Where to Ski And Snowboard -

Review of Meiringen

14th February 2010 by Wendy 

I visited Meiringen in early December 2009, and thought it an excellent little place for a short break. We arrived by car from Luzern, but there is a rail terminal in town (Interlaken line).

My tip if arriving by car from the north (eg Zurich airport) is to park up at Hasliberg rather than drive down into Meiringen and getting the cable car up. While the lift from there is fine, there is a walk from the car park (currently under development).

Early season conditions were good and about two thirds of the area was open. What surprised me was the generally very efficient lift system, with a three stage gondola all the way to the second highest point on the slopes and couple of whizzy six-packs in the Twing sector. Only the double chair that connects Bidmi and Käserstatt lets the area down - terribly slow (but no queues that early in the season)!

The lower half of the mountain has plenty of tree skiing - mostly blues - so made a great place to head on a particularly poor visibility weekend. From the upper ridge you get some good, wide red runs that offer intermediates a lot of fun. None is particularly challenging though there are a few steeper pitches in places.

What I didn’t like was the large flat areas around each station, which involved a fair bit of walking / poling - but this is meadow land in summer, as the collection of rustic huts reminds you. And piste marking leaves a bit to be desired - not numbered and with few clear signs, though the arrows on the poles helped in the poor viz.

Meiringen is very much a family-oriented area, and Bidmi has excellent facilities for them. There is even a family-dedicated restaurant. There is some lively après-ski though (try Käserstatt) and the area is popular with snowboarders.

Eating and drinking on the mountain was generally a bit cheaper than the majority of Swiss resorts – so another plus point! There is a good smattering of huts, most offering both table- and self-service options. We had good food at the Berghaus, and cosy drinks at the woody Bârgbeizli (which had a few farm animals in a pen outside, as a friendly welcome for the kids).

Had a great ski day there. Meiringen itself is a pleasant, interesting town.

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