New Lifts in Switzerland for 2015/6 Ski Season

The new ski season is only a few weeks away, and a lot has been happening over the summer in many winter sports resorts. Despite the strong Swiss Franc, many Swiss resorts are banking on attracting new winter tourists and retaining their existing customer base through improved and extended lift systems. Market research has suggested that continued investment is the only way for Swiss resorts to compete effectively and retain the premium reputation they hold, and many resorts are embarking on medium-term projects to reduce lift queues and introduce faster lifts.

Here are some of the new lifts you can expect in Switzerland for the 2015-2016 Ski Season:

Adelboden

New high-speed 4-man chairlift Höchstbahn replacing two older lifts to connect Chünisbärgli and Silleren. A new run between the two with snow cannon has also been implemented.

Andermatt
A high-speed 6-man lift at Gurschenalp on Gemsstock replaces two old lifts on the mountain. Lifts to Sedrun planned but not yet in construction and are likely a couple of seasons away.

Engelberg
The two-stage Engelberg-Trubsee-Stand gondola has been replaced with a new Titlis Xpress, cutting the journey time by half.

Flims/Laax
A new 10-person gondola will run from Alp Sogn Martin up to La Siala, extending the runs available in the area.

Lenzerheide
There is a new 8-person gondola, designed by Porsche, at Churwalden-Heidbeul replacing the old chairlift. There is also a new 4-man chair between Parpan and Obertor connecting the Rothorn to Piz Danis, a really useful new link.

Riederalp – Aletsch Arena
A new 6/8 seater hybrid lift has been installed at Moosfluh.

Scuol
There is a brand new 6-seater chair at Prui-Clünas.

St-Luc/Chandolin
One of my favourite resorts, in Val d’Annivers, will have a new high-speed 6-seat chairlift at La Foret.

St Moritz
On Corvatsch there is a new Mandra chairlift replacing that tedious but unavoidable drag at Murtel. A really great addition to this fabulous mountain.

Toggenburg
A new 10-seater gondola is under construction ready for the new season at Stöfeli.

Zermatt
There is a new 6-person chairlift at Hirli in the Schwarzee area replacing the veteran T-bar and extending the length of both the lift and the runs.

26/04/201526/04/2015

Dogs banned in Switzerland

Dogs banned in Switzerland
I often get a news flash from somewhere in India or Saudi Arabia or Elephant Butte, New Mexico, telling me about something going on in the world of skiing.

It is my fault, of course. I subscribe to the news feeds in the first place. However, it is not only the incongruity of these places having a keen interest in Switzerland and Winter Sports resorts that I find fascinating, but also how misleading the headlines sometimes are.

Dogs are not banned in Switzerland. I made that up. But it is sort of true, if the press release I am looking at is true. The favoured headline associated with the underlying story is actually “Swiss ski resort bans selfies with iconic Saint Bernards”, and the story is a rash running right across the world this weekend. There are over 4500 Google references to the phrase, and most sources that have published the story seem to like the headline in all its bizarre, naked glory. Newspapers running the story, and there are hundreds, have on the whole published the press release without any changes.
Matterhorn, dog and dork.
Not surprisingly, the agency that originated the story is AFP, a French outfit that often comes up with outlandish press releases. One I researched a few months ago on this blog was headlined with something that was, quite frankly, poo. Untrue.

And the truth in this case is no more that dogs are banned in Switzerland, than that you can’t take selfies with St Bernards. You can, just in case you were considering cancelling your next trip to Switzerland out of concern you would miss out on an iconic selfie. And the story is nothing to do with selfies at all, the word just seems to garner clickbait. Or it now means any photograph with a person or a dog in it.

Switzerland is keen on the prevention of cruelty to animals. The more lurid presentation of this in the press release is that you are not allowed to kill a goldfish without procedures that are usually reserved for executions in Texas. And budgerigars cannot live in households without another budgerigar of the same sexual orientation. Or some such… perhaps I exaggerate: go google the press release if you want to know. Anyway, it is true that animal rights are more stringently regulated in Switzerland than most countries.

So, to cut to the chase, the real story is that some St Bernard dogs – with whom you can be photographed against a backdrop of Zermatt, on payment of a small fee – are being badly treated.
Swiss St Bernards looking the part
The Swiss animal protection group STS (aka SAP or SPS, depending on the language you speak) has apparently called for the ban, citing examples of dogs not taken for walks, left for long periods without food or water, hanging around in the cold and being kept in miserable conditions. Following a study conducted between 26th January and 4th February this year they have filed a criminal case against the owners of the dogs. At least that is what the organization says at their site, where they have a detailed report in German. Our AFP press release claims that Zermatt Gemeinde “has banned tourists from posing for photos” with the dogs, but I can find nothing about this at the Gemeinde’s web site.

However, some German language newspapers report that the mayor of the Gemeinde has agreed with the two local companies that organise the photographs that they will no longer take pictures of St Bernards on council property, and specifically from two popular vantage points of the Matterhorn, with effect next winter – apparently there are some Japanese tourists this summer who are desperate to have their pictures taken with the dogs and he wouldn’t want to let them down.

I am sure the mayor is an admirable man and an animal lover. However he has had sustained pressure from people who have felt that the animals were being badly treated, culminating in the latest report. He had hoped the lift company would have banned the dogs going up, or that his local veterinary adviser would have said the practice was inherently causing suffering, but neither gambit worked. I don’t really get why the photographers didn’t smarten up their act, but reports suggest they see it as a storm in a teacup.

So it appears there is nothing to stop you having a selfie with a dog of your choice against a backdrop of the Matterhorn, or of someone taking pictures of you getting friendly with a canine in a bar or hotel lobby. Generously, the mayor has suggested that you will still be allowed to take pictures on council property with people dressed as St Bernards (according to Die Welt). Sounds like a job for a ski bum. I’ll be writing my application shortly.

Incidentally, Zermatt is still open for business and I hear the snow is still good, with over 120km open over the Matterhorn section through to Cervinia.

06/03/201525/07/2022

Martin Peikert

Should marijuana still be banned from sport?

USA Track and Field (USATF) confirmed Tuesday that Olympic hopeful Sha’Carri Richardson will not compete in Tokyo after she tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Since the breakout sprinter’s 30-day suspension was announced Friday, celebrities and lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have come to her defense, calling for the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) to re-evaluate its stance designating marijuana as a banned substance and for USATF to let Richardson compete.

WADA, which sets anti-doping guidelines for sports organizations around the world, prohibits substances which have the potential to enhance performance, pose a risk to the athlete, and/or “violate the spirit of sport.”

CU Boulder Today asked Psychology and Neuroscience Professor Angela Bryan, who studies the risks and benefits of cannabis, what the science says about the relationship between weed and sport.

Cannabis researcher Psychology and Neuroscience Professor Angela Bryan

Is THC performance-enhancing?

There is very little research on this topic and a lot of it dates back to the ‘70s, but the available data suggests that cannabis is not performance-enhancing from the perspective of speed, power or strength. In one study, researchers had cyclists use cannabis, or not, and then assessed their performance on the bike. They looked at both speed and power, and both were decreased in the cannabis condition. Others have shown little or no difference in performance.

One caveat: These studies were done with a lower-potency product provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for research and may not reflect what athletes are actually using these days, so more studies are needed. There is no evidence that using it a few nights before competition would influence performance days later. Take a look to Halo CBD sold on vaprzon.

A fair number of people use cannabis before or after they exercise. Why?

In one study, we were surprised to learn about 8 out of 10 marijuana users in states where cannabis is legal use it shortly before or after exercise. What we do know is that it can help with recovery in the same way that an Advil or Tylenol might. People report using it to help with post-workout pain and muscle soreness and inflammation. We also hear from some endurance athletes, including ultrarunners, who use cannabis immediately before physical activity to make their three hour run or four hour bike ride more pleasant and less dull.

To learn more about this, we will be launching a study next month in which we bring people into the lab to run on the treadmill—one time under the influence of cannabis, another time not under the influence. We will assess their experience of pain, their perception of the passage of time, and their affect––or how good they feel––while exercising.

WADA also bans substances that are ‘a health risk to the athlete.’ Is THC a health risk?

What we can say with some degree of certainty at this point is that high potency THC products are not great for the developing brains of young adolescents, or for people with a family or personal history of psychosis––it is probably risky for them to engage in cannabis use. There are also some acute effects on verbal recall, but they are not lasting.

Other than that, there is little convincing evidence of acute or long term health risks of cannabis use, and there is certainly nowhere near the risks of using alcohol, which is not on the banned substance list. Many people die due to alcohol poisoning each year, and that simply does not happen with cannabis.

Richardson says she was using it to cope with her mother’s death? Does THC help with mental health problems?

Depression, anxiety, sleep and pain are the four big reasons adults self-report using cannabis medicinally. A lot of people report that cannabis is helpful for them in dealing with a mental health crisis. We are still learning about this and our lab has several studies underway. What I do know this this: If she had had a couple of beers or a glass of wine to cope with the death of her mother we would not be having this conversation.

In your opinion, based on the science, should THC remain banned for elite athletes?

Given there is no convincing evidence THC boosts performance, and it is legal in the vast majority of U.S. states and in entire countries, including Canada, I do not think it should be included as a banned substance for elite athletes or for any other kind of athlete for that manner. That said, I would in no way endorse Olympic athletes taking cannabis immediately before competing. My perspective is more that athletes using cannabis in their down time either recreationally or as an aid to recovery should not be held against them in terms of competition.

24/02/201504/06/2023

Weather conditions hit half-term skiers

Not for the first time this season Brits travelling to or from European ski slopes were left stranded at the weekend when heavy snowfall closed runways at Chambery, Grenoble, Lyon and Geneva and caused traffic chaos on routes to and from the French Alps.

This couldn’t have been at a worst time, with half term not only swelling the ranks of would-be skiers but leaving them stuck with bored, tired kids. Some families even ended up back at school, with a school hall in Grenoble being among several emergency shelters employed by the French authorities.

I am off to the Vaud Alps this weekend and I’m sticking to the train all the way down. I’ve never yet been prevented from hitting the slopes by a glitch or weather conditions on Swiss, German and Austrian railways. Visit Snow and Rail for the lowdown on how to hit the slopes by train.

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