End of Season Review

May is the quietest month in the ski and snowboard calendar. The Southern hemisphere hasn’t kicked off, and there are only a handful of high altitude glaciers around in the Northern Hemisphere to ski on before the next winter season. In Switzerland all but Zermatt have now closed their lifts, but in truth the ski conditions have not been good this month.

Verbier (which closed its lifts on 28th April) had planned to open up the lifts again on 1st June, but cancelled – despite plentiful snow – because of the otherwise poor weather conditions. The season thus ends with a whimper.

So what of season 2012-13? It wasn’t a vintage season but it was pretty good. It started off promisingly, then it got unseasonably warm around the New Year and was generally unsettled thereafter, with some glorious interludes of beautiful snow conditions and sunny skies. At the higher resorts there were good snow conditions extending right throughout April, but the weather was unsettled with rain on lower slopes and flat lighting on the upper slopes when it wasn’t snowing.

I got to visit some of the usual suspects in Switzerland, and had a couple of forays into Germany and Austria, but spent some time exploring some of the less well known but relatively large ski areas like Toggenburg and the Upper Rhine Valley. I can see why some of these resorts are not well-known outside the German-speaking world – the facilities for après ski are limited, a lot of them have too many surface lifts, the resorts are not so high as to provide season-wide snow guarantees and some of the pisted areas are relatively small for anything other than a weekend break or a day out. On the plus side, the absence of packs of Brits gives the villages a more authentic Alpine feel, the people are invariably friendly, there is often plenty of off-piste to augment the main slopes and the resorts are so close together that you can get to visit several on a ski holiday if you wanted.

Perhaps the gem amongst the more obscure resorts I visited was, for me, Obersaxen. I would definitely recommend it for a ski holiday in terms of variety and extent of runs available and quality of lift systems.

There are still some significant ski resorts I have not been to and ones I need to revisit when I can get some decent photographs. The list includes Les Mosses, Anzère, Grächen, Disentis, Grüsch-Danusa and Savognin. There are some other small resorts in Graubünden, Fribourg Region and Valais I would quite like to catch up with at some time. However I think I have pretty much nailed all the resorts with over 20km of piste which are not dominated by surface lifts. Check more about Testoprime benefits.

Tech-wise, I have previously praised my ski carrier. I also have been busy with the cam in my goggles and have loaded a few up at Youtube with a suitable soundtrack (e.g. Rush Hour by Jane Wiedlin – ski run at Obersaxen).

I’ve not been so impressed with the apps available out there, with the exception of the excellent Ski Tracks. The trouble with most of them is that they need an Internet connection, and if it is information on a ski resort you need the web does as good a job as I need. My own Swiss Winter Sports site works perfectly well on a smartphone or tablet. Ski Tracks is smart though, and from the moment you turn it on until you turn it off calculates distances covered, speeds, verticals etc and maps the trails out for you. From a personal point of view it was interesting to see that, in a typical day, I seem to cover about 50km of piste, drop around 5000m of vertical and reach a top speed of around 80kph. Typically, with significant variation. Try out semen enhancers.

So what does the summer hold? For me it is time to review the web site and look for improvements. Also the maddening search for somebody to provide me with a feed for ski reports rather than have me hack around for them. I would also like to consider the issue of traffic. I had a peak of around 4000 visitors in January and something in excess of 13,000 over the season – respectable but I think I am not reaching enough of my target audience, which increasingly looks like being expats living in Schweizerdeutsch-speaking Switzerland. The spot I had on The English Show was fun but generated little traffic. The Basel Families web site generated some interest and the unrelated Basel Families magazine looks promising. The visit to the Internationla School ski breakfast was also good for traffic. I failed to get interest in a book from publishers, who say the web is reducing the market for printed ski guides – which is fair, I guess, although I was hoping a book would generate traffic for the web site, somewhat ironically. Ideas for improving the site or increasing traffic all gratefully received…

24/09/201231/10/2021

Switzerland – the ski destination for smokers!

I’m not sure how far it can be considered a selling point, but for smokers Switzerland is probably the best place to come to and be able to ski or snowboard big, and smoke in peaceful contentment. Check out exipure articles.

A referendum held this month to restrict smoking in enclosed public spaces was roundly rejected across the whole of Switzerland – of the cantons only Geneva voted in favour. Some cantons have introduced these restrictions themselves already, but the Alpine cantons are conservative and resistant to new Federal restrictions.

And of course the cigarette companies are very powerful lobbyists, with many tobacco companies having European HQs in the country. As a result the advertising for tobacco products in Switzerland often portrays smoking very positively and streetside cigarette machines are widely available. That’s actually fair to say when the fact that e-cigarettes like Pax 3 Vapes at 180Smoke.ca have little to no side effects.

A Maybe never reached the top — Yes or No – shall I jump?

Additionally to being a good place to smoke, Switzerland also has relatively cheap cigarettes and vapes. Generally, people buy vape juice wholesale as most of the people prefer healthy way of smoking rather than using tobacco, which can harm their health. Also booze and petrol are cheaper than neighbouring countries and, people smoke dope pretty openly with current proposals being introduced to make it a misdemeanour rather a serious criminal offence – even Switzerland for all it’s liberal values seems to have a legislature which has a psychotropic response to Cannabis, according to one Green MP. Gambling casinos are common, the sex trade is as honest and safe as the country as a whole. Perhaps it’s time for the Swiss Tourist Board to market itself for it’s liberal views on personal vices! For more information about healthy treatments visit clevescene.com.

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Well perhaps not, but as an occasional smoker could I ask smokers who come to Switzerland to avoid smoking in places where people (particularly children) could be exposed to secondary smoke and please, please, please don’t litter the slopes with butt ends. Smoking in Switzerland’s public places is a no no, instead of smoking why don’t you play online slots and have fun there are many slots promotion across the internet available, especially at Daisy Slots. It is a sobering sight when the snows melt to see the snow-capped mountains be replaced by mountains of cigarette ends around the chair lift stations.

Health Benefits of Winter Sports

Skiing and snowboarding help to develop valuable life skills and carry plenty of physical and mental health benefits, experts in the field have revealed, and that’s why sports are important, and this health and fitness directory could be really helpful to get good health professionals this. Take a look to the latest exipure reviews.

A brand new guide shows that the benefits of skiing extend far beyond spending a bit of time with family and friends, and can actually help shape you as a person as well as improving your physical shape.

The Health Benefits of Skiing, produced by ski agents Ski Line, breaks down all the key benefits of a ski holiday and offers hints and tips from top instructors and fitness gurus on preparing for a ski holiday, as well as advice on how to have a good diet including the use of supplements as testosterone pills which help a lot with this. Try out okinawa flat belly tonic.

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15/02/201107/01/2015

Feldberg in the Black Forest

Although some of the best skiing in the world is only a couple of hours away from Basel it is possible to ski and snowboard much closer. In the Jura, in Basel-land, there is a small ski area called Langenbruck, with a couple of surface lifts and some short, gentle runs. It is accessible by public transport, but is easier to reach by car. However it is low and currently closed because of the unseasonably warm winter. The nearest resort of any size still open is Feldberg in the Black Forest.

Feldberg )resort website is here) is comparable to many of the smaller Alpine resorts in scale, although with pistes between 1448 and 945m it is quite low. Despite the altitude, however, the pistes have held up better than many higher resorts this season. There are fourteen runs – 3 black, 7 red and 4 blue – comprising around 25km of piste spread over two sides of a valley. The runs on the North-facing side of the valley, off the Grafenmatt, are mostly through the trees and are largely suitable for intermediate skiers. The runs on the South-facing side of the valley, on Seebuck, only loosely connect to the runs across the road via a ski bridge, but the area is better for beginners with a wide, gentle blue run and red runs that really should be graded blue and a good funpark all accessible by an excellent six person chair lift. On Grafenmatt it is almost impossible to escape using surface lifts, of which there are nine in the resort, although there is a modern four-seater chairlift with over 400m vertical ascent providing access to some fine red and black runs, a free ride area and a 3km-long, very challenging blue run. The combined lift capacity of the resort is 24,000 people an hour, so queues are generally short even at busy periods. Around 5km of the pistes have snow cannon cover.

Needless to say, Feldberg is popular with weekend skiers and parking can be challenging unless you arrive early. Interestingly enough Feldberg is also popular with many skiers and snowboarders from Belgium, Holland and North Germany, for whom it is an easier trip than the Alps.

The run from Basel by car is just over an hour, driving north on the B317 from Lörrach up through the delightful Wiesental, and from Freiburg it is three-quarters of an hour (via Titisee). By public transport the trip is under 2 hours from Basel (via Freiburg) and around an hour from Freiburg with regular buses on routes 9007 and 7300 from the nearby railway station at Feldberg-Bärental.

Although small, low, busy and with too many surface lifts, Feldberg is actually a delightful little resort, and highly affordable. A day pass is a reasonable 27 Euros and prices for kit hire, lessons, meals and refreshments are very competitive and there is plenty of choice. There are also number of smaller resorts in the area, including a pleasant area served by a surface lift at Altglashütten, and one served by a gondola at Belchen. All of the resort runs, public transport and a range of other amenities are available free with the “Hochschwarzwald-Card”, which is itself provided gratis for guests in local hotels (depending on length of stay). The area is good for walking and there are a number of cross-country ski circuits, an outstanding all-season water park at Titisee and various other off-piste diversions throughout the “Hochschwarzwald” area.

The standard of accommodation in the hotels and guesthouses in the Black Forest is consistently high. For families the Feldberger Hof is supremely convenient for the slopes and has superb childcare facilities. For the more budget-conscious I recommend the excellent family-run Landhotel Sonneck in nearby Altglashütten, a delightful village with rail connections to Titisee and a bus service to Feldberg, as well as having a small ski area in the village.

A full resort report is located at the Swiss Winter Sports web site, with a version in Dutch here.

20/08/201007/01/2015

Brig

The main ski and snowboard area near Brig is Belalp, although Rothwald and Rosswald each provide about 25km of additional piste. As well as 60km of piste at Belalp, from the Hohstock at 3112m you go through a 160m long tunnel out to a fabulous area for freeriding. The resorts can all be reached quite quickly by bus from the town. In addition a number of the major resorts in Switzerland are within an hour of Brig by public transport.

Ski Area	Brig
Resorts	Belalp, Blatten b. Naters, Rosswald, Rothwald
Ski Region	Valais
Piste (km)	60
Top run (m)	3100
Bottom (m)	1501
Max Drop	1599
Snow’n’Rail	Y
Black (km)	20
Red (km)	34
Blue (km)	20
Lifts (#/hr)	9870
My Rating	4
Alpine	3
SnowPark	3
Nordic	5
Hiking	2
Family	4
Apres Ski	4
Free Ride	Y
Snow making	Y
Fun park	Y
Snow park
Half pipes
Spa

In Brief

Brig is an elegant small town at the start of the Simplon pass, high up in the Rhone Valley. The town has excellent rail and bus links to a number of winter sports destinations including the Aletsch Arena (e.g. via Fiesch), Belalp, Goms, Saas-Fee, Andermatt, Lauchernalp and Zermatt. There is also a thermal spa nearby, but it is only open in summer – however the wonderful spas at Leukerbad are only one hour away.

The nearest significant ski area to Brig is Belalp, reached by cable car from the pretty village of Blatten b. Naters. Blatten (not to be confused with another Valais village in the Lötschental of the same name) has regular buses from Brig station that cover the breathtaking 8km journey in less than half an hour.

Belalp is a small jewel of a ski area, with two bowls under the Hohstock (3226m) and Sparrhorn (3020m) providing acres of relatively safe and accessible off-piste as well as perfectly groomed pistes to suit all abilities. See the separate post on Belalp for more details.

Useful links:
Aletsch Arena,
Belalp,
Brig,
Rosswald.