Grindelwald
VARIOUS BIG SPORT EVENTS What could be better for events than breathtaking scenery and a prefect infrastructure? It is no wonder that every year Grindelwald is the show place for different sport competitions sometimes with international participants. Bruno Hauswirth starts a long list: In January the Swiss Company Ski Challenge, or for short “Company Challenge”, takes place. In 2012, 250 skiers participated. In 2013 the format was refreshed and upgraded with sponsors like BMW, Aberdeen Asset Management or Rossignol. Then in February a specialty took place: the world competition of velogemel. This ‘ bike on skis’ was invented right here in Grindelwald 102 years ago. In June, top climbing athletes
measure themselves at the JuniorEuropean Championships in bouldering. The summer brings the Eiger Bike Challenge, the hard test for mountain bikers (see page18, summer section). A few weeks later the Inferno Triathlon will pass through Grindelwald, the many hour race between Thun and the Schilthorn peak with disciplines of swimming, mountain biking, cycling and running, climbing to over 5000 metres of altitude. Next is the Jungfrau Marathon in September on the Kleine Scheidegg. Grindlewlad offers also a distinctive artistic event: the World Snow Festival, in which artists from different countries create spectacular ice sculptures in the centre of the village. CLOSE CONNECTIONS TO JAPAN Grindelwald counts more than 1,000,000 overnight stays per year, equally in summer as in winter. The guests who visit Grindelwald come from all over the world. The tourist office has made it their goal to maintain this international character. That is why most information guides are available in different languages. This includes Japanese texts because, as Bruno Hauswirth explains, the Japanese are the third largest group of visitors in Grindelwald, after the Swiss and the Germans.
The reason behind this big interest towards Grindelwald by the Japanese is the exclusive twinning between Grindelwald (4,000 inhabitants) and the town of Matsumoto (230,000 inhabitants). There is a long standing sport connection with Japan: Japanese climbers have been scaling the north-west face of the Eiger since as early as 1921, and then in 1969 they tackled the legendary North Face. It is no coincidence that all the Japanese guests who arrive in Grindelwald try to make sure they have a balcony facing the Eiger. In 2013 Bruno Hauswirth is expecting even more tourists from Japan and Scandinavia because these countries are less effected by the global economic crisis. In 2014 the tourism industry is hoping for a general improvement. Bruno Hauswirth is convinced that in the years 2013 and 2014 a soft, positive, tourism growth dynamic is foreseen. This is because after four lean years in tourism demand from overseas, there will be a recovery process. Additionally the increasing investment in Swiss hotels will be rewarded in 2014 and subsequently deliver an impulse in available offers.
ABOVE A sculpture at the Snow Festival and to the right the Bachalp lake. Left, the cable car to First.
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