We had an early wake-up on Thursday to catch our first train of five for the day that would take us from Bruges, Belgium to Grindelwald, Switzerland in the Bernese Alps. Today was proof that travel isn’t always easy, and we were thankful that none of our trains were delayed causing us to miss subsequent connections.
| Bruges | 05:52 | Bruxelles-Midi | 06:52 |
| Bruxelles-Midi | 07:17 | Strasbourg | 11:05 |
| Strasbourg | 11:51 (We were able to get on an earlier train at 11:21) | Basel Sbb | 13:08 (Arrived 30 minutes earlier) |
| Basel Sbb | 13:20 | Interlaken Ost | 15:20 |
| Interlaken Ost | 15:34 | Grindelwald Terminal | 16:04 |
On our train to Basel, there was some commotion at the stop before ours when two men took another U.S. couple’s luggage that had been stored in the luggage compartment by the doors. It was a good reminder for us to always be mindful of our belongings, especially since we are traveling with so many bags on this trip. These thieves were clearly professionals and had it worked out so that they stole the luggage as the train was leaving the last stop in France before reaching Basel in the more rule-bound Switzerland and neither the French authorities in either station or any of the fellow passengers seemed interested in helping.
Thankfully, we didn’t have to haul our luggage too far once we exited at Terminal station in Grindelwald because our hotel was located next to it right by the Lütschine River. We stayed in the new wing of the hotel (“Chic”), and we enjoyed the floor to ceiling window with a balcony facing the infamous North Face of the Eiger. After our long day of travel, we opted to keep it simple for dinner tonight, so we just ate at the rooftop patio of the hotel’s Grill and Bar.
Later, Kurt went out for a walk to the center of town to explore the area and to get his bearings for the weekend. We noticed as we were leaving the Terminal station that there were a lot of non-athletes, particularly Asian tourists, who were taking the narrow-gauge cogwheel railway higher up in the valley and likely to the Jungfraujoch, the highest train station in Europe at 3454m (11,333ft), also known as the “top of Europe” (to Kurt’s surprise, I did not insist on taking this train once I was confronted with the exorbitant cost!). The Asians who were staying overnight dressed in normal clothes stood out in the town among all the Eiger participants and outdoor adventurists in their athletic gear.
Yes, we also came here for the Eiger Ultra Trail race this weekend. After hearing how beloved this race is among the UTMB race community, I was fortunate to snag us a bib for the “baby race,” E16, held on Saturday (Distance 16k, Elevation Gain 950 M+). The race sells out quickly each year, and I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night when at home to sign up when the race opened at the local Swiss morning time. So, I was lucky that there was still space available a few hours later!
We did our shake out runs separately in the late morning on Friday. By then, it was very warm with full sun. I opted for a road route next to the river on bike path 61 to Schwendi, while Kurt went in search of dirt and found himself on a steep, paved path through the pastures in the valley to the edge of the forest where he came upon the Trail Surprise course at about 10 or 11k.
Then, we walked UP to the village from where our hotel is located on the river in search of lunch. Unfortunately, the restaurant that I had researched for gluten-free pizza wasn’t open until later for dinner. So, we ended up having lunch outside at Barry’s before picking up our race packs in the curling hall of the Sports Center, shopping for race merch at the Expo outside, and previewing the red carpet finish line awaiting us tomorrow!
We relaxed at the hotel for the rest of the afternoon before heading back to the village for our free pasta dinner provided by the race (they even had gluten-free pasta available!). Having already made the steep uphill walk from our hotel once today, this time we took the bus to the village (timing is critical with only 1-2 buses per hour). Every guest who stays overnight in Grindelwald and pays the visitor’s tax receives a card for free local bus rides (lines 121, 122, 123 only) and area discounts.
Not surprisingly, we took the bus up to the village the next morning as well to avoid adding a bonus climb before the race. I watched Kurt start in the first wave at 9am before my wave started thirty minutes later. One of the perks of running the shorter distance was that we didn’t have a lot of mandatory gear to carry unlike the longer distance races. We each carried water in a hydration pack and had our trekking poles, although Kurt didn’t find it necessary to use his on the course.
It was a warm day with temperatures around 24-26 degrees Celsius when I finished, but I coped with the weather better than expected. There were four aid stations on the course; they only had water except for the one at Bort where I was able to get some electrolyte drink. I really tried to keep my heart rate under control when climbing, and I didn’t redline like at UTMB ETC last summer. I surprised myself that I was able to run whenever the terrain allowed; the trail generally wasn’t technical and the ascent wasn’t too steep. I didn’t like the first part of the descent through steep grass though and I had to let others pass, but then when the descent opened up to gravel or pavement I was able to overtake them all again (I passed 44 people after Bort at 9.7km). When I went through 5k in under an hour, that took the pressure off for making the 4-hour cutoff (which was my only goal besides not injuring myself). Then, at around 10k, I realized I had a chance to finish in under 3 hours, so I made that my focus (actual race distance was about 16.3km). Mission accomplished! After collecting my finisher shirt and finisher medal (each one is unique and made of a stone collected by hand from the base of the Eiger mountain itself), I grabbed some coke from the finisher aid station and reunited with Kurt to hear about his race experience.
Kurt said he ran most of the first mile and walked the majority of the uphill portion after that (though it mostly wasn’t as steep as the path he did the day before). He noticed a few spots to watch his footing and be careful going too fast which required using quads to slow down a bit going downhill, but he was able to open up his stride some and pass a few dozen people in the last downhill portion without getting passed by anyone. He enjoyed the beautiful scenery and mostly easy, wide trail with a few bridge crossings and found it very runnable on flat/downhill sections. He finished in 2 hours overall which wasn’t too bad, but thought he could probably go faster with some altitude acclimation, uphill running practice, and knowledge of the course. He still managed to place as the 3rd American overall!
We hung out for a while under the shade of the race tents where people were eating, drinking, and swapping race stories before making our way back down to the river. We stopped for pizza at a restaurant by the train station near our hotel then rested at the hotel in afternoon. While we were having lunch, we had a view of the area across the river and we could see 50K participants on the final downhill from the base of the Eiger, before having to make the final cruel climb up to the finish line in the village.
Later, we went in search of inexpensive food options nearby for dinner, and we ended up at the Coop market inside the Terminal and found 50% off fresh pre-packaged meals (that’s a win at Swiss prices!).
Kurt woke up on Sunday morning to find that he was doing the “walk of pride” from “bombing the downhill” during the race yesterday. Oh, my quads! We had a leisurely morning, although we were closely watching the weather ahead of our rafting trip planned for later in the afternoon. Thunderstorms were predicted, but thankfully the rain held out until the last 2k on the river.
We took the train from Grindelwald to Wilderswil (9.40 CHF/per person each way) where we were picked up by our Outdoor raft guide, Hamish (from New Zealand), who just so happened to be roommates here with our trip leader from our Nepal rafting trip last year, Stan. We were transported to the rafting base where we got geared up in a wetsuit, jacket, and boots so that we would be prepared for the 45-degree water temperature of the glacial river. Then, we all hopped in the van for the ride to the put in location at Lütschental.
The mighty Lütschine offers some of the best whitewater rafting in the Swiss Alps. Straight from the start below the Eiger north face, continuous class III-IV rapids surge down from the mountains and out into the Interlaken valley and the Lake of Brienz. We had one portage around a rapid that is illegal to run just after where the “Black Lütschine” and “White Lütschine” meet, then we hopped back in the rafts for the biggest rapid of the trip after that. Our guide called quite a few “get down” commands, which I think we would have paddled through on BioBio rafting trips. But, we all stayed in the boat, so that’s all that really matters, I guess. We paddled into Brienzersee where we were able to get out of the raft once we were near the dock and then swim to exit.
Eager to warm up and take advantage of the local mountain cuisine, we had fondue for dinner at the restaurant near Grund again. Then, I was able to do laundry at the hotel (which I wasn’t expecting to be able to do here, so this was a bonus) by purchasing tokens with a credit card from the front desk for 5 CHF/wash and dry. This turned into a late night waiting for the laundry to dry and then starting to pack up for our departure tomorrow.
As I was checking out of the hotel, I happened to overhear that the hotel had already blocked out rooms for the race weekend next year for one of the tour operators that had a group staying there this year as well. So, this motivated me to keep close watch on available lodging once the 2025 race dates are confirmed should we decide to come back next year and step up in distance!