Speak and Ski like a Native

Most Swiss ski resorts have a local language which, if you are conversant in it, is clearly going to get you around the slopes and hostelries. Other languages may also be catered for – Romansh ski communities tend to understand German and often Italian, Schweizerdeutsch-speaking areas also speak German and often French and English, and a lot of French-speaking resorts have many people who work in tourism able to speak English. Italian resorts in Switzerland are mainly small and you will usually need to speak Italian to make yourself understood.

However there are variations in the language spoken. Schweizerdeutsch, the dialect spoken in most of Switzerland, is very different from High German or Swiss Standard German, and even varies from community to community to the extent that a dialect in one area may be unintelligible in another. Furthermore Swiss Standard German is also distinct from High German in some key regards, and often spoken with additional variances by the Swiss in phrasing and words unfamiliar to a native German speaker.

Italian spoken in Switzerland is very similar to Italian spoken in Italy, with a few words (known as calques), mainly derived from French, that are different.

Swiss French is also close to the French spoken in France, but still has distinct words and phrases, particularly as you move further from the border. The most notable are that in Swiss French 70 is Septante, 80 is usually Huitante (but not in some areas), and 90 is Nonante.

Valais is the canton where Swiss French differs most from standard French, and some of the variances are carried over the French border into the Chamonix area and over into Italy, in Valle D’Aosta. At its most extreme, the French is so distinct from modern French that it represents a patois, with origins in Celtic and Latin languages as well as ancient French.

French patois, like Schweizerdeutsch, varies from community to community. However, unlike Schweizerdeutsch, it has been in decline for decades. One notable exception has been Evolène, in the Val d’Hérens, which has bucked the trend and seen an uptake in usage in recent years.

Share Button

Fatalities in Swiss Alps

Pointes de Tsavolire: Traversée Eison - Saint MartinAgence France-Presse report that two employees of CERN, the lab famous for its particle accelerator and for Berners-Lee’s invention of the worldwide web, died in an avalanche over the weekend.

A 49 year old Frenchman and his 33 year old Swiss colleague were swept away at the 3000m Pointes de Tsavolire in Valais. They were amnongst five members of CERN’s ski club who set off from Eison in Val d’Herens. The area they were skiing is shown in the picture above, which I took when I was skiing in the valley a couple of weeks ago.

The two men were members of CERN’s ski club and were among five skiers who set off cross country Sunday from the village of Eison for the Pointes de Tsavolire.

This is a popular and relatively easy itinerary, just the other side of the Bec de Boisson from Grimentz. It is possible to make the ascent on skins and make the run back in a day, and there is a hut at the top for those who want to make a longer trip of it, but it sounds like this party set off Sunday morning for just a day’s outing.

It just goes to show how dangerous the late snow from a couple of weeks ago has made late season touring. The dry avalanche risk is very low, but by lunchtime the risk of wet, full-depth avalanches across Valais has been rated considerable for some days. Wet avalanches occur where snow has frozen overnight but starts to get heavy and wet as the temperatures rise and the sun starts to hit it.

Apparently two members of the party were dug out by a fifth, but the other two remained buried until rescue workers arrived and dug them out of three metres of snow.

They were taken by helicopter to hospitals in Sion and Lausanne, where they later died.

Share Button

Skiing out of Sion


Sion - Castle of Valère
I have always liked Sion, but one of its main attractions in the winter is how convenient it is for hitting the slopes – you can even see pistes from the city centre. The city is on the main line between Geneva and Milan and, reputedly, has the largest bus station in Switzerland in terms of destinations served (23 in total). From the bus station you can get direct services to Anzère, Veysonnaz and Nendaz (both in the Four Vallées), the resorts of Val d’Herens, including Arolla and even the lifts serving Vercorin (in the amazing Val D’Anniviers). By train, with just one change, you can get to Zermatt, Verbier, Crans-Montana and a bunch of other resorts. Incidentally, my tip for getting quickly to the best of the pistes is to go to Haut-Nendaz Télécabine and jump on the free shuttle bus to Siviez, where you are right at the heart of 412km of piste.

One other useful thing about Sion is that it has a youth hostel right next to the station, although unfortunately it does not open until late March. However, with so many high altitude resorts in the area it still works well for late season skiing. I recently stayed there and, as a result, got to refresh a lot of content at the Swiss Winter Sports web site. Even though it was April, I found some amazing lift-served powder in Les Marrécottes and a resort run in reasonable condition at Grächen.

There is surprisingly little variety of accommodation along the Rhône valley, with most of the beds in the ski resorts themselves. Sion does have a few hotels, though, and also a good variety of bars and restaurants in the old town.

Perhaps I will get one ski weekend in before the season finally closes, presumably in Valais. It has been a strange winter season. Much heralded as being the 150th anniversary of winter holidays, there was little snow before the New Year and lower resorts will have definitely suffered from lower visitor numbers.

Share Button