Best Ski Resorts in Switzerland

 Benefits of Skiing

For some, the first sign of snow means it is time to dig out the wool socks and blankets and go into hibernation. For others, though, it means time to wax those skis and hit the slopes! Skiing is an incredible sport that involves physical, mental, social and emotional aspects of wellness. Often times winter can bring people into a depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.). Skiing combines the great outdoor air with physical activity and some sunshine exposure that many people forget about. Read more about exipure.

The physical aspect is obvious, however many individuals, especially those that have never skied before, may not realize how much brain power goes into the sport. Skiing is a proprioceptive activity. Proprioception is an aspect of fitness that is defined as one’s ability to feel the position of different body parts and the effort that goes into moving them. This is almost defines skiing because skiing involves quite a bit of balance and coordination. There are so many slight movements and positions of your body that you must be conscious of to ski well. The more you ski the more you strengthen your ability to be aware of the movement of your body parts. This is important because proprioception weakens with age so the more you are involved in proprioceptive activities the less it will diminish. Check these ikaria lean belly juice reviews.

Skiing prevents aging in more ways than that though. When you ski you carry the weight of your entire body on your feet. Your knees are the joints that endure that weight and must be able to move quickly despite it, so they are being strengthened when you ski. Great news for those that have been skiing for many years; you’ve been strengthening those joints and making an injury later in life less likely the whole time. In addition to strengthening your knees your bones become stronger as well because skiing is a weight bearing activity. So not only are you having a fantastic time gliding down the slopes, but you are preventing knee damage, osteoporosis and increasing your proprioceptive strength. Skiing is also a great way to get some moderate aerobic activity into your day. For most people, skiing is an all day event, so you can imagine the workout your heart is getting without you even becoming winded. This is how phenq works.

It is hardly necessary to mention the social aspect of skiing, but I will for that sake of those that have never been. Waking up at the crack of down to drive an hour or two to spend a day in the freezing cold may not seem appealing to a “winter hibernator.” Add a whole group of close friends that all share the same love for skiing, and you’ve got one heck of a good day. What is unique about skiing is that it brings together people of all different ages and cultures. All over the world if there are mountains and snow, there will be people skiing.  So not only do you have a great group of people having a fantastic time; you’ve got a motivational team that encourages you to get off the couch in the winter and get your heart pumping all day! Try something new this winter instead of being miserable when the first snow falls. If you are already an avid skier, bring someone that isn’t and show them how much fun they are missing!

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The Cutest Village Ski Resorts

Zermatt
The Daily Telegraph has just identified what it thinks are the 15 cutest village ski resorts, and I have to disagree with their choice. For instance, Zermatt “cute”? Hardly. Car-free, rocking, beautiful, busy… but cute? And hardly a village. In my opinion most of the cutest villages have limited pistes and antiquated lifts – which is maybe how they tend to stay cute.

Anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s my list of villages in Switzerland that are both cute and have access to plenty of the white stuff, in no particular order (click on the links for more info):

Adelboden
Adelboden
Gstaad
Gstaad
Mürren
Muerren
Wengen
Wengen
Andermatt
Andermatt
Stoos
Stoos
Briel (Brigels)
Brigels
Celerina
Celerina
Klosters
Klosters
Lenzerheide
Lenzerheide
Pontresina
Pontresina
Samnaun
Samnaun
Silvaplana
Silvaplana
Les Diablerets
Les Diablerets
Champéry
Champery
Saas-Fee
Saas-Fee
St Luc/Chandolin
St Luc
Grimentz
Grimentz

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Green Skiing and Snowboarding

On the face of it hurtling down a mountain amidst all of it’s natural splendour under your own power appears to be making the most of the environment. It isn’t. Getting there has had an environmental impact. According to SnowCarbon a typical round trip to the Alps from London by plane produces around 180kg of CO2 per person, whilst an average car will produce 450kg of CO2. The round trip by rail, in contrast, would produce only 20kg of CO2 per person.

Here are the climate impact per passenger kilometre in grammes of CO2 for various means of travel as reported by the Swiss Public Transport Association and TimeforaChange: long distance rail 7, regional rail 13, motor coach 53, regional bus 107, passenger car 187, air 375.

Snow Carbon provide rail-based holidays to a number of Swiss Resorts. Ski Freshtracks from the Ski Club of Great Britain offer environmentally-friendly holiday options, and Crystal, include an optional carbon offset fee to make their flights carbon-neutral. Responsible Travel provide a large number of eco-friendly holidays, including winter sports in Switzerland.

There are also some eco-friendly places to stay once you get to the resorts. Perhaps the best example is Whitepod above Villars.

In the resort itself there is much that can be done to reduce the environmental impact. Put plastic bottles in PET waste rather than regular waste, use recycle facilities wherever possible and avoid littering the slopes.  Thomas Allement, project leader of the Summit Foundation, quoted in SwissInfo said of the areas around the bottom of ski lifts: “You can find up to 30,000 cigarette ends at such places… and when you know that depending on where each one is it can pollute up to 500 litres of water, you can imagine the impact that has. And remember they can find their way into the intestines of fish, cows etc., it’s a whole ecosystem that’s affected.”.

Many parts of Switzerland, such as Lenzerheide and Engelberg, have resisted pressure to create “mega resorts” because of environmental concerns.  And many resorts have adopted environmental measures to reduce the environmental impact of tourism. The Ski Club of Great Britain publishes a register, provided by SaveourSnow, of many resorts and their environmental credentials. In summary, based on a checklist of recycling, green power user, traffic reduction, sewage properly managed, climate policy and green building policy, these are the ratings of Swiss resorts in the register:

Arosa 6
Davos 6
Flims 6
Laax 6
Saas Fee 6
Adelboden 5
Grindelwald 5
Verbier 5
Crans Montana 4
Engelberg 4
Lenzerheide 4
Murren 4
St Moritz 4
Wengen 4
Gstaad 3
Les Diablerets 3
Villars 3
Zermatt 3
Leysin 2
Chateau d’Oex 1
Kandersteg 1
Klosters 1

It’s a very rough guide to environmental measures and I recommend you sign up to the Ski Club or SaveourSnow to find out more. Summit Riders  also provides a guide  to the environmental policies of Swiss resorts here.

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Largest Areas of Piste

Region Area      Top (m)  Piste (km)
Valais & Vaud Les Portes du Soleil 2500 650
Graübunden Davos-Klosters 2844 427
Valais & Vaud Verbier – Les quatre vallées 3330 410
Graübunden Engadin-St. Moritz 3303 350
Valais & Vaud Matterhorn ski paradise 3900 313
Graübunden Lenzerheide-Valbella 2865 310
Bernese Oberland Gstaad Mountain Rides 2971 250
Valais & Vaud Skiregion Aletsch 3118 239
Valais & Vaud Sierre-Anniviers 3025 230
Graübunden Alpenarena 3018 220
Bernese Oberland Jungfrauregion 2970 213
Bernese Oberland Adelboden-Lenk 2330 210
Valais & Vaud Crans Montana 3000 200
Graübunden Silvretta Arena 2900 200
Valais & Vaud Saas Fee 3600 145
Graübunden Disentis-Sedrun 2903 110
Valais & Vaud Leysin 2200 100
Central Switzerland Engelberg Titlis 3020 82
Valais & Vaud Les Diablerets 2971 80
Graübunden Engadin-Scuol 2800 80
Graübunden Savognin 2713 80
Graübunden Brigels 2418 75
Valais & Vaud Villars-Gryon 2200 75
Graübunden Arosa 2653 70
Eastern Switzerland Flumserberg 2222 65
Valais & Vaud Leukerbad 2800 60
Bernese Oberland Alpenregion Meiringen-Hasliberg 2433 60
Eastern Switzerland Toggenburg 2262 60
Central Switzerland Andermatt 2963 55
Central Switzerland Sörenberg 2350 50
Central Switzerland Hoch-Ybrig 1938 50
Valais & Vaud Anzère 2500 40
Eastern Switzerland Pizol 2226 40
Valais & Vaud Lötschental 3111 33
Eastern Switzerland Brauwald 1905 32

Source: http://www.myswitzerland.com

It is worth mentioning that some of the best skiing is off-piste, and increasingly the trend is to provide access to off-piste areas that can be reached by the lift systems, and which are generally safe even without a guide.

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