Grindelwald First Ski Day

Grindelwald First is the sunny side of the valley. The pistes face south-west across to the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, so you spend the day skiing straight towards the most famous rock face in the Alps. The gondola climbs from the village at 1,050 metres to First at 2,168, and the runs fall away from there in long, wide, mostly red descents through Schilt, Oberjoch and Bargelegg towards Bort and the valley floor. It suits confident intermediates better than anywhere else in the Jungfrau region: few narrow sections, room to open up, and rarely the queues you meet at Kleine Scheidegg. The day covers the rail transfer from Interlaken, equipment collection at Grindelwald Terminal, and a lift pass for the First sector. Lunch is taken on the mountain, on terraces that look directly at the north face. Instruction can be added at any level. You should be able to link turns on a groomed red run unaided. Warm layers, goggles and high-factor sunscreen are essential - the sun is strong at altitude and comes off the snow as well as the sky. Winter product, operating roughly December to April.