Oey in Diplomatic Storm

Adelboden
The US Ambassador to Switzerland, Suzi LeVine, has kicked off a diplomatic incident by suggesting the Swiss don’t know how to respect lift queues. The story, published in Blick, quotes the Ambassador on her Facebook page as saying that “chaos” and “inefficiency” prevailed at the Swiss ski lifts. More diplomatically she tweeted “I had a great day of skiing @ Adelboden & am looking forward 2 more there & across the country. Simply seeking advice on the experience.”

I am almost certain her experiences were at the Oey lift. I have heard so many horror stories about the queues at this lift that I avoid Adelboden at busy weekends and public holidays. Mid-week it is fine, but it is a bottleneck the lift operators need to review.

The Swiss in my opinion don’t treat queues the way the British or the Americans do, and in supermarkets or getting on trains will edge forward to gain advantage, particularly at the expense of people distracted by small children or whatever. The Swiss are probably no worse than other Europeans, but the orderliness of the country and the apparent respect for standing in line may cause surprise to somebody who suddenly finds a smartly dressed gentleman or well-heeled middle aged lady has surreptitiously barged in front of them.

As for Madame Ambassador, hardly a diplomatic way to start a new assignment. It ain’t Kansas.

Share Button

Where is the best place to ski?

The perennial question and subject of many an apres-ski discussion is “Where is the best place to ski?”.

Well Mountain Management Consulting and the University of Innsbruck asked 47,935 skiers and snowboarders exactly that question and the answer was…

Zermatt

3d View of Zermatt, the best ski resort in the world

Also in the top 10 were Adelboden, Laax, Arosa and Saas-Fee, with
Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis (Austria), Solda (Italy), Alta Badia (Italy), Val Gardena (Italy) and Kronplatz (Italy) the more unlikely names filling out the top 10 places. Interestingly nowhere from France or the USA features, but they do seem rather dismissive of French resorts and they do a separate survey on North American sites (Whistler, Deer Valley and Vail are their top 3).

So the question is still open. Which really is the best ski resort in the world? Personally I am content with Zermatt, but my personal top ten ski resorts in the world looks a little different.

Share Button

New Alpine Superpass for Vaud and Bern

Superpass for Adelobden-Lenk, Gstaad Mountain Rides and the Alpes Vaudois
A new pass is on offer this season, covering the major resorts in the Bernese Oberland and Vaud. The Superpass allows you to ski Gstaad Mountain Rides, Adelboden-Lenk and the Alpes Vaudois (which includes Leysin, Villars and Les Diablerets). That’s 188 lifts and 630km of piste, and includes runs as high as 3000m at Glacier3000 (and, incidentally, Glacier3000 has opened up a new walkway between a couple of peaks for a spectacular panorama view from this season). The prices are as follows:

Consecutive days
Full-price for Adults
Youths (1991-1998)
& Seniors (m: 1949, f: 1950)
Children (1999-2005)
4 CHF 242.- CHF 219.- CHF 143.-
5 CHF 290.- CHF 262.- CHF 173.-
6 CHF 333.- CHF 301.- CHF 202.-
7 CHF 377.- CHF 341.- CHF 228.-
8 CHF 421.- CHF 380.- CHF 252.-
9 CHF 456.- CHF 413.- CHF 274.-
10 CHF 488.- CHF 441.- CHF 294.-
11 CHF 517.- CHF 467.- CHF 311.-
12 CHF 542.- CHF 489.- CHF 327.-
13 CHF 565.- CHF 510.- CHF 341.-
14 CHF 585.- CHF 528.- CHF 354.-
15 CHF 605.- CHF 546.- CHF 365.-

 

Share Button

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

Share Button