Lauterbrunnen in Winter: Skiing, Sledging and What Shuts Down

Trümmelbach Falls Is Shut

Trümmelbach Falls is open only from the beginning of April to the beginning of November. Through the winter months it is fully closed. The ten glacier waterfalls inside the mountain run as a trickle under ice in the coldest months, and in most winters you cannot see them at all.

The tunnels, walkways and lifts inside the rock are shut and unlit. There is no winter visiting option, so do not build a cold-season itinerary around it. The falls carry meltwater from Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, and that melt simply does not arrive until spring.

Treat Trümmelbach as a reason to come back between April and November rather than a winter disappointment. Our Trümmelbach Falls page covers the season, the entry fees and the postbus ride up the valley for a warm-season visit. Everything else you might want in winter, from skiing to sledging to mountain restaurants, runs on a separate calendar and is covered below.

The Trains and Cableways Keep Going

Almost everything that moves people in this valley keeps moving through winter. The Berner Oberland Bahn trains reach Lauterbrunnen as normal. The Wengernalpbahn rack railway climbs from the valley station to Wengen and on to Kleine Scheidegg.

The cableways to Mürren, to the Schilthorn and to the Jungfraujoch all run through the winter months, subject to the same weather rules as any season, so wind or heavy snow can slow or stop them on a given day. The Jungfraujoch fare starts at US$157.50 (CHF 129.60) and the Schilthorn return from Stechelberg starts at US$139.70 (CHF 115), the same as in any season. If you want the summit trip, our Jungfraujoch page and Schilthorn page explain both, and you can secure the Schilthorn ascent in advance with the Schilthorn Piz Gloria ticket or ride the highest station in Europe with the Jungfraujoch Top of Europe ticket.

For how it all connects, see getting around Lauterbrunnen.

The Day Pass and the Three Areas

The Jungfrau Ski Region is the single lift ticket that covers skiing here. An adult one-day pass costs US$96.00 (CHF 79) in low season and US$100.90 (CHF 83) in high season for the 2026/2027 season, which runs 1 December 2026 to 30 April 2027. Before December, only weekend or partial operation is possible, depending on snow, so early-season skiers should check what is actually turning before they travel.

The region covers 211 km of pistes split across three areas. Grindelwald-Wengen takes in Kleine Scheidegg, the Lauberhorn and Männlichen. Grindelwald-First sits above Grindelwald on the other side of the Eiger.

Mürren-Schilthorn hangs on the cliff edge above the Lauterbrunnen valley itself. The link to this valley is direct. Wengen and Mürren, the two car-free villages above the valley floor, sit inside the Grindelwald-Wengen and Mürren-Schilthorn areas respectively, so you can sleep in the valley, ride up and be on the pistes in the morning.

Read more in our Wengen and Mürren guides.

The Unlimited Winter Pass

If you are skiing most days of a longer stay, look at the Unlimited Jungfrau Winter Pass. It costs from US$484.90 (CHF 399) and runs 1 December 2026 to 30 April 2027 for unlimited use of the region's lifts. The maths is simple against the day pass.

At the low-season rate, six days of single-day tickets already cost more than the unlimited pass, so any stay of roughly a week on the snow comes out ahead. At the high-season rate the break-even comes sooner still. The pass also removes the daily decision about which lift ticket to buy, which matters when you mix ski days with a sledging or sightseeing day.

For a broader ticket that combines trains, cableways and boats across several days of a summer or mixed itinerary, compare it with the Jungfrau Travel Pass, which works differently and suits visitors who move around more.

The Hiking and Sledging Pass

You do not need skis to use the lifts in winter. The Jungfrau Region Winter Hiking and Sledging Pass covers groomed winter hiking trails and sledging runs across the region, with lifts included. The adult pass runs 21 November 2026 to 25 April 2027.

A peak-season surcharge applies from 19 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 and again from 30 January to 28 February 2027, which are the weeks around the holidays and the peak February half-term period. Prices fall per day as you buy more days, so a week on the pass costs noticeably less per day than a single day ticket. The table below shows the full adult price ladder, standard and peak, in both currencies.

If you are planning a mixed trip of ski days and sledging days, price both passes against your actual day count before you commit, because the two are sold separately.

Allmendhubel: Sledging and Fondue

The Mürren-Schilthorn side has its own winter programme on Schilthornbahn's books. The operator lists ski slopes including what it calls the steepest ski slope, the Pända Snowpark, a slalom race course, Lilly's magic Kidsslope for children, winter hiking trails, a toboggan safari, a ski school, a Lantern Trail and the Schlittel- und Fondueplausch Allmendhubel, a sledging-and-fondue evening at Allmendhubel, which sits at 1,907 m above Mürren. It is a genuine evening plan: sledge down, then eat.

One honest gap. No official page we could read states the sledging route's length in kilometres, its difficulty grade or a sled rental price, so you cannot compare runs on paper before you go. If you want the whole thing arranged, the sunset sledding and fondue tour is a bookable four-hour version with sled, guide, transport and fondue included, running from the Interlaken side.

Our Allmendhubel page covers the funicular, and Mürren covers the village it hangs above.

Racing Weekend in Wengen

The single biggest date on this valley's winter calendar is the 97th International Lauberhorn Races, held in Wengen from 15 to 17 January 2027. The format runs super-G on the Friday, the famous downhill on the Saturday and the slalom on the Sunday. Tickets go on sale online from 2 November 2026.

The consequence for visitors is simple. This is the week Wengen is busiest and hardest to book. Rooms fill months ahead, prices rise and the village, which is car-free and reached only by the Wengernalpbahn railway, gets crowded in a way it never is the rest of the winter.

Two strategies work. Book Wengen accommodation and race tickets as soon as they go on sale in November if you want to be in the middle of it. Or deliberately travel in the weeks either side, when the pistes are the same, the lifts are quieter and beds are easier to find.

Our Wengen page covers the village, and the best time to visit Lauterbrunnen page puts race week in the wider calendar.