It’s being a beautiful winter here in Switzerland. Since I came back from Spain, there have been two big snow falls in Zurich. And even more in the mountains. Everything is white and looks so beautiful now! I was looking forward to these white days since the last hike I did in early November. I’ve been dreaming with white landscapes since then.
After my short trip to Ireland, I went to a place that I already know well: Lauterbrunnen, the magical valley in the Bernese Alps. I’ve been there in summer and spring, and in both occasions I fell in love with this enchanting landscape. One of the things that I love about winter is that snow changes the landscape so much that it makes you feel you’re in a new place. That’s why I was so eager to visit this valley during this season. And I wasn’t wrong!! What in other seasons is a green deep valley full of color, life and music, in winter it’s transformed in a quiet landscape where time seems to have stopped.
The day I went to Lauterbrunnen the forecast was heavy snow in a great part of Switzerland. Fortunately, it wasn’t that bad when I arrived to the valley. A light snow was falling while I started the easy hike to Mürren. And on the way, the sky started to clear a bit and the light sneaked into the valley. Suddenly, an spectacle of light and shadow began. I stopped walking, startled by the beautiful dance that the clouds and the lights were performing around the highest peaks in the valley. It was pure poesy! I knew that the beautiful images I was looking for that day weren’t at the valley, but in the heights. So I changed lenses and started to take close-ups of these ephemeral and beautiful moments that light was creating that day.
The rest of the hike took me to the valley again, where all the beautiful waterfalls that flow in summer were now frozen. I passed along farms until I arrived to the station in Lauterbrunnen, where I took the mountain train to the other side of the valley, the small town-ski resort of Wengen. From there I also got impressive views of the valley and of a shy mountain Eiger, one of the most impressive peaks of this area.
Here are some photos I took that day. I hope you like them!
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 55mm f/6.3 1/640sec. ISO400
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 100mm f/11 1/4000sec. ISO400
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 42mm f/11 1/800sec. ISO400
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 38mm f/11 1/320sec. ISO400
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/10 1/320sec. ISO400
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 227mm f/10 1/2000sec. ISO400
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 255mm f/10 1/400sec. ISO400
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/10 1/400sec. ISO400
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 1/400sec. ISO400
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 61mm f/11 1/160sec. ISO400
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 1/800sec. ISO640
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 1/500sec. ISO640
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 35mm f/11 1/1000sec. ISO640
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 241mm f/5.6 1/6400sec. ISO640
¡Preciosas Mer!! Contigo en Estocolmo pude ver la gran capacidad de la nieve para iluminar una ciudad. 😉😘
Mil gracias, Carmen!!! La nieve es mágica!! En las ciudades ilumina los días mas oscuros…. y en la montaña, transforma paisajes! Me encantan estos días “en blanco” 🙂
Stunning images! Do people stay during the winter high in the mountains? The picture of the cabin almost snowed in prompted that question.
Thanks a lot, Anne!!! I am in love with the snow since I moved to Sweden a few years ago… so living now in Switzerland is like heaven for me with all the snowed mountains so close to where I live (well, actually, I’m watching the snow falling from my window while I’m writing this!! I can’t be happier, hehhee)
Well, a lof of those cabins are for summer months… I guess farmers use them when they take the cows to the mountain pastures in summer. But people do live in the valley of Lauterbrunnen (it’s the name for the valley and a little town) and there are smaller towns at either side of the valley (Murren and Wengen), higher, that are the base for even higher ski resorts in the mountains and observatories like the one in Mt. Jungfrau. And what impresses me more, there are still mountain “hotels” that you can reach only with small cable cars, that are open now in winter….
So I guess the answer is yes!!! People live very high in the mountains even in winter, hehehe and some of them get caught and isolated in their very high towns because of the snow and avalanches…
Recently we had people trapped in a resort near Tahoe for 5 days (I think!). We’ve had way above average snow fall. The resort had plenty of food and supplies to handle it. My only experience with living in snow was when I was young living in New York City. The snow would fall and look pretty then quickly turn to slush, looking dirty and dingy. I remember having to either walk to school in it or ride a bus. But I do enjoy going up to the snow and coming back to my home in the valley!
I remember the slush and dirt look that you talk about…. it was the same in Stockholm! You have snow for a few days and everything looks like out of a fairy tale…. but then the snow melts and everything is muddy and brown and looks sad….
I have to say that Switzerland surprised me in that sense. It doesn’t snow that much in Zurich, as the city is not very high (about 400m above the sea). So when it snows, everything looks beautiful, but it melts very quickly and then it’s like it’s been raining… this city doesn’t look dirty!! And parks look green again after the snow, so the dark and sad look that Stockholm has between winter and spring, we don’t have it here! 🙂
And yes, I do the same! For very snowy landscapes I go up in the mountains… it’s funny, because when it’s cloudy and dark in Zurich, I just take the train or the car, go to another valley, and then there’s sun and snow, hehehe. This is one of the best things of this tiny country! I love it!