Cableways Association of Switzerland

The organization known in the four languages of Switzerland as Seilbahnen Schweiz, Remontées Mécaniques Suisses, Funivie Svizzere and Funiculars Svizras has declared the winter season 2012/13 open for business. After the bumper fall of snow over the last few days, hopefully a few more resorts will be opening their runs early. It was sad to see on a winter walk this weekend the lifts closed next door to what looked like eminently skiable slopes.

Anyway, the Cableways Association, has published some interesting facts. They report that on average lift passes in Switzerland will only be going up by about 1.27% for the coming season. They also make some interesting average costings: An average over recent years of more than CHF 400m per year of investment in lifts, 13,600 people employed to operate the lifts and 39% of pistes now with snow cannons. Additional, the cost of preparation of the winter sports terrain is typically 50,000 to 70,000 francs per km of piste,
10,000 to 20,000 francs per km of hiking trail, and 100,000 to 400,000 francs for a half pipe.

Anyway, despite the strength of the Swiss Franc the Cableways Association seems bullish about the prospects for the new season and have announced a number of new initiatives to encourage the uptake of snow sports with young people (see here for details, in French).

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Snow’n’Rail 2012-13

The truly excellent Snow’n’Rail offer from Swiss Railway is available for another winter sports season with Engelberg and the Engadine already open for business. The package is broadly the same as last season – there are only small increases in prices and the extensive selection of resorts is pretty much the same (Rosswald is the only addition). It is however now possible to buy the tickets online as well as from ticket machines (in English) and over the counter.

(c) SBB photo

To recap on the nature of the offer if you are not familiar with it: For dozens of Swiss winter sports resorts you can buy a ticket to use public transport from all the major railway stations all the way to the resorts, where you can then exchange a voucher issued with your ticket to get a lift pass – sometimes there is a refundable deposit on the lift pass. The combined ticket is at a significant discount to buying the tickets separately, usually 20%. In addition you can enter a draw for a weekend break for four and can get 15% discount hiring kit from Intersport. The lift passes can be selected for 1, 2 or 6 days.

The English language web site for the Snow’n’Rail is here. The new season brochure will be available at railway stations from 1st November. It is not in English unfortunately, although at this blog’s companion site at Swiss Winter Sports every Snow’n’Rail destination is covered in detail in English.

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Eurostar links up with TGV Lyria to take skiers from London to Valais

Eurostar has launched a new weekly ski service to the Swiss Alps with tickets on sale from Thursday 11 October.

The new ski service will carry skiers and snowboarders from St Pancras International and Ashford International to the Valais region, giving access to resorts such as Verbier, Zermatt and Saas Fee from Saturday 22 December until Saturday 13 April 2013.

Passengers transfer in Lille from a Eurostar train to to a high-speed TGV, and can alight at Aigle, Martigny, Visp and Brig stations for onward transfers to their ski resorts. Eurostar and TGV Lyria will allow ski passengers to carry on-board an extra item of luggage in addition to the normal luggage allowance, such as a pair of skis or a snowboard, at no extra cost.

Eurostar ski train
Eurostar ski train (c) Eurostar 2012

Nick Mercer, Commercial Director for Eurostar said “With the highest runs in Europe, spectacular scenery and reliable snow, Swiss skiing offers something for everyone. With the resorts located just a short distance from the train stations, passengers have a much more seamless journey than travelling by air.”

The trains leave London at 6.57am and Ashford at 7.28am on Saturdays, and arrive at Aigle at 3.47pm, Martigny at 4.13pm, Visp at 4.57pm and Brig at 5.08pm. This realistically makes all the resorts of Valais and Vaud accessible via this service, using the excellent Swiss transport network completing the journey. From Martigny, Verbier is less than an hour away by train whilst from Aigle, Champery in the Portes du Soleil, Villars, Leysin and Les Diablerets all less than an hour away. Saas-Fee is less than an hour and Zermatt is almost exactly an hour from Visp. Brig gives access to the outstanding Aletsch Arena, with the resorts at Riederalp and Bettmeralp only 45 minutes away. There are also a clutch of smaller, lesser known resorts in Valais easily accessible from the ski train.

The news of this service has not been so well received by the Tourist Agencies in the Bernese Oberland and Graubünden. Britain has more tourists visit Switzerland than any other overseas country apart from Germany, but the strong Swiss Franc has led to a decline in visitors. I suspect that some visitors who would otherwise go to other parts of Switzerland may be tempted to sample Valais or Vaud, and let the train take the strain, at the expense of the Bernese Oberland and Grabünden. However, despite the undoubted convenience of the Eurostar service, all of Switzerland is accessible by train (see here for details).

The return train also departs on Saturdays. Return fares start from £189. For more details visit www.eurostar.com or call 08432 186 186.

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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.

– Click here for some tips on cannabis web design.

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.

If you are struggling with weight loss, then it’s natural to look for a reliable weight loss supplement like

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