WINTER NEWS from Mürren, The Home of Ski Racing

WINTER NEWS from Mürren, The Home of Ski Racing

Mürren’s status as the birthplace of Alpine ski racing in the years following the first world war is reflected in a succession of centenary celebrations in the car-free village at the heart of Switzerland’s beautiful Jungfrau Region. After last winter’s commemoration of 100 years of the Slalom, Mürren is bracing itself for the big birthday bash of the Ladies’ Ski Club, which was founded in the Palace Hotel in January 1923. The LSC will mark the occasion on 23 January with a costumed Slalom race – all ladies welcome – and a reception at the Mürren Tourist Office. The following days will see a celebration dinner at the Hotel Eiger and a brunch in the revolving Piz Gloria restaurant at the top of the Schilthorn (2970m).

In the best tradition of intrepid lady explorers and mountaineers of the Victorian era, British women blazed a ski trail for their European sisters to follow. The LSC was the world’s first ski club for women, and the first Ladies’ World Champion in Alpine skiing was an LSC member, Esmé Mackinnon, who won all three races at Mürren in February 1931. Current LSC members include Beijing Olympian Charlie Guest and Jasmin Taylor, winner of seven World Cup races and 40 podium placings in a stellar telemark racing career. https://www.ladiesskiclub.org/

The LSC anniversary celebrations will follow Mürren’s annual festival of amateur races (January 18 – 21), which climax with the mass-participation Inferno downhill and its famously wild after-party, returning after last winter’s covid-restricted event. A peaceful bolthole for the rest of the season, the small village has lost none of its family-friendly charm. The beauty of its setting opposite the three giants of the Bernese Oberland – Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau – draws visitors from across the globe, including a growing following of instagrammers who queue up to pose on a tree stump in the village centre, one of the most instagrammed spots in the world.

At 1650m Mürren is the highest ski resort in the Bernese Oberland with a long winter season that extends into May: certain slopes are already open at weekends, thanks to the innovative snow-farming resource. Crowning its 51km of uncrowded pistes, the thrilling black run from the Schilthorn summit is a box for every keen skier to tick. In addition to the revolving Piz Gloria restaurant, which played a starring role in the 1969 Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the slopes are well supplied with cosy huts for good food and sensational views. On-slope attractions include a terrific snowpark, a ski-cross track and a timed slalom course. With big off-piste runs for the adventurous, Mürren connects via lift and piste with Wengen and Grindelwald’s ski areas, offering a combined total of 213km of piste across the Jungfrau region under one lift pass.

If the village has retained its old-world character, Mürren’s facilities have kept pace with the advance of technology. Work has begun on the Schilthornbahn’s ambitious 20XX project whereby the world’s steepest cable-car will cut the ascent from Stechelberg (900m) to the Schilthorn (2970m) via Mürren from four stages to three, reducing travel time from valley floor to summit from 32 minutes to 22 and doubling capacity from 400 to 800 passengers/hour. More information: www.schilthornbahn20xx.ch

The Alpine Sports Centre is an invaluable resource, with an Olympic-size pool and outdoor Jacuzzi, a large sports hall, Alpine spa and fitness suite, outdoor ice rink, covered curling rink, and organic café. A new addition this year is Mürren’s virtual reality snowball fighting game for teams of up to 4 players (suitable for everyone over the age of 6 years): a 15-minute battle in a virtual winter wonderland, playable every day in the Sports Centre (www.muerren.swiss/vr).

Winter Highlights include:
18-21 January: 79th International Inferno Ski Races
4-5 March: Whitestyle Open Weekend – Big Air Event and slopestyle contest
20-26 March: FIS Telemark World Championships
17-22 April: The Nines Grauseeli Birg – world class spectacle of freeskiers and boarders
5-8 May: Telemark Only Festival – Schilthorn open exclusively for telemarkers

Book accommodation via: www.muerren.swiss / for details about activities around the Schilthorn, visit: www.schilthorn.ch

Rugged Hank

Education Technology Day must be extended to prisons

Education Technology Day must be extended to prisons

Typically thought of as being an easy to clean area of the home, hard floors have risen in popularity in recent decades. Globally, hard floors are the most common floor type,2 and research released today by Dyson has uncovered poor cleaning habits that mean hard floors are likely to be harbouring an array of hidden nasties. This comes as 32% of Brits – equating to 21.6 million people in the UK – will use the same dirty mop head for six months or more before replacing it. What’s more, one in 20 also admit to keeping the same mop for a year or longer, and one in 10 think it is acceptable to use the same mop 100 times, spreading dirt around their floors every time they use it. Cross contamination is a primary issue for most common and traditional mopping methods with germs and bacteria further being unknowingly spread around homes as Brits use dirty water to clean floors.3 45% only change the water to new water between rooms, whereas 41% wait even longer until it looks dirty. This could mean that floors are being washed with dirty water, adding more dirt rather than taking it away. Surprisingly, almost one in 10 (9%) even admit to not changing the dirty water at all when mopping. Over a quarter (28%) admit to mopping their floors once a fortnight or less while over half (53%) admit they don’t regularly clean behind appliances and leave dirt to build up for as long as six months at a time. image002.jpg On how to achieve a perfect barefoot clean feel after mopping, Geli Lee, Dyson Engineer and Home Cleaning Expert offers their top tips for eliminating dirt around the home: 1. Create a cleaning schedule to stay on top of dirt build-up. In the last year, there has been a 15% global reduction in the number of people who maintain regular cleaning schedules. 47% of the British public admitted to only being motivated to clean when they spot visible dirt or dust.4 Regular floor cleaning with a wet hard floor cleaner like the Dyson WashG1™ removes more stubborn dirt than vacuuming alone. It is important to have a debris free surface, clear any clutter from the floor or other surfaces. Choose the right machine: Different vacuums are designed for different floor types and home sizes. Some machines will be engineered with hard floors in mind and will struggle on thick pile carpets, for example. Choosing the right machine for your home will make a big difference to the ease and speed with which you’re able to clean your home. Clean your floors ‘little and often’. Washing your floors frequently in areas that receive more foot fall will help to stop dirt building up and getting trodden into your floor. Using a dedicated wet floor cleaner on hard flooring such as the Dyson WashG1 is helpful for this, as the versatile format means it vacuums and washes the floor simultaneously. Cleaning schedules have also become less regimented. In recent years only 41% of people claim to have a regular cleaning schedule, and 60% admit to cleaning reactively; being motivated to clean only when there is visible dirt or dust5. It’s perhaps not surprising, that a fifth of people are still concerned their floors are dirty after they’ve mopped them (22%) and one in four6 feel extremely worried about indoor dust at home. Geli Lee, Dyson Engineer and Home Cleaning Expert reveals why it is important to change the way we mop: “Cleaning your hard floors properly and regularly is important for maintaining a healthy environment around your home. Without a proper cleaning routine, dirt may unknowingly build up and spread around your home. It is evident from our research that current mopping habits mean British households aren’t cleaning their floors as effectively as they should. “From ignoring problem areas where dust and debris build up, cross contamination with dirty water to not replacing mop heads or inconsistent cleaning, current mopping behaviours may be making floors dirtier as opposed to cleaner. Moving away from traditional methods, wet floor cleaners like the Dyson WashG1 simplify the floor cleaning experience and provide a modern efficient and hygienic solution” To help take the guesswork out of mopping, the brand new WashG1 is Dyson’s first dedicated wet floor cleaner that tackles wet and dry debris in one go. Engineered for hygienic cleaning and maintenance, the WashG1 is revolutionising wet floor cleaning, removing the need for multi-products and multi-steps to achieve a barefoot clean feel around the home. To put the product to the test, Dyson have cleaned one of London’s most iconic landmarks The Victoria and Albert Museum. From cleaning the grand marble floors housing the most prestigious exhibits, to cleaning up leftover food in the Gamble Room Cafe, the WashG1 had a dirt busting tour of the museum leaving it spotless. Images can be found here. The WashG1 introduces Dyson’s engineering expertise to cleaning hard floors. With a 1 litre clean-water tank to cover flooring up to 290m2, the Dyson WashG1 uses a combination of hydration, absorption, and extraction technologies to remove wet and dry spills and stains simultaneously. The Dyson WashG1 is available to purchase now from Dyson.co.uk, retailing at £599.99.

Typically thought of as being an easy to clean area of the home, hard floors have risen in popularity in recent decades. Globally, hard floors are the most common floor type,2 and research released today by Dyson has uncovered poor cleaning habits that mean hard floors are likely to be harbouring an array of hidden nasties. This comes as 32% of Brits – equating to 21.6 million people in the UK – will use the same dirty mop head for six months or more before replacing it. What’s more, one in 20 also admit to keeping the same mop for a year or longer, and one in 10 think it is acceptable to use the same mop 100 times, spreading dirt around their floors every time they use it. Cross contamination is a primary issue for most common and traditional mopping methods with germs and bacteria further being unknowingly spread around homes as Brits use dirty water to clean floors.3 45% only change the water to new water between rooms, whereas 41% wait even longer until it looks dirty. This could mean that floors are being washed with dirty water, adding more dirt rather than taking it away. Surprisingly, almost one in 10 (9%) even admit to not changing the dirty water at all when mopping. Over a quarter (28%) admit to mopping their floors once a fortnight or less while over half (53%) admit they don’t regularly clean behind appliances and leave dirt to build up for as long as six months at a time. image002.jpg On how to achieve a perfect barefoot clean feel after mopping, Geli Lee, Dyson Engineer and Home Cleaning Expert offers their top tips for eliminating dirt around the home: 1. Create a cleaning schedule to stay on top of dirt build-up. In the last year, there has been a 15% global reduction in the number of people who maintain regular cleaning schedules. 47% of the British public admitted to only being motivated to clean when they spot visible dirt or dust.4 Regular floor cleaning with a wet hard floor cleaner like the Dyson WashG1™ removes more stubborn dirt than vacuuming alone. It is important to have a debris free surface, clear any clutter from the floor or other surfaces. Choose the right machine: Different vacuums are designed for different floor types and home sizes. Some machines will be engineered with hard floors in mind and will struggle on thick pile carpets, for example. Choosing the right machine for your home will make a big difference to the ease and speed with which you’re able to clean your home. Clean your floors ‘little and often’. Washing your floors frequently in areas that receive more foot fall will help to stop dirt building up and getting trodden into your floor. Using a dedicated wet floor cleaner on hard flooring such as the Dyson WashG1 is helpful for this, as the versatile format means it vacuums and washes the floor simultaneously. Cleaning schedules have also become less regimented. In recent years only 41% of people claim to have a regular cleaning schedule, and 60% admit to cleaning reactively; being motivated to clean only when there is visible dirt or dust5. It’s perhaps not surprising, that a fifth of people are still concerned their floors are dirty after they’ve mopped them (22%) and one in four6 feel extremely worried about indoor dust at home. Geli Lee, Dyson Engineer and Home Cleaning Expert reveals why it is important to change the way we mop: “Cleaning your hard floors properly and regularly is important for maintaining a healthy environment around your home. Without a proper cleaning routine, dirt may unknowingly build up and spread around your home. It is evident from our research that current mopping habits mean British households aren’t cleaning their floors as effectively as they should. “From ignoring problem areas where dust and debris build up, cross contamination with dirty water to not replacing mop heads or inconsistent cleaning, current mopping behaviours may be making floors dirtier as opposed to cleaner. Moving away from traditional methods, wet floor cleaners like the Dyson WashG1 simplify the floor cleaning experience and provide a modern efficient and hygienic solution” To help take the guesswork out of mopping, the brand new WashG1 is Dyson’s first dedicated wet floor cleaner that tackles wet and dry debris in one go. Engineered for hygienic cleaning and maintenance, the WashG1 is revolutionising wet floor cleaning, removing the need for multi-products and multi-steps to achieve a barefoot clean feel around the home. To put the product to the test, Dyson have cleaned one of London’s most iconic landmarks The Victoria and Albert Museum. From cleaning the grand marble floors housing the most prestigious exhibits, to cleaning up leftover food in the Gamble Room Cafe, the WashG1 had a dirt busting tour of the museum leaving it spotless. Images can be found here. The WashG1 introduces Dyson’s engineering expertise to cleaning hard floors. With a 1 litre clean-water tank to cover flooring up to 290m2, the Dyson WashG1 uses a combination of hydration, absorption, and extraction technologies to remove wet and dry spills and stains simultaneously. The Dyson WashG1 is available to purchase now from Dyson.co.uk, retailing at £599.99.

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