see how they became good riders though! Slippery roots will either kill you or make you stronger!

The weather when we arrived was unsettled so we were able to check out the aegeri trails at their sketchy best!

Norco’s provided by Trail Rider Bike shop and Endless Summer. I rode the Norco Sight, which was a great bike for climbing and on technical trails, and Lee rode the Shinobi.

Typical Aegeri trail

Riding with Rene, Guido and Helen

Grindelwald – Wallis

Our next destination was Grindelwald in Wallis. Best know for the Eiger and Jungfraujoch I didn’t really click in that the Jungfraujoch was accessed by a train that went through a tunnel in the Eiger. Built 100 years ago in 1812, it travels to 3454m and is branded as the TOP OF EUROPE. While very touristy it is worth checking out. They’ve done a great job at the top to highlight the glacier and the environment in the area. Its also used as a place for Mountaineers to climb the Jungfrau and other peaks in the area, you can also travel down the Aletsch glacier to the Bettmeralp/Reideralp area. You can buy a ticket up the Jungfraujoch for half price with your Swiss Rail Pass.

We stayed at the Kirchbuhl Hotel – Grindelwald, with their super friendly helpful staff,
Courtesy Shuttle, VERY good food, continental breakfast with fruit, cereal, lots of bread and cheese choices, awesome half board food, views of the mountains and wellness center, I would stay at this hotel again.

Kirchbuhl Room

Kirchbuhl Food!

Bern is not known for its mountain biking. Of all the Cantons in Switzerland it is the most confused about whether or not to embrace this growing demographic. Some do, some don’t but just like anywhere, so long as you say hi, we all get along.

We did our first ride in Grindelwald up the First Gondola. Its VERY long, 5,226-meter long, it climbs to 2167m. The mountain bike route down is on a gravel and ashphalt road, but the views are spectacular. We didn’t go up to the lake that is there since it was cloudy and the views weren’t that good. On a clear day it would be worth it to go up for the views.

Ride down from First Gondola

The second day we met Simon and Noodlez for a local tour. We rode up to Kleine Scheidegg, which you can take your bike up on after 4:00, but not before since this is the main tourist access point for the Jungfraujoch. We climbed from 1000m to 2140m for a nice warm up. Then we had some Kafe and Alpin Macaroni before we started our ride down the Lauberhorn to Lauterbrunnen where we went up another Gondola and rode to Winteregg and down an awesome wanderweg trail back to Lauterbrunnen. After a beer we cruised down to the train station at Zweilutschinen and took the train back to Grindelwald and another amazing dinner at the Kirchbuhl Hotel.

Climbing to Kleine Scheidegg with Noodlez and Simon and eating there!