Straight off the bat: As advanced skiers, we really enjoyed our stay in the Jungfrau ski region. The First area impressed us with its wide and immaculately prepared groomers. However, with just 53 km of runs, First is relatively small and moving from one sub-area to another takes almost an hour.
There is substantially more terrain to explore in the Kleine Scheidegg area: A total of 110 km of runs are served by 23 lifts. While the majority of the runs in the First area are blue rated, Kleine Scheidegg boasts some 76 km of intermediate (red) runs. 17 km of black marked runs round out the excellent offering for expert skiers.
Most of the lifts surrounding the peak of the Kleine Scheidegg area are modern. However, the gondola ride up into the ski area is extremely long at around half an hour. The planned V-Bahn would provide substantial relief in this respect (you can find out more about the V-Bahn project at http://www.maennlichen.ch/de/v-bahn.html).
The Hohwald and Bärgelegg surface lifts in the First area and the Tschuggen lift in the Männlichen area should be urgently replaced. The blue and red marked runs served by these lifts were all great slopes for carving and some laid-back skiing, though the old lifts definitely put a damper on things.
Runs that shouldn't be missed
No visit to the ski area would be complete without trying the black-marked Stöckipiste (no. 41) as well as the red runs Lauberhorn (no. 42) and Engi (no. 44). A run down the Lauberhorn World Cup course (no. 45) is also without doubt a must when visiting Grindelwald – that goes without saying. Don’t forget that aside from the downhill world cup, a slalom race is also held in Wengen. The black Lauberhorn World Cup Slalom course (no. 47) on the Innerwengen lift should definitely be on every expert’s to-do list.