Celebrities hit the piste

Roman Polanski was seen skiing in Gstaad over the holiday period. The famous film-maker and paedophile is 81 and still skiing, which gives me encouragement of a few more years yet. Madonna was also seen skiing in Gstaad, with one report that she had gone heli-skiing with her kids, presumably looking for virgin snow.Madonna skiing in Gstaad
Olivia Palermo was also photographed in Gstaad, although I am not sure if she was skiing as the pictures of her seem to be of her shopping. Indeed, the skiing over the holiday period has been less than spectacular, and I suspect Gstaad, as a low lying resort apart from the Glacier 3000 section of the Gstaad Mountain Rides, fared less well than most of the big name ski areas.
Prince Andrew and Pixie Lott, meanwhile, are enjoying higher altitude Verbier (not together I hasten to add, although the prince is turning out to be a bit of a dark horse).
The festive period was characterised initially by a shortage of snow below 1800m, then high winds above 1800m and finally snowfall amidst plummeting temperatures – the temperature was -18C on the Jakobshorn at Davos on 30th December when I visited.
Olivia Palermo in the Swiss Alps

In fact I managed to visit several resorts between Christmas and the New Year. Pizol, Savognin, Arosa-Lenzerheide, Sedrun and Davos. In addition I managed to get in some great train journeys, a visit to a spa in Bad Ragaz, a walk around sites famously associated with Heidi, an interesting cocktail made with Aperol I tried for the first time on the Jakobshorn for only 1 franc a glass (who says Switzerland is expensive?) and a bunch of other stuff. Updates to resort pages and video footage, as well as details of what I got up to will follow.Aperol cocktails at 1 franc apiece in the Swiss Alps

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Montreux for Skiing and Snowboarding Holidays

Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva is also in the heart of the Alps
Montreux is most famous for the Montreux Jazz festival, that takes place in the town every summer, or perhaps the fabulous climate or the beautiful walk from Vevey to Castle Chillon alongside Lake Geneva. For the winter sports enthusiasts, however, its location at the bottom of the Vaud Alps makes it a fabulous destination to use as a base for a holiday.

The town boasts a very good Christmas Market in December, when the best nearby slopes at Glacier 3000 have already been open for several weeks, but other resorts are also starting to open at this time nearby in the heart of Vaud and the Valais, including Verbier, Gstaad, Leysin, Les Diablerets and the resorts of Les Portes du Soleil – all roughly an hour away by rail or road. However all of the resorts of the Valais are reasonably accessible from Montreux. There is also a small ski resort just above Montreux at Caux and Rochers de Naye which can be reached by a funicular from Montreux, conveniently very close to the excellent youth hostel (which we use as our base for the Jazz Festival).

If you are planning to do a ski holiday in Switzerland and use rail to get about, Montreux is perfect. It is easy to get to by train or road from Geneva, itself served by an International Airport with a railway station actually inside the airport. Nearly all the great ski resorts in the region can be reached by train from Montreux, but also you can cut across to Lucerne and visit the resorts of the Bernese Oberland and Central Switzerland by taking the spectacular Golden Pass Line, a panorama train that operates between Montreux, Gstaad and the Bernese Oberland with onward connections to Lucerne.

More information on Montreux can be found at the Swiss Winter Sports web site.

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Where the Rich and Famous Ski

Patrick Thorne writes for InTheSnow (http://www.inthesnow.com/feature/skiing-tracks-rich-famous/) about some of the celebrities who ski.
St Moritz village from Corviglia
There are some interesting gems. Apparently Prince Charles took Princess Diana to learn to ski in Lichtenstein – presumably Malbun – to avoid the media expecting them at the Walserhof Hotel in Klosters, well known as a royal favourite. Prince Harry, it is claimed, prefers St Moritz, as does King Carl Gustav of Sweden. Charlie Chaplin was reputedly the first man to drive to St Moritz in the winter and Alfred Hitchcock kept a suite at the Palace Hotel for many years.
Gstaad Palace HotelSophia Loren, however, preferred Gstaad and the Gstaad Palace. David Niven was a near neighbour, choosing to winter in Chateau D’Oex.
I am not sure how many of the rich and famous actually ski at Davos during the World Economic Forum (21–24 January 2015), but you could do worse.
George Michael stayed at the Ferienart in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, 30 years ago to film the video for Last Christmas.

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Winter Ski Deals in Graubünden

I am a great fan of the winter sports resorts in Graubünden, and will be spending the Christmas period in the canton. It is probably the most complete ski and snowboard destination in the world, but it caters well for ever type of visitor – including the budget conscious.
Arosa ski resort
This season Graubünden once again has a range of excellent deals. The season starts on 18th October 2014 on the Diavolezza in the Engadine, which celebrates 150 years of winter tourism. On 22nd November, Corvatsch and Corviglia in St Moritz open. Progressively other resorts open, with Arosa, Samnaun, Flims Laax Falera and Davos Klosters opening in November.

A great deal for getting there is the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) offer, “Railhit 2 for 1” in which two people travelling together from Monday to Thursday only pay for one if they are hotel guests or in self-catering accommodation. The offer lasts from 8th December 2014 to 10th April 2014. RailHit is not valid on a handful of special services, including the pass associated with using the Preda-Bergün sledging slope.
Skiers in Davos on the Parsenn
For 35 SFr per person per day for visits of at least two nights, a ski pass is included with accommodation at participating hotels in and around St Moritz.

Arosa once again features the “Ski School Included” for youngsters staying in the resort, whereby lessons are available at no charge.

Now linked to Arosa, Lenzerheide gives you a free lift pass if you book a stay at any time between 28th of November to the 20th December.

Up until 21st December 2014 you also get a complimentary ski pass for slopes in Davos Klosters for every overnight stay in a partner hotel in the area. From 20th December until 6th April the resorts are also offering a local insider to accompany you and show you the best of the mountains. Remember also that Ski Club of Great Britain members still can ski or snowboard for free with a Ski Club representative.

More details on these and other offers are posted at the Graubünden Tourism website.

There are also the usual range of budget options if you are going to Graubunden, with some excellent hostels and budget hotels. Check out the Winter Sports Accommodation Guide.

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