I visited Switzerland in the summer of 1996, an encounter far too brief, given the visit was one of many countries I had to squeeze into the blur of a 3 week coach tour of western Europe. So, as it happens, work brought me to Zurich 2 weeks ago, and I made a point of making a weekend of it. The most startling difference from my memory of Switzerland all those years ago was the abundance of the white stuff. The descent into Zurich was simply stunning, villages, valleys and the nearby alps were enveloped in snow. That said, Zurich town centre was relatively free of the stuff as snow ploughs and tractors are regularly on hand to clear any wayward falls. (as I learned later)

Margaret joined me on Friday night and we set off on Saturday morning from Zurich, headed for Interlaken. Our car rental was exceptional. I decided it was more economical to upgrade to a Merc, after my request for a portable sat-nav proved not as cost effective. The Merc had one built in. After some initial doubts as to the intent of the sat-nav, we did find ourselves heading in the right direction towards Luzern and then onwards to Interlaken. The weather was glorious on Saturday. Sunshine abounded, and really lit up the magnificence of the Swiss landscape. Below are a few shots taken en route.

En route to Interlaken, Lungerer See, Switzerland

Moi, Sitting in nearly a metre of snow, Near Lungern, Switzerland

Later that afternoon after arriving in Interlaken, we took it on advice to take the train up to the picturesque Grindelwald. I say up, as Grindelwald at an altitude over 1,000 metres is a skiing village at the feet of the imposing snow dusted Wetterhorn and Eiger mountains. The train route actually can go higher than this up to the Jungfraujoch peak, the highest point in Europe. Alas, this was a 4 hour round trip and time wasn’t permitting for us. So we settled for Grindelwald. Our hotel advised that there was a lot more snow on the road at Grindelwald, so we decided not to risk getting stuck in snow with the car (despite having chains in the boot). As it happened – the risk was unfounded, as the roads were completely navigable, with barely any snow on them at all.

Grindelwald was a beautiful scene. Winter’s hand was completely evident with snow drifts of up to a metre in depth outside the village houses, and on some buildings icicles descended like ominous glistening shards. In fact the icicles on one particular building were so long, they looked more like stalactites.

Icicles, Grindelwald, Switzerland 

Icicles, Grindelwald, Switzerland 

Snow Dusted Wetterhorn, Grindelwald, Switzerland

We left Grindelwald for the hotel at dusk with some fantastic memories of an idyllic Swiss winter’s wonderland. However, as nice as snow is to look at and experience in the glorious sunshine, it can have it’s more inconvenient side. On Saturday night, it began to snow. It snowed all night and into Sunday morning. The deluge of snow we had experienced in London a few weeks earlier (London’s Snow Event) was nothing compared to this Swiss snow dump. I remember glancing out the hotel restaurant window at breakfast, snow was covering the cars outside, with a snow shell a foot thick. The mountains we could see yesterday were obscured by the snow pall. Snow ploughs were out in force attempting to clear the roads.

Driving the Interlaken to Luzern leg that morning was perhaps the scariest driving experience I’ve yet encountered in my near 20 years driving. Not only was it snowing but it was about –4 C, so the snow was freezing on the roads. Even at a meagre 40kph pace, a quick stab on the brakes resulted in the car fish tailing. Granted, I only did a quick stab the once and learned my lesson. It was quite remarkable that what was such a pleasant scenic drive the day before was now a white-knuckled, heart palpitating, gut wrenching plod through snow and ice. The landscape was barely recognisable, I even nearly missed a turn off to the motorway, thinking it was a country laneway. It looked like a goat track as the snow was covering that much of the road.

We had contemplated stopping and putting chains on the wheels, but those few other drivers we did come across had not done so, so we kept ploughing along, hoping for the best. (One thinks those drivers were locals and were out for a leisurely Sunday drive). Perhaps the worst stretch of road, was the winding pass near Lungern. A number of times the Merc complained that it’s winter tyres were not gripping the road properly. We had to stop at one point as there was only a single lane of traffic. My heart was in my mouth as I could have sworn the car, even with park brake engaged,  was sliding backwards down the pass incline. I was cringing in anticipation of sliding into the car behind me. It was some weird optical illusion perhaps brought upon by a flux of adrenalin. Margaret informed me the car was still, and to relax. Having studied some German, the expression that came to mind was "Himmel, Arsch, und Stirn!”.

Once we did navigate that stretch we allowed a snow plough to cut in front of us, and then followed its wake all the way down – much to our relief. Thankfully, we experienced a few tunnels after that. Actually, we were beside ourselves once we were inside a tunnel. No snow and all grip! Eventually, we made it down the mountain and as we hit Luzern the snow turned to rain. We had a relaxing coffee in Luzern (Lucerne), a town I had not visited in 13 years. I was quite happy to be out of  the driver seat for a while and take in some of the local sights, before heading back to Zurich. One of the sights was the famous Löwendenkmal, Lions Monument, which commemorates the massacre of Swiss Guards in the French Revolution in 1792. Pictures of Luzern sights below.

Löwendenkmal, The Lion Monument in Snow, Luzern (Lucerne)

Kapellbrücke, Chapel Bridge in Snow, Luzern (Lucerne)

Snow clean up, Luzern (Lucerne) 

All of the photos above were taken with a Canon 5D Mark II.