News – Page 12 – Alpine Winter Sports

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#

19/09/2011

Ski Davos and Klosters for free!

A fabulous deal is on offer for early-season skiers at Davos and Klosters between 18th November and 23rd December, 2011 – a free Jakobshorn and Parsenn Skipass. The catch? You have to stay overnight in a hotel in the resort, that’s all. For each overnight stay you get a free skipass.

You find all hotels which take part in the “skipass gift” campaign at the Davos-Klosters web site and you can book online, via the hotels themselves or at the guest service office (Davos +41 81 415 21 21, Klosters +41 81 410 20 20).

The Jakoshorn ski area at Davos Platz comprises 96km of piste for all abilities between 1540 and 2590m, whilst the Parsenn ski area, which links Davos Dorf with Klosters, has a massive 216km of hugely varied piste between 810 and 2844m. Both areas offer good off-piste opportunity, but over the years there have been a number of fatalities off-piste (including one of Prince Charles’s ski party on the Wang in 1988), so do take a guide. I can’t see the resort runs being open much before Christmas unless we are heading for a cold, snowy late Autumn, but there is still going ot be plenty of good skiing available since much of the skiing in both areas is over 2000m.

Davos and Klosters have a reputation for exclusivity, but both offer a range of budget accommodation, including hostels which are participating in the “skipass gift” campaign. Both are well served by public transport and a new tunnel now makes Davos easier to reach by car. Davos is a bustling, relatively large town, whilst Klosters, although quite extensive, has a cosier, more family-oriented feel.

On 3rd and 4th December 2011 the Parsenn hosts the 2nd Blick Ski Testing event, combining ski activities, music and a party. The test centre is at the Parsenn hut in the Parsenn ski area. Ski instructors from the Klosters Ski School will be available to pass on tips and tricks free of charge.
All leading ski brands will be featured and prices for a 1 or 2-day ski test is CHF 45.

14/07/201114/07/2011

Andermatt Resort Expansion Approved

Swissinfo.com reports that Cantons Uri and Graubünden have approved the expansion at Andermatt proposed by an Egyptian tycoon.

Andermatt proposed development — The new Andermatt development site

Samih Sawiris is investing some $1 billion in the resort, with over 1000 hotel rooms, apartments and villas due to be available by the 2013/14 winter sports season.

The expanded ski area will extend to 100 kilometres of runs and connect Andermatt with Sedrun. Eighteen new ski lifts and cable cars are mooted with key new lifts including connections between:

Andermatt’s new Hotel Chedi to Nätschen
Hospental to Gemsstock
Göschenen to Nätschen-Gütsch

Environmetal concerns have put many other Alpine expansion plans on hold, and there has been some environmental opposition to aspects of Sawiris’s plans, but the economic benefits to the communities either side of the Oberalp Pass swayed the authorities in favour of the plans. The strong franc does not appear to have dented his enthusiasm either with reports from Andermatt Swiss Alps AG that the development is progressing ahead of schedule.

21/06/201121/06/2011

Ernergalen – the resort that won’t be

Those of you, like me, who eagerly awaited the re-opening of Ernergalen in Valais will be disappointed to read Swissinfo report that the plans have been put on hold indefinitely.

Following an advert in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in 2007, which received widespread international publicity, Bruno Prior, a keen British skier and businessman, had brought the ailing resort for just one franc. His company, Summerleaze, committed to extend the 20km of pistes and four lifts between 1,200m to 2,300m near the village of Erlen to create a viable alternative to the larger resorts in Valais. The plans for Ernergalen included a new 800-bed hotel, additional lifts and links to nearby resorts in the area such as Bellwald, Aletsch and Belalp.

Sadly, these plans have been shelved, with the strong franc cited as the main reason behind the decision. It is a blow to Erlen, although the resort had always hovered on the edge of viability as a Winter sports destination, and Prior probably did as much as was possible to make it work. The investment pounds, however were worth less than two thirds of what they were worth when the project was first conceived.

It has also been a tough year for the Swiss tourist industry. The strong franc is a double edged sword, not only making Switzerland far more expensive than the Eurozone resorts for international visitors but also enticing the normally loyal Swiss to go abroad for their winter sports holidays. According to the Federal Statistics Office, the number of hotel stays in the 2010/11 winter season fell by about 1%, or 114,000 visitors, compared to the previous season, and the number of European winter visitors to Switzerland declined by 5.1%, some 373,000 people.

However, considering the strength of the franc and the indifferent late season, it is still a pretty good performance. Expensive as it has become, the skiing and snowboarding in Switzerland remains the best in the world. Canny skiers and snowboarders, however, may consider Avoriaz, Ischgl and Cervinia as more affordable destinations from which to enjoy the Swiss Alps.