Category: Features

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A Festive Christmas Snowfall

It was starting to look a little grim, with some resorts having seen no new snow since November and temperatures looking decidedly unseasonal. And then on Christmas Day it snowed. And it snowed and it snowed. Boxing Day or St Stephen’s Day, whatever you call it, continued the festive snowfall. According to the folk at J2Ski powder snow is reported by 38 Swiss Ski Resorts. Andermatt and Zermatt now have a base of over 3 metres on the higher slopes.Blind skier at Zermatt

More snow is forecast, with the Jura and Black Forest resorts starting to get fresh snow, although I am sure many of those people who went skiing for the holiday period will be pleased to hear that there will be sunny skies for most of the next couple of weeks in the Alps with the snow mainly falling overnight.

With all the fresh snow the avalanche risk has heightened and is now registered as level 3, considerable risk, by the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research. If you go off-piste, be careful and be prepared.

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Christmas Skiing and Snowboarding

There has been precious little new snow in the Alps in December. Some resorts have not seen fresh snow since last month, although some precipitation is expected Thursday and Friday. For most resorts that should mean fresh snow, but temperature are unseasonably warm after a chilly start to the season. Indeed Meteo Swiss expect temperatures to remain above average well into the New Year. Learn more about exipure benefits.

The good news, however, is that the Christmas skiing and snowboarding prospects look reasonably good, at least on-piste.  Resorts took advantage of the early season snowfalls and their snow cannons to create a good base, and nearly everywhere has resort runs open. Generally upper slopes have around half a metre of snow but steeper, lower slopes are patchy and, with the temperatures above freezing, get very heavy in the afternoon. If you are considering your first foray of the season, do not join the many skiers and snowboarders I have already seen becoming tired victims of an afternoon run too far. If winter is too cold for you make sure to visit https://phandroid.com/ and learn more about portable Air Conditioners.

Looking around the Swiss resorts, Zermatt is in the rudest health with 240km piste open. Samnaun/Ischgl, with 190km, is virtually fully open now. The Engadine also has over 100km of piste open, and has a reasonable extent of cross-country skiing open also – at last report 30km of classic and 65 km of skating.
Gondolas at Adelboden
Verbier (and the rest of the Four Valleys), the Jungfrau resorts, Davos/Klosters, Adelboden, Saas-Fee, Engelberg and Andermatt all look promising for the holiday period and have good snow on the higher runs with even a little (but mostly tracked-out) off-piste around.

Although many of the smaller resorts have not opened yet, I would be surprised to see the warm weather prevent them having most of their lifts in operation by next weekend. However some of my favourite, more low-lying resorts look distinctly thin, especially the resorts around Gstaad and in Vaud. Flims/Laax has been later than I expected to open up its runs, but should be in full swing come this weekend.

For non-skiers there are a handful of toboggan runs already open, but the best prospect for you is probably the extensive circuit of winter walks found in most resorts, especially in the glorious sunshine we currently seem to be experiencing. The entertainment program in winter resorts is also ramping up, with the Spengler Cup in Davos probably my highlight, where CSKA Moscow and Team Canada amongst the teams vying for this most prestigious of ice hockey tournaments.

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Radio Channels for Skiers and Snowboarders

So, you are in the mountains and you want to hear what the snow conditions are like or you just want to hear some chill sounds? Well, you are spoilt for choice if you are a native speaker of the language of the resort you are in, but if not do not despair. The options are limited but increasing, and with more places offering WiFi, it has provided what could be an explosion of stations targeting English-speaking skiers and snowboarders.

Well-established is Mountain Radio Verbier, servicing the Four Valleys. From the web site you can download the Mountain Radio app from iTunes or Google Play. You can also listen to Mountain Radio Verbier on 96.9 FM Cable (Pays du St. Bernard, Verbier), 94.0 FM Cable (La Tzoumaz, Thyon 2000, Nendaz). It is also on the Netplus or Netbox networks.

The good news for those visiting Chamonix  is that, from December 16th 2013, there will be the exciting prospect of the English-language Summit Radio in Chamonix Mont Blanc. The station will broadcast on www.summitchx.com. Summit Radio says it will be the ‘go to’ radio station for those living in or travelling to the Chamonix valley providing great music with local news and content, in-depth discussion and chat. Live programs will be broadcasted from 06h00 to 22h00 during the week and specialist shows during the weekends. After the winter season, Summit Radio will look to expand its team and gain an FM license to broadcast in the local area.

And if you fancy yourself as a radio presenter, they are now hiring! See here.

Of course I can’t finish this piece without drawing your attention to the English Show, servicing English-speakers in the Basel area every Tuesday evening at 6.30pm on 94.5 FM locally, and anywhere you happen to be on the web. During the winter months I have a regular slot where you can get an update on the winter sports scene in Switzerland.

Now, go listen!

 

 

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Early Season Skiing

Matterhorn Ski ParadiseI got my first runs in for the season, at Zermatt and Cervinia. The snow was good, the temperatures suitably cold and enough lifts were open to make it a pleasant enough day. However the one problem with early season skiing is that few resorts offer much in the way of terrain, valley runs are roped off even if the snow conditions are good (to save them for the Christmas period), many lifts are closed (to save on staff costs I guess) and you still have to fork out the full price.

Not a lot of skiers out, mainly a lot of Americans and Brits – and the Italian national team on the Italian side. Lots of unfit bodies crashing around by the end of the day and a few injuries look like they got sustained. A timely reminder to get ski fit before hitting the slopes.

Sun and skiMy ski legs seemed to work pretty well, but harder to get used to was altitude sickness. By the end of the season I am acclimatised to it, but in the early part of the season where most of the open runs tend to be over 3000m I need to pace myself to avoid getting nauseous.

Now where to ski next? A lot of resorts are open, but with the provisos I have previously made. There is good snow at altitude, but hopefully there will be more before Christmas. The snowline seems to be about 1300m, but there is only a few inches lower down.

Interestingly 20minuten has a deal to ski the Jakobshorn for CHF 59 including rail travel on 30th November. The deal is here. Note this is not the Parsenn, but the deal has lots of extras and is worth it for the rail pass alone. You can get information on getting to Davos Platz (the stop for the Jakobshorn) here.

That apart, the usual suspects have got some pistes open. I would tend to aim for the larger resorts with high valley stations. If you can get across to Ischgl/Samnaun, that seems to have the most open terrain, followed by Zermatt. Saas-Fee, Diavolezza (St Moritz) and Davos have enough open lifts and runs for a day out. Engelberg, Andermatt and Adelboden have around 15km open, and these and other resorts may open up more runs at the weekends. Off-piste conditions seem to be generally pretty good with moderate risk of avalanches.