Posts about Grindelwald

Grindelwald – a name known by millions of Harry Potter fans the world over thanks to its use by J.K. Rowling – is in fact a small town nestled in the mountains above Interlaken, in the Jungfrau Region of central Switzerland.

  • A steep and stony path from the mountain hamlet of Kleine Scheidegg leads to the top of the world-famous Lauberhorn, from which the intrepid author gets an unparalleled view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.

  • Grindelwald in the “good old days”

    Travellers, historians and winter sport fanatics (and those of us who are less fanatic but still enjoy the mountains) will love this old film by Ronald Haines, shot in 1956 in the Swiss mountain resort of Grindelwald and on the surrounding mountains. (Link via Grindelwald Tourism on Facebook.)

  • Dreaming of flight

    Dreaming of flight

    …and where better to realise a childhood dream than in the Swiss Bernese Oberland? U.K. band Rudimental chose to film a large amount of the video for their recent release “Free” (featuring Emili Sandé) in the Alps of the Jungfrau Region and not only is the song lovely, but the accompanying video sequences are sublime.

  • The Mittellegi Hut

    Probably at number one on the list of “places I’d love to visit but probably never will” is the Mittellegi Hut, perched on the ridge of the same name near the summit of the Eiger. It’s famous amongst climbers as it’s along the approach route from the Eismeer station of the Jungfrau Railway, en route for…

  • A twin-rotor transport helicopter carrying another helicopter from the BOHAG company from the Mittelleggi hut down to their base station at Gsteigwiler. Crazy stuff. (Although, thinking about it, how else would you transport a helicopter if it broke down on top of a mountain?)

  • First Fliers

    First Fliers

    Jo’s parents have been with us for the past couple of weeks and one of their requests was to visit First, the mountain area above the eastern side of the Grindelwald valley. To see the views, you might think? No. To feed their ornithological needs and visit the alpine choughs? No. To hang from a zip…

  • Driving off-piste

    Jo and I took a drive up to Grindelwald last night to take some moonlit landscape photos. After an abortive attempt to head up to Bussalp–which saw us having to reverse back down a single track lane which got too narrow and way too steep to pass, after following the misguidance of Google Maps on…

  • When I first planned to hike to Bachalp above Grindelwald, I had envisaged not taking the photo above. However, the reception which the photo has received since posting it to Flickr has made me glad that I did.

  • Timelapse – hike to Bachalp

    As if the photographic splendour of the mountain hike from the Firstbahn cablecar station above Grindelwald wasn’t enough, I used the rest breaks we took on our hike this last Sunday to shoot a handful of timelapse sequences.

  • I’ve been meaning to spend a little time to sit down and really get to grips with the High Dynamic Range editing process. For the unititiated, the HDR is a photo which contains detail within a much wider range of tones than is possible through an individual shot, from deep shadows to bright highlights.

  • The new 6-seater chairlift running from to the base of the north wall of the Eiger, photographed from the Eiger Run sledge track above Grindelwald.

  • Eiger Run

    A photo and video from the Eiger Run sledge route, between the mountain-top hamlet of Kleine Scheidegg and tourist centre at Grindelwald.

  • Gallery of photos from Männlichen, an alpine plateau high above Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Jungfrau Region of Switzerland.

  • Proper Sledging

    Jo and I go sledging in subzero temperatures from Kleine Scheidegg to Grindelwald, along a hairpin 7.5 km route through the forests beneath the north wall of the Eiger.

  • A winter weekend

    In January of 2005 – five years ago this week – Jo visited me in Switzerland for the first time. These photos show our wonderful time together.

  • Into another world

    Last weekend, we chose to head for the Eigergletscher (“Eiger Glacier”) station high above Grindelwald: to appreciate the astounding beauty of the autumnal landscapes below the station, to be enthralled by the massive cliffs of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, and also to visit the polar dogs who are kenneled next to the station.

  • The newest version of the newspaper, to which I still subscribe online despite no longer working or living in the catchment area, produced by a small handful of people and covering purely local news instead of falling to the temptation of reporting news from more distant regions, is at least a match for – if…

  • I’m feeling generous: there are now large images online which my Flickr contacts can download at full 1920 x 1200 resolution, for use as a computer desktop wallpaper. For those lucky enough to have two screens, the images will match up to provide a panoramic image across both screens. Let me know if you’ve used…

  • A personal review of my years with my previous employer in Brienz, primarily for my own photo bookshelf.

  • I was asked at the end of last week by the director of a t.v. show to come along to Männlichen, above Grindelwald, and take stills from behind the camera.

  • Fiancées

    Photo by Jo’s dad Roy in September, when we visited Männlichen for the day with him and Jo’s mum Pat.