Mürren, Schilthorn and a Walk in the Snow

Saturday, 3 February, was the first day of our Swiss Travel Passes, and our first full day in the mountains together.

After my snowy day on the Bernina line, when I had owned waterproof boots but not worn them, I had made sure my wife had waterproof boots this time.

Through the mountains by train

We left Lucerne early in the morning. The train climbed over the hills, past a lake with snow on the slopes above the water.

A lake below snowy mountains, with a village and chalets along the shore, seen through a train window. — A lake on the way over the hills.

On the other side, the line came down past Brienz to the lake, and the water was a deep turquoise.

A turquoise lake below a long range of snow-covered mountains, with a small fir tree on the grassy bank in the foreground. — Lake Brienz.

From Interlaken, we went on into the Lauterbrunnen valley and up the mountainside. By a quarter to eleven, we were high above the valley, among snow-covered forests, with a wall of mountains across from us.

A wide view of snow-covered mountains and cliffs across a valley, with snowy fir trees in the foreground. — On the way up to Mürren.

Mürren

Mürren was deep in snow. The chalets had thick layers of it on their roofs, and paths had been cleared between banks of snow along the streets.

Walking through the village, we came across something I did not expect to see in a Swiss mountain village: a Singapore restaurant, called THAM. Being from Singapore, we both noticed it straight away. It was closed, though, so we had lunch somewhere else in Mürren before going further up. My meal came with a generous amount of melted cheese on top.

A plate of melted cheese topped with a fried egg, pickled onions, a slice of tomato and parsley, with a bowl of spaghetti with meat sauce behind it, on a table in the sun. — Lunch in Mürren.

After lunch, the sun came out properly. The sky turned a deep blue, and the snow on the roofs was dazzling.

Snow-covered chalet roofs in Mürren, looking down the village towards high mountains across the valley, under a blue sky. — Mürren after lunch.

Thick snow on two chalet roofs, framing a view of rocky mountains and drifting cloud. — Snow on the roofs.

Up to the Schilthorn

From Mürren, we took the cable cars up towards the Schilthorn. On the way up, there were signs for Bond World.

A dark wall with the words “Bond World 007” and a list reading “Interactive Bond adventures”, “Helicopter flight to Piz Gloria” and “Bond cinema and 007 studio”. — Signs for Bond World.

At the top, at 2,970 metres, we were above the clouds. The peaks around us rose out of a sea of cloud.

Snow-covered peaks rising above a layer of cloud under a clear blue sky, seen from the summit of the Schilthorn. — Above the clouds on the Schilthorn.

The building at the summit is Piz Gloria, which appeared in the James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. “007” was written on its side, and around the summit were Bond displays and posters, including a life-size Bond figure and a row of plaques about the actors.

A life-size cut-out of James Bond aiming a pistol, standing on the snowy summit terrace, with skiers walking away towards the railings and mist beyond. — A Bond figure on the summit terrace.

A plaque in the snow with a signed photograph of the actress Jenny Hanley and text about her role in a Bond film, with a misty snowy slope behind. — One of the plaques about the Bond film.

We walked around the summit in the snow and the wind, and then went inside to warm up with a hot drink.

A walkway on the cliff

On the way down, we stopped at Birg, the station below the summit. A walkway was fixed to the face of the cliff there, with a metal grid floor and a sheer drop beneath it. I went down the metal steps and a little way onto the glass section, but my wife did not want to go further, so we turned back after a short try.

A narrow metal walkway with mesh sides fixed to a sheer rock face, curving out of sight. — The walkway on the cliff at Birg.

A section of walkway with a glass floor and railing running along a snowy cliff, with cloud beyond. — A glass section of the walkway.

Back down to Mürren

From the cable car going down, we had a clear view of the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau across the valley.

The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau rising above snowy slopes and a valley under a blue sky with some cloud, seen from a cable car. — The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau from the cable car.

Below us, the whole of Mürren was spread out on its ledge above the valley.

The village of Mürren spread across a snowy ledge, with forest below and huge snowy cliffs across the valley. — Mürren from above.

Back in the village, the afternoon sun was shining on the chalets. The old wooden houses had thick layers of snow on their roofs, and they looked like the fairy-tale villages I had imagined as a child.

Snow-laden roofs of wooden chalets in Mürren, looking across to a huge snowy rock face and mountains. — Snowy roofs in Mürren.

Dark wooden chalets with snowy roofs in the sunshine in Mürren, under a blue sky with a few clouds. — Chalets in the afternoon sun.

Wooden chalets buried in deep snow among fir trees, below a great snowy rock face under a blue sky. — Chalets below the mountain.

A large old wooden chalet with snow on its roof and balconies, with more chalets on the slope behind, under a blue sky. — Chalets below the mountain.

A walk in the snow

From Mürren, we walked down a snowy path along the mountainside, past more old wooden houses. All the way, there were wide views across the valley to the mountains.

A snowy path with a wooden rail leading down past fir trees and a snowy slope, with the sun shining over the mountains and a walker seen from behind. — Setting off down the path.

A snowy path with a wooden fence leading past a white chalet, with a walker seen from behind and huge snowy mountains across the valley. — On the way down.

After about forty minutes, we came to a smaller village of old wooden houses.

An old wooden barn with a snowy roof beside the path, with a gnarled tree and snowy peaks beyond under a blue sky. — An old barn by the path.

Old wooden houses with snowy roofs in a small village, below a wall of snow-covered mountains under a blue sky. — A smaller village below Mürren.

From there, a cable car took us down the cliffs to the bottom of the valley.

Steep rock walls dusted with snow and trees, seen from a cable car going down into the valley. — Down the cliffs by cable car.

Back to Lucerne

We caught the train back towards Lucerne. By a quarter past five, the light was fading over the lake beside the line.

A grey lake below a long mountainside with a band of snow, at dusk, seen from a train, with a fir tree in the foreground. — A lake on the way back to Lucerne.

It had been a long day of trains, cable cars and snow, and we had spent all of it together. The next day, there would be more snow, on another mountain.