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Resorts Guide - Murren
Photo: SnowKings
Murren is a traditional village set in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland.
Like its near neighbour Wengen, it has a rich tradition of skiing, ski racing and British visitors.
Perched on a ledge at the end of the Lauterbrunnen valley, it sits at an elevation of
1,650 m, considerably higher than both Grindelwald and Wengen.
Murren is the smallest of the three three big Jungfrau resorts, and we've always found it the most traditional.
Maybe it's because of the combination of it's location at the end of the valley,
and it's pedestrianed village centre (give or take a few hotel or business vehicles that bomb around),
but it seems an even more peaceful spot than Wengen and Grindelwald, unless you're in town for the inferno race...
As with many of the villages in the Jungfrau area it's a popular destination in both winter and summer.
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On this page you'll find the following information about the resort...
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Click on the thumbnails to see the photos and images in all their glory...
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Consider travelling by train - it takes about 3 and a half hours from Geneva with changes required at Bern, Interlaken Ost
and Lauterbrunnen. This may sound like a long time and a lot of hassle changing but it's worth it.
It's a fantastic journey around Lake Geneva to start with and then the final legs as you hit the Bernese Oberland.
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Murren is part of the
Jungfrau Region
Ski Region:
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Jungfrau Region
All the skiing information, the webcams, pistemaps, and everything else you need for this classic Swiss ski area.
More...
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Okay, our guide to skiing in Murren is quite comprehensive, so if you want to follow it in detail its worth opening the piste
maps for Murren.
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Below is a description of the various skiing areas at Schilthorn:
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Where else could we start but Murren's most famous landmark - the Piz Gloria revolving restaraunt perched on top of the Schilthorn mountain. What do you mean you've never heard of it ? You've most likely seen it though -it was Blofeld's mountain hideaway in the Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. There's a black run (no. 10) that starts right up here at just under 3000m. Just down this black run is where the legendary Inferno run starts, the longest downhill race in the world. The black isn't too difficult to be honest and has some great views over to the jungfrau. It continues down to a position just above Both, from where there are a number of nice blue runs to take you down to Obere Hubel or down to the Riggli chairlift (black slope number 9 provides a trickier alternative). Obere Hubel sits at around 2400m so the snow up here is usually pretty good. However, to help ensure good conditions there are plenty of snow cannons covering the slopes down from here. There's something for everyone here with a blue, red and a couple of blacks all heading down to the bottom of the Muttleren and Kandahar chairlifts.
From the bottom of the kandahar chairlifts there's just run that connects you to the next skiing area below (Allmendhubel), but the bad news for nervy intermediates is that its a black (number 16) - a section of the Inferno run. Anyone not fancying this black needs to work there way back up to Birg using the chairlifts and then get the cablecar back down to the Schilthornbahn Station down in Murren
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The easiest way to get to the Allmendhubel area from Murren village is to take the Allmendhubelbahn funicular.
From here there's a nice easy blue (number 6) that takes you right back down to the foot of the funicular. It's got snow cannons on it as well, so the coverage is usually ok.
Red 7 follows a similar route down, albeit a bit trickier for early intermediates, and connects into blue 6 towards the end. On the other side of the Allmendhubel area is a couple of short blue runs with a drag lift. A nice long red (no 5) comes down through the trees on this side too and ends up at the bottom of the funicilar. There are a couple of lifts on red 5 as well - the Allmiboden chairlift connects you back up to Allmendhubel whilst Maulerhubel chairlift takes you to the top of the Maulerhubel-Winteregg area.
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This area is the hardest to access from Murren village, you've got to come at it from either halfway down red pistes no 5 at Allmendhubel and then get the Maulerhubel chairlift up or get the chairlift up from Winteregg, which is the first stop on the Lauterbrunnen-Murren train. Beginners and early intermediates will find it's worth the effort because once you've got there are a couple of blues down to the base of the Maulerhubel chair and a lovely blue and red that goes in the opposite direction down to Winteregg.
From Winteregg there's actually a red (no 3) that goes right down to Lauterbrunnen - this is the final section of the inferno run, so you can amuse yourself by skiing it flat out and pretending your charging to ski-race glory! Remember this is below 800m so there's no gurantee there'll be enough snow down at this level.
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Access to this area has to be done via the Schiltgrat chairlift from the village - it's just a bit further on from the Schilthornbahn cablecar.
From the top of the Schiltgrat chairlift there are a number of runs down to Gimmeln - there are 2 reds (24 and 25) and a blue (23).
Down at Gimmeln you've then got two options - either take the long drag lift back up to the top of Schiltgrat or take a scenic red down back down to the base of the Schiltgrat chair. As well as the pistes down to Gimmeln there are a couple more options, firstly take the blue from the top of the Schiltgrat chair and sweep left on pistes number 20 - this gives you a few options - you can take the red 23b down to the Taverne restaurant, black 21 down to Suppenalp or to the base of the Schilthornbahn, or continue on blue 22 to Sonnenberg
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Families or couples looking for somewhere traditional and pleasant will love the charm of it all,
and it seems many get seduced into returning year after year to Murren and the surrounding area.
The pedestrianised centre is extremely good if you have kids, but do be carefull of the
hotel's electric vehicles, some of them still zip around at a fair old pace and one or two of the drivers seem oblivious
to the fact that are were small children around.
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Often overlooked in favour of neighbouring Wengen and Grindelwald, Murren's scenery is still absolutely stunning, with it's views
of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau towering over everything in one direction and the Schilthorn in the other.
It remains a hotly debated topic as to which of the big three Jungfrau resorts has the best view, but to be honest you can't
go wrong with any of them.
The views down the valley towards Lauterbrunnen and over to Wengen and Mannlichen are equally amazing, and on a clear day there
are only a few resorts in Europe that can match the quality of views that Murren has on offer.
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Surprisingly, given the size of the mountains that are surrounding Murren and the Jungfrau region, you can't actually ski
anywhere in the summer.
The Eiger has a glacier (the Eigergletscher) and from the visitor centre at the top of the Jungfraujoch
you're right next to another one, actually the largest glacier in the Alps - the Great Aletsch Glacier (Grosser Aletschgletscher)
but there are no lifts or skiing on these.
Instead, Murren and the Jungfrau area turns its attention to a whole host of other outdoor activities during the summer months,
such as hiking, climbing, paragliding and watersports down on the lakes near Interlaken.
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Annual Events in this and neighbouring resorts...
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The word 'classic' is often over-used, but not in the case of this race.
Set on the slopes of Lauberhorn above the Swiss resort of Wengen, this is a race that has the lot - history,
drama and the best scenery on the world cup calendar.
The 2012 year's event will be the 82nd running of the races, making it the longest running of all the
FIS World Cup races. It's traditionally run the weekend before the Hahnenkamm races at Kitzbuhel,
making back-to-back classic downhill races.
Official Website:
www.lauberhorn.ch
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This spectacular ski race was started back in 1928 by 5 Brits from Murren's Kandahar Club and now has an
important place on the annual ski calendar as one of the biggest and most popular amateur ski races in the world.
The course is just under 15km long, starting just under the Schilthorn
(think James Bond On Her Majesty's Secret Service at 2790m and finishing right down in the valley at
Lauterbrunnen 2000m vertically below. The winner hurtles down in about 15 minutes but there's plenty of
competition - with upto 1800 skiers taking part. The event has become big business for the village of
Murren, with other events in the lead up and a massive Swiss party afterwards.
The 2012 race will be the 69th running of the event.
Official Website:
www.inferno-muerren.ch
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Like many ski resorts, Murren's reason for existing before the advent of tourism and ski holidays was as a farming community.
It's growth follows a similar path to Wengen's, being linked in the same manner to the wealthy British pioneers who popularized
it at the turn of the 20th century - people such as Henry Lunn who started alpine clubs for gentlemen and who introduced the notion
of packaged winter holidays to the area. By the 1920s it was his son Arnold Lunn who was progressing things even further and about
to engrain Murren into ski race history by forming the Kandahar Ski Club in 1924.
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