admin – Page 37 – Alpine Winter Sports

26/10/201127/10/2011

Snow’n’Rail 2011-12

Railaway, from the Swiss National Railways( SBB/CFF/FFS), have published the Snow’n’Rail schedule for 2011-2012. No great surprises, prices are either the same or have risen by a franc or two – although with the strength of the Swiss Franc this now makes Zermatt the most expensive lift pass in the world, so thank goodness for Snow’n’Rail discounted prices! As usual the brochure is published online here, in English, covering most of the featured resorts, but here is a summary of typical prices from Basel and Zürich for an adult for a return train ticket and a one day ski/snowboard pass:

Resort	Slopes (km)	Basel 2011-2	Zürich 2011-2
Adelboden-Lenk	210	101.20	154.40
Airolo	30	84.80	67.20
Aletsch Arena	104	114.00	117.20
Alpes Vaudoises	225	113.80	120.20
Arosa	100	104.00	86.40
Belalp-Blatten	60	108.00	111.20
Braunwald	32	80.00	59.20
Crans-Montana	140	125.00	130.60
Davos Klosters	305	114.40	96.80
Engadine St. Moritz	350	134.40	119.20
Engelberg-Titlis	82	90.00	82.00
Flims Laax Falera	220	117.00	97.00
Flumserberg	65	97.40	75.80
Gotthard Oberalp Arena	125	89.60	72.80
Gstaad Mountain Rides	250	100.00	105.60
High-Ybrig	50	85.20	63.00
Klewenalp Stockhütte	40	70.40	64.00
Lauchernalp / Lötschental	33	98.60	104.20
Lenzerheide	155	110.40	90.40
Leukerbad	50	116.20	118.60
Meiringen-Hasliberg	60	81.60	74.40
Melchsee-Frutt	32	76.20	69.80
Motta Naluns, Scuol-Sent-Ftan	80	109.60	94.40
Nendaz	220	118.80	125.20
Obertoggenburg	60	95.60	74.00
Pizol	40	87.20	67.20
Portes du Soleil	650	112.20	118.60
Region Jungfrau	213	100.20	107.40
Saas-Fee/Saastal	150	133.80	137.00
Sierre-Anniviers	220	116.40	122.00
Sörenberg	53	79.40	73.80
Splügen	30	106.60	88.20
Stoos	35	78.60	59.40
Verbier	181	118.00	124.40
Visp	90	101.60	107.20
Zermatt & Cervinia	350	157.20	160.40

All the resorts provide a two day option, and some a six day option. Tickets are available from most stations, and can be dispensed (in English) from the ticket machines without the need to queue at the counter. Nara and San Bernadino have fallen out of the featured resorts from last year, whilst Grächen only provides a six day pass.

25/10/201128/10/2011

Ski and Snowboard Show, London 2011

The annual Ski and Snowboard Show in London moved from Olympia to Earls Court this year, and it is hard to say whether it was a good move or not. Location-wise it is more convenient, but the recession and unseasonably excellent weather in London seemed to keep the crowds away and I found the whole affair rather muted.

For me it was interesting to see Euroairport take a stand at the exhibition. I ski out of Basel (see here) and do feel it is an excellent gateway to the skiing in Switzerland – you can get a full day on the slopes at nearly every major resort in Switzerland if you are prepared to get up early enough, and you can certainly get two full day’s skiing on a weekend break flying in to Basel from the UK. Interestingly enough, however, Easyjet (for which it is a major destination) do not promote Basel as one of their winter sports airports – maybe that means the shrewd skier or snowboarder can pick up cheaper tickets at busy periods or for late minute breaks.

I didn’t think much of the new gear around. Nothing that rocked my world, anyway. The range of resorts featured was broad with some excellent inforation available on Japanese, North American, French and Italian resorts plus some useful info on some of the lesser known destinations. Austria and Switzerland, however, were noticeable by how little was featured on their resorts. For the Swiss end, the Euroairport stand had some info on the Jungfrau, one stand featured Crans-Montana and there was stand promoting the Brits Snow Festival in Laax, 18th-25th March. Did I miss anything?

There were enough stalls and events going on to make the show worth a visit, but I can’t help but feel that the growth of the Internet is marginalising events like this – tellingly the advice you get after two minutes on many stands is to check out the website for more details.

21/10/201128/10/2011

Early Season Skiing Autumn 2011

The good news is the ski season has already started in Switzerland. Diavolezza near St Moritz and Pontresina opens 22nd October (Corviglia on 26th November), followed by Saas-Fee on 1st November, Davos/Klosters on the 15th November and Zermatt on 26th November. For sure the entire resorts will not be open so early, but the temperatures in Switzerland have fallen recently and new snow is forecast above 2000m from 24th October. At St Moritz the lifts that are open are on Diavolezza, but they will be fitting new panoramic cabins on the Diavolezza cable car so it will close for re-fitting from 26 November until 11 February 2012 – not such a loss as chilly Diavolezza is best as an early or late season outing – but what a fabulous vertical!

In truth, for Zermatt and Saas-Fee, the season never really ends, with glacier skiing available throughout most of the year ahead of the official winter season start dates – both usually have about 20km open. From 29 October 2011 the Vorab Glacier in Laax will be open at weekends, with the resort opening up daily from 3rd December. The snowpark and Dôme skilift will be open at Glacier 3000 near Gstaad and Les Diablerets from 5th November. The glacier on Titlis in Engelberg opened on 1st October, but the lifts will be closed for maintenance from 7th to 25th November. Depending on snow conditions many resorts may open early or have limited opening after the official season start date, but here are those official opening dates for this autumn:

Resort	Start
Engelberg-Titlis	1.10.2011
Engadine St. Moritz	22.10.2011
Saas-Fee/Saastal	1.11.2011
Alpes Vaudoises	5.11.2011
Gstaad Mountain Rides	5.11.2011
Gotthard Oberalp Arena	12.11.2011
Davos Klosters	18.11.2011
Crans-Montana	19.11.2011
Jungfrau Region	19.11.2011
Flumserberg	26.11.2011
Verbier	26.11.2011
Zermatt & Cervinia	26.11.2011
Hoch-Ybrig	1.12.2011
Aletsch Arena	3.12.2011
Arosa	3.12.2011
Flims Laax Falera	3.12.2011
Klewenalp Stockhütte	3.12.2011
Lenzerheide	3.12.2011
Nendaz	8.12.2011
Braunwald	10.12.2011
Motta Naluns, Scuol-Sent-Ftan	10.12.2011
Pizol	10.12.2011
Adelboden-Lenk	17.12.2011
Airolo	17.12.2011
Belalp-Blatten	17.12.2011
Lauchernalp / Lötschental	17.12.2011
Leukerbad	17.12.2011
Meiringen-Hasliberg	17.12.2011
Melchsee-Frutt	17.12.2011
Portes du Soleil	17.12.2011
Sierre-Anniviers	17.12.2011
Sörenberg	17.12.2011
Stoos	17.12.2011
Visp	17.12.2011

Many of the smaller resorts will open around Christmas, weather conditions permitting. For details of what is open today, check out http://snow.myswitzerland.com/wispo.html#

21/10/201121/10/2011

5 Reasons to Visit Verbier

The “On the Snow” website lists five compelling reasons to visit Verbier.

The cite the 400km of accessible and challenging off-piste, the restaurants, the “Verbier Ride” freeride competition on 21st January, and the 10km toboggan run.

I would add that it is a French-speaking resort, handy for folk like me who have better French than Schweizerdeutsch. And the 400 km of on-piste skiing do make it one of the largest groomed ski areas in the world, even if the connections between the component parts leave something to be desired. Verbier is also actually quite cute, although with all the ostentatious wealth and the raucousness on display, many people may choose to stay in family-friendly Nandez or one of the other less expensive satellite communities. The lower slopes can get patchy if the weather is warm or there has not been much snow, yet this is one of the resorts where you can pretty much guarantee good skiing and snowboarding throughout the season, and it is particularly good for early or late season breaks.

The new season was expected to have a number of upgrades take place, but apart from an increased number of snow cannons, the main improvement is the addition of the Mayentzet six-seat chair up to Les Ruinettes.