jamesdeluxe
Administrator
Following the near perfect day at Grindelwald/Wengen on Wednesday, overcast skies returned on Thursday so we did some sightseeing in nearby Interlaken. Luckily, the Friday forecast was bluebird during the first half of the day, giving us the opportunity to check out another bucket-list stop in the Jungfrau.
After leaving the Autobahn, there's a fork in the road -- left to the Grindelwald and right to Mürren, and 90% of the traffic was turning left so we were looking forward to a comparatively uncrowded day. Here's what it looks like driving up the valley toward Lauterbrunnen, with towering cliffs on both sides of the road:
When we arrived at the parking lot in Stechelberg, there's a taste of what's to come 6,300 vertical feet uphill -- a billboard for a James Bond exhibit covering the 1969 film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," which was partially shot at the Schilthorn peak. The film starred Telly Savalas as the villain Blofeld -- who ran the diabolical SPECTRE organisation, which planned to unleash some sort of germ warfare on the world, I believe -- and the Australian George Lazenby, who took over after Sean Connery decided he didn't want to be permanently typecast as 007. Here's the famous nighttime ski chase and the daytime chase featuring an avalanche.
One can only guess how much the Ian Fleming estate received to license this:
There are audio bumpers in the buildings and all sorts of visual reminders, including a backpack for the employee running the tram:
To reach the summit, you have to take four different trams -- I like this old-school bare-bones diagram:
40 minutes later, you arrive at Gloria Peak:
Love this:
Staring down a gun barrel. I originally thought it was a camera iris:
The men's room:
Oh yeah, and then there's the skiing -- starting out from the top with a nice steep pitch:
My wife and I enjoying the buttery soft snow on the same pitch as the James Bond ski chase:
Looking back at Gloria Peak:
Further down:
Drinks at an igloo:
Lots of vertical:
After finishing lunch around 1 pm....
... it started getting overcast, which actually worked out for us as the lower half of the ski terrain didn't get sloppy:
Around 3 pm, we decided to call it a day and downloaded on the two lower cable cars. Arriving back in Brienz:
After leaving the Autobahn, there's a fork in the road -- left to the Grindelwald and right to Mürren, and 90% of the traffic was turning left so we were looking forward to a comparatively uncrowded day. Here's what it looks like driving up the valley toward Lauterbrunnen, with towering cliffs on both sides of the road:
When we arrived at the parking lot in Stechelberg, there's a taste of what's to come 6,300 vertical feet uphill -- a billboard for a James Bond exhibit covering the 1969 film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," which was partially shot at the Schilthorn peak. The film starred Telly Savalas as the villain Blofeld -- who ran the diabolical SPECTRE organisation, which planned to unleash some sort of germ warfare on the world, I believe -- and the Australian George Lazenby, who took over after Sean Connery decided he didn't want to be permanently typecast as 007. Here's the famous nighttime ski chase and the daytime chase featuring an avalanche.
One can only guess how much the Ian Fleming estate received to license this:
There are audio bumpers in the buildings and all sorts of visual reminders, including a backpack for the employee running the tram:
To reach the summit, you have to take four different trams -- I like this old-school bare-bones diagram:
40 minutes later, you arrive at Gloria Peak:
Love this:
Staring down a gun barrel. I originally thought it was a camera iris:
The men's room:
Oh yeah, and then there's the skiing -- starting out from the top with a nice steep pitch:
My wife and I enjoying the buttery soft snow on the same pitch as the James Bond ski chase:
Looking back at Gloria Peak:
Further down:
Drinks at an igloo:
Lots of vertical:
After finishing lunch around 1 pm....
... it started getting overcast, which actually worked out for us as the lower half of the ski terrain didn't get sloppy:
Around 3 pm, we decided to call it a day and downloaded on the two lower cable cars. Arriving back in Brienz:
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