Nic Oatridge – Page 20 – Alpine Winter Sports

14/10/201409/02/2019

Ski and Snowboard Playlist

Well, it’s that time of year when people start putting together best of the year playlists, and playlists to take on ski holidays and stuff… and I am no exception. I don’t listen to music whilst I ski, I hasten to add – that just seems so “not in the moment”, but I have put music to some of my ski videos and here is a sample. The music comes from my collection, so I MUST like it, but the length of the clip largely determines which songs I have associated with the video. Oh, and there is a link to the lyrics and a link to the ski resort for each song:

Duel by Propoganda

Zermatt

Wasn’t Born to Follow – Byrds

Feldberg

Most Precious Love – Blaze

Kitzbuhel

Right here, Right now – Fatboy Slim

Obersaxen

Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space by Spiritualized

Feldberg

Whole of the Moon – Waterboys

Adelboden

Rush Hour – Jane Wiedlin

Obersaxen

Dread Lion – Upsetters

Zermatt

Pow Pow – LCD Soundsystem

Aletsch Arena

Shine on You Crazy Diamond – Pink Floyd

Toggenberg

Professional Widow – Tori Amos

Obersaxen

Boys of Summer – DJ Sammy

Obersaxen

08/10/201409/02/2019

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.

07/09/201409/02/2019

Sie haben Ski-Sprache zu verstehen?

Learn German to navigate the slopes more effectively And now for some German to use in a ski resort. Much of Austria and all of Swiss German-speaking Switzerland, speak in a dialect all but incomprehensible to a High German speaker. Fortunately they learn High German at school and will understand and welcome your attempts to communicate in the language. In Romansh areas, High German is also understood.

General Phrases
Careful!	Vorsicht!
Help!	Hilfe!
Avalanche!	Lawine!
Attention!	Achtung!
Sorry!	Sorry!
Excuse me.	Entschuldigen Sie.
Please.	Bitte.
Thank you	Danke / Merci (CH)
Hello	Grützi (CH) / Grüss Gott (A)
Do you speak English?	Sprechen Sie Englisch?

At the ski or snowboard school…
I would like lessons	Ich möchte Unterricht
ski lessons	Skikurse
snowboard lessons	Snowboardkurse
private tuition	Nachhilfe
an English-speaking instructor	ein Englisch sprechender Lehrer

At the lifts…
I want a lift pass for 1 day.	Ich will einen Skipass für einen Tag.
I want a lift pass for 1 week.	Ich will einen Skipass für eine Woche.

In a ski shop…
ski boots	Skischuhe
ski poles	Skistöcke
skis	Ski
a snowboard	ein Snowboard
snowboard boots	Snowboardschuhe
ski gloves	Ski-Handschuhe
ski goggles	Skibrille
socks	Socken
sun cream	Sonnencreme
lip salve	Lippensalbe
I’d like to hire skis.	Ich möchte Skier mieten.
I’d like to buy a snowboard.	Ich würde gerne ein Snowboard kaufen.
How much is that?	Wie viel ist das?
Can you write it?	Können Sie es schreiben?
My boots hurt me.	Meine Stiefel verletzt mich.
My shoe size is…	Meine Schuhgrösse ist …
I weigh…	Ich wiege …
I want to ski.	Ich möchte fahren.
I want to snowboard.	Ich möchte Snowboard.
I am a beginner.	Ich bin ein Anfänger.
I am an intermediate.	Ich bin ein Zwischen.
I am advanced.	Ich bin fortgeschritten.

Some phrases you might need on the slopes…
Where is…	Wo ist …
cable car	Drahtseilbahn
gondola	Gondel
chairlift	Sessellift
draglift	Schlepplift
ski bus	Skibus
train	Zug
restaurant	Restaurant
self-service restaurant	Selbstbedienungs-Restaurant
piste map	Pistenplan
blue run	blaue Piste
red run	rote Piste
black run	schwarze Piste
off-piste	abseits der Piste
closed piste	geschlossenen Piste
no entry	kein Einlass
icy	eisig
snow	Schnee
powder	Pulver
mogul	Mogul
rock	Rock
tree	Baum

And afterwards in the bar…
beer	bier
red wine	rotwein
white wine	Weisswein
mulled wine	Glühwein
A beer, please	Ein Bier, bitte

06/09/201409/02/2019

The Best Three Star Hotels in the Swiss Alps

Last winter the Swiss newspaper, the Sonntags Zeitung, published a list of the best hotels in Switzerland. The full article is here, but I have listed what they consider the best three star hotels:

1. (Last Year: 4) Alpine Lodge,Saanen-Gstaad BE
Tel 033 748 41 51,alpinelodge.ch
Doubleroom from 360 Fr.

2. (1) Waldhaus am See,St. Moritz GR
Tel 081 836 60 00, waldhaus-am-see.ch
Doubleroom from 310 Fr.

3. (3) Romantik Hotel Schönegg, Wengen BE
Tel 033 855 34 22, hotel-schoenegg.ch
Doubleroom from 380 Fr.

4. (2) Krone, La Punt GR
Tel 081 854 12 69, krone-la-punt.ch
Doubleroom 250 Fr.

5. (5) Misani, Celerina GR
Tel 081 839 89 89, hotelmisani.ch
Doubleroom from 230 Fr.

6. (6) Jungfrau, Wengernalp BE
Tel 033 855 16 22, wengernalp.ch
Doubleroom from 440 Fr.

7. (8) Hotel Kernen,Schönried-Gstaad BE
Tel 033 748 40 20, bruno-kernen.ch
Doubleroom from 320 Fr.

8. (-) Chesa Randolin,Sils Baselgia GR
Tel 081 830 83 83,randolins.ch
Doubleroom from 236 Fr.

9. (11) Eienwäldli, Engelberg OW
Tel 041 637 19 49,eienwaeldli.ch
Doubleroom from 280 Fr.

10. (-) La Couronne, Zermatt VS
Tel 027 966 23 00,hotel-couronne.ch
Doubleroom from 256 Fr.

11. (7) Sporthotel, Pontresina GR
Tel 081 838 94 00, sporthotel.ch
Doubleroom from 250 Fr.

12. (13) Bella Vista, Zermatt VS
Tel 027 966 28 10,bellavista-zermatt.ch
Doubleroom from 235 Fr.

13. (12) Parkhotel Schönegg, Grindelwald BE
Tel 033 854 18 18,parkhotelschoenegg.ch
Doubleroom from 340 Fr.

14. (16) Alphubel, Saas-Fee VS
Tel 027 958 63 63, hotelalphubel.ch
Doubleroom from 314 Fr.

15. (15) Chesa Grischuna, Klosters GR
Tel 081 422 22 22,chesagrischuna.ch
Doubleroom from 439 Fr.

16. (20) Alpenblick, Fiesch VS
Tel 027 970 16 60,hotelalpenblick.ch
Doubleroom from 150 Fr.

17. (9) Le Mont Paisible,Crans-Montana VS
Tel 027 480 21 61, montpaisible.ch
Doubleroom from 220 Fr.

18. (14) Romantik Hotel Muottas Muragl, Samedan GR
Tel 081 842 82 32,muottasmuragl.ch
Doubleroom from 240 Fr.

19. (18) Adler, Adelboden BE
Tel 033 673 41 41,adleradelboden.ch
Doubleroom from 308 Fr.

20. (19) Müller Mountain Lodge, Pontresina GR
Tel 081 839 30 00, hotel-mueller.ch
Doubleroom from 300 Fr.

21. (24) Meisser, Guarda GR
Tel 081 862 21 32, hotel-meisser.ch
Doubleroom from 230 Fr.

22. (17) Bodmi, Grindelwald BE
Tel 033 853 12 20, bodmi.ch
Doubleroom from 294 Fr.

23. (10) Homann,Samnaun-Ravaisch GR
Tel 081 861 91 91,hotel-homann.ch
Doubleroom from 290 Fr.

24. (21) Europe, Zinal VS
Tel 027 475 44 04, europezinal.ch
Doubleroom from 200 Fr.

25. (25) Alphorn, Gstaad BE
Tel 033 748 45 45,gstaad-alphorn.ch
Doubleroom from 252 Fr.