Axalp, CH: 03/12/18

After picking up my wife at Zurich Airport early Monday morning, we drove 90 minutes south to our headquarters for the next five days, the lakeside village of Brienz (pronounced BREE ENTS), where the mountains come right down to the water. Besides its beauty and comparatively reasonable prices, you can reach two ski areas (Hasliberg and Axalp) in 15 minutes and the Jungfrau ski areas in 40, so it made sense logistically. Following two cloudy days, it was nice to see the sun poke through occasionally:







My wife was wiped out from the flight so she decided to relax at the hotel while I did a bit of skiing 3,000 vertical feet above the lake. Just below the rock outcropping at the top is the local ski area Axalp:



Comparatively small with a fixed chair and a t-bar covering 1,800 vertical feet:



No tremendously challenging terrain, but pleasant cruising and scenics. The only other skiers I ran into were high-school kids who take the bus up from the village:









Views of bright green Lake Brienz and the village where we're staying on the opposite side of the water:







After 2.5 hours, I headed back down to meet my wife for drinks and the sun had finally come out:



There's a nice walking path for a couple miles along the village:





From the lake: a zoom-in of the top of the ski area:

I love how so many of these areas are on lakes..So perty and empty.  
Can't wait for the Wengen report...

All I can say is FKNA!

great TR and pics as usual

Me too!  Mrs. Cooper and I are thinking of a trip there next Feb.

So cool! Thanks James!

Looks too crowded for me