# Ski instructors in Grindelwald-Wengen

> The Jungfrau region beneath the Eiger north face: cog railways to Kleine Scheidegg, the Lauberhorn downhill, car-free Wengen and the Eiger Express gondola.

- Region: Bernese Oberland
- Country: [Switzerland](https://alpinepal.com/en/ski-instructors/switzerland)
- Time zone: Europe/Zurich
- Currency: EUR
- Coordinates: 46.6256, 8.0333

Page: https://alpinepal.com/en/resorts/grindelwald-wengen
Last reviewed: 13 September 2026

## About Grindelwald-Wengen

Nowhere else in the Alps do you ski under a wall like this. The north face of the Eiger rises straight out of the pistes at Kleine Scheidegg, the pass at 2,061 m that joins Grindelwald and Wengen, and the Mönch and the Jungfrau line up beside it. The area is reached the old-fashioned way: cogwheel trains have been climbing to the pass since 1893, and they still carry skiers, though since 2020 the Eiger Express gondola gets you from Grindelwald to the foot of the face in a quarter of an hour.

The skiing on the Kleine Scheidegg and Männlichen side is long, open and mostly red, with the Lauberhorn — at around 4.5 km the longest downhill on the World Cup circuit, raced every January since 1930 — as the headline piste. Grindelwald-First, on the sunny side of Grindelwald, is a separate sector of easier terrain with views back at the wall. Altogether the Jungfrau region, including Mürren, counts around 200 km.

The two villages could not be more different. Grindelwald, at 1,034 m, is a busy resort town at the bottom of the valley; Wengen, at 1,274 m on a shelf above Lauterbrunnen, is car-free, reached only by train, and has kept the calm of a village that closes its shutters early.

## Where lessons start

In Grindelwald the beginner area is Bodmi, at the foot of the First side, a sunny, gentle nursery slope a short walk from the centre. Wengen has a small nursery area at village level and, above it, the wide, easy blues of Männlichen that make an excellent second step. The Jungfrau region works for families and intermediates — the long reds off Kleine Scheidegg are exactly what a confident intermediate wants — and the Lauberhorn piste gives an advanced skier something to measure against, but the low villages mean the runs home are the first to suffer in a mild winter.

## Getting there

Everything runs through Interlaken, about two hours from Zurich and Geneva by train and an hour from Bern. From Interlaken Ost, Grindelwald is around 35 minutes by train, and the station is next to the Eiger Express terminal, which has a large car park for anyone driving. Wengen has no road at all: leave the car at Lauterbrunnen and take the cogwheel train, fifteen minutes up the cliff. Luggage travels on a trolley from the station to your hotel, so pack accordingly.

## Resort areas

- Kleine Scheidegg / Männlichen
- First

## Instructors at Grindelwald-Wengen

_No instructors have joined here yet._

## Qualifications required in Switzerland

Teaching for payment in Switzerland requires the Snowsports instructor diploma, issued by Swiss Snowsports.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can I ski the Lauberhorn downhill course?

Most of it, yes: outside race week it is an ordinary marked piste from near the top of the Lauberhorn down to Wengen, and a confident intermediate can enjoy it at a sensible speed. The sections that make the race famous — the Hundschopf jump and the narrow Wasserstation railway underpass — are on the course, and they look very different at 30 km/h than at 140. The one week it is closed to the public is the one in January when the World Cup is in town, which is also the best week to be there as a spectator.

### Grindelwald or Wengen as a base?

Grindelwald for convenience and choice: more hotels, more restaurants, the Eiger Express, the First sector on its doorstep and easy access by car. Wengen for atmosphere: car-free, quieter, with the Männlichen cable car and the train to Kleine Scheidegg from the village, and the Lauberhorn piste finishing at your door. Families with young children tend to prefer Wengen for the lack of traffic; anyone who wants to move between sectors easily will prefer Grindelwald.