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Snow’n’Rail 2010/11

The Swiss Railways have published their Snow’n’Rail prices for 2010/2011. Here is a summary of the prices for a single day rail and lift combined, assuming you have a half-price railcard.

Resort Region Slopes (km) Runs Via (typically) Basel Zürich
Adelboden-Lenk BE 210 72 Adelboden, Post 100.40 106.00
Flumserberg BE 65 16 Unterterzen 95.20 73.60
Gstaad Mountain Rides BE 250 58 Zweisimmen 100.00 105.60
Meiringen-Hasliberg BE 60 16 Brünig-Hasliberg 81.60 74.40
Obertoggenburg BE 60 17 Wildhaus, Post 92.40 70.80
Region Jungfrau BE 213 45 Lauterbrunnen 100.20 107.40
Braunwald CS 32 9 80.00 59.20
Engelberg-Titlis CS 82 25 90.00 82.00
Gotthard Oberalp Arena CS 125 20 Göschenen 89.60 72.80
High-Ybrig CS 50 12 Hoch-Ybrig Weglosen 84.40 62.60
Klewenalp Stockhütte CS 40 13 Beckenried 70.40 64.00
Melchsee-Frutt CS 32 10 74.60 68.20
Pizol CS 40 11 Bad Ragaz 86.40 66.40
San Bernardino CS 40 8 110.40 90.40
Sorenberg CS 53 17 78.60 73.00
Stoos CS 35 8 Schlattli funicular 78.60 59.40
Arosa GR 100 13 104.00 86.40
Davos Klosters GR 305 52 Davos Platz 113.60 96.00
Engadine St. Moritz GR 350 56 St. Moritz Bad, Post 133.60 118.40
Flims Laax Falera GR 220 28 Laax, Bergbahnen 117.00 97.00
Lenzerheide GR 155 37 Canols, Rothornbahn 110.40 90.40
Motta Naluns, Scuol-Sent-Ftan GR 80 14 108.80 93.60
Splügen GR 30 6 106.60 88.20
Airolo TI 30 6 84.80 67.20
Nara TI 30 7 93.00 76.20
Aletsch Arena VS 104 35 Valley Stations 114.00 117.20
Belalp-Blatten VS 60 9 107.20 110.40
Crans-Montana VS 140 24 124.80 130.40
Lauchernalp / Lötschental VS 33 7 98.60 104.20
Leukerbad VS 50 9 115.40 117.80
Nendaz VS 220 49 118.00 124.40
Portes du Soleil VS 650 196 Champéry 115.40 121.80
Saas-Fee/Saastal VS 150 38 Saas-Fee, Busterminal 133.00 136.20
Sierre-Anniviers VS 220 45 117.60 123.20
Verbier VS 181 34 Le Châble 116.40 122.80
Visp VS 90 25 Unterbäch 100.80 106.40
Zermatt & Cervinia VS 350 57 156.20 159.40
Alpes Vaudoises VD 225 72 Les Diablerets 113.00 119.40

The ski area at Verbier and Nendaz is bigger, but the price quoted is only for the resort, not the ski region. To have access to the full Four Valleys area (and for the Saastal and Cervinia regions from Saas-Fee and Zermatt respectively) make sure you request the full region pass.

The English-language online site is at http://railaway.rail.ch/english/snow-n-rail/, but note a lot of the resorts are not available online in English – you’ll need to switch to German, French or Italian for some of them (and for prices from Ticino and Romande). You can get Snow’n’Rail from most stations in Switzerland, and you can even buy them at the ticket machines (in English) – but remember to pick up both the ticket and the voucher for the ski pass!

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UK Flights to Switzerland 2010/2011

In addition to BA, Easyjet and Swiss into Basel, Zurich and Geneva, and BMI to Geneva and Zurich, there are a number of other operators with scheduled flights into Switzerland from the UK.

Snowjet have direct flights from London Stansted to Sion on weekends, providing the fastest route into the skiing areas of Valais and Vaud. In less than an hour from landing you can be in Verbier, Crans Montana, Villars, Nendaz, Veysonnaz, Thyon, Anzère, Grimentz, Zinal and a bunch of other resorts. The airport is particularly convenient for the largely undiscovered gems of Val D’Annivers. Les Portes du Soleil, Saas-Fee and Zermatt are not much further afield so it is entirely feasible to take in several of the best ski resorts in the world during a week’s vacation. Snowjet’s flights from London to Sion include free bus transfers between Sion airport and Sion bus/train station – from where ALL of Valais and Vaud’s resorts can be reached by public transport.

In addition to flights from Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Belfast and East Midlands, Jet2 is launching 2 new routes this winter from Edinburgh and Newcastle to Geneva, convenient for linking to the Snowtrain and other scheduled train services which run right out of Geneva Airport into Valais and Vaud.

Flybe have scheduled flights to Geneva from Exeter, Isle of Man, Jersey and Southampton and will have scheduled flights from Southampton to Bern from 12th February, 2011. Bern is very convenient for Adelboden, Lenk, Gstaad and surrounding resorts and the Jungfrau (Wengen, Mürren and Grindelwald), but it is also a practical option for Zermatt and other resorts in East Valais. There is a bus service from the airport  linking into the Swiss rail network.

Most airlines will charge you for carrying skis and snowboards, although some will allow you to include them in your allowance. Generally reckon on around 30 to 50 pounds of additional charges unless you get very creative. Swiss carries skis and boards for free, and you can also arrange to have your kit forwarded to any rail station in Switzerland if you send it in advance.

Remember for onward rail and bus travel to a resort from the airport the Swiss Transfer Ticket offers great value at 79 pounds, but must be purchased in advance.

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Take the Snow Train!

Every Saturday, from 29th January till 19th March 2011 a Snowtrain will be operating from Geneva Airport through Valais. With a 79 pound Swiss Transfer Ticket that means you can easily get a connecting train to the Portes du Soleil, Verbier  and Zermatt, but with a little imagination some of the more exotic and less well-known resorts are easily reachable by connecting services – such as Leysin, Les Diablerets, Leukerbad, Nendaz, the Aletsch Arena, Crans-Montana, Lötschental, Grächen, Evolène, Anzers, Belalp and the outstanding Val D’Annivers (Chandolin, St-Luc, Grimentz, Vercorin and Zinal). The Transfer Ticket is also good for the bus as well as the train, and bus transfers are almost as easy as a train transfer.

The outward and return timetable for the Snow Train are:

Geneva Airport 13.40 Brig 09.51
Aigle 15.00 Visp 10.00
Martigny 15.15 Leuk no stop
Sion 15.30 Sierre 10.16
Sierre 15.40 Sion 10.27
Leuk 15.50 Martigny 10.41
Visp 16.00 Aigle 10.59
Brig 16.15 Geneva Airport 12.27

The Snow Train is not the only way to get to the Swiss Alps and the regular train and bus services all have stowage points for skis and boards.  Saas-Fee and Zermatt are already open for an early season break and can be accessed almost equally easily from Zurich and Geneva airports and the Paris TGV at Basel or Lausanne.

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Winter Tourism in Switzerland

Tourism in Switzerland stretches back to the early 19th century, when the once forbidding mountains of the Alps became seen as embodiments of a natural order and attracted literary figures from Europe and the Americas. Byron, Shelley, Dickens, Conan Doyle, Twain and many others found beauty and majesty in the landscape, and after them came those who would conquer the mountains, enjoy the summer scenery or recuperate in one of the Alpine spa towns. One enterprising St Moritz hotelier wagered some English summer tourists that they would enjoy the winter too, and they did, and sparked an increasing interest in winter tourism amongst the well heeled English middle classes. In adapting Nordic ski techniques, organizing competitions and convincing the railway companies to keep their cog railways running through the winter months, the English laid the foundations of the modern winter sports industry, although the Swiss also proved to be enterprising and extremely capable hosts.  Davos, St Moritz, Arosa, Leysin, Adelboden and the Jungfrau region were by the turn of the twentieth century well-established destinations for winter tourists.

Switzerland has the longest established and one of the most successful winter tourism industries in the world. It is also meticulously documented, and in July the review of the 2009 year in tourism, “Schweizer Tourismus in Zahlen”, was published by the STV, Switzerland’s Tourism Federation.

Tourism accounts for around 5% of Swiss export revenue, around 15 billion Swiss Francs in 2009. During the 2008-9 winter season, of a total 15.8 million overnight stays in the country, roughly 6.9 million were by Swiss, 2.8 million were by Germans, 1 million by people from the UK, 0.7m by French and half a million each by Americans, Dutch and Italians. Belgians, Russians and Nordics also spend more than a quarter of a million nights in the country.

Although overall more visitors come to Switzerland in the summer than the winter, the British come more in the winter. The most popular destinations throughout the year were (in order of number of overnight stays in hotels):

  1. Zurich (11871 beds)
  2. Geneva (10230 beds)
  3. Zermatt (6040 beds)
  4. Lucerne (5577 beds)
  5. Basel (5662 beds)
  6. Davos (5334 beds)
  7. St. Moritz (4196 beds)
  8. Lausanne (3869 beds)
  9. Bern (3516 beds)
  10. Interlaken (3084 beds)
  11. Lugano (2889 beds)
  12. Grindelwald (2949 beds)
  13. Arosa (2867 beds)

It is indicative of how important the tourist industry is that Zermatt attracts more visitors than Basel, a major international centre for exhibitions and the pharmaceutical industry, and Davos and St Moritz more than the capital, Bern.

The destinations which achieved the Families Welcome designation for  2009–2012 were: Diemtigtal, Haslital with Hasliberg and Meiringen, Lenk Simmental, Arosa, Brigels, Davos Klosters, Flims, Laax, Falera, Trin, Sagogn, Lenzerheide, Maloja, Savognin, Schwarzsee, Braunwald-Klausenpass, Toggenburg, Triesenberg Malbun Steg, Villars with Gryon, Bex, Aletsch Arena with Bettmeralp, Fiesch, Eggishorn and Riederalp Mörel, Bellwald, Crans-Montana, Grächen, Leukerbad, Nendaz, Saas-Fee/Saastal and Engelberg-Titlis.

The corresponding award for wellness resorts went to Bad Zurzach, Charmey, Scuol, Gstaad Saanenland , Leukerbad, Baden, and Weggis Vitznau Rigi.

The proportion of pistes with snow-making in 2008-9 made up over a third of the total, a trebling in only 5 years and a demonstration of how much the Swiss are increasingly investing in their winter sports infrastructure. Total skier days for the season numbered almost 35 million.

Around 180 Swiss ski and snowboard schools provided over 2 million lessons over the course of the season, Graubünden and Valais making up roughly two thirds of this number.