Ise, tell us about Switzerland.

I've just been reading an article (Ski Club GB website) on the current trend in where us Brits are booking for the coming season. Predictably people are booking mostly at altitude and mostly in France.

The article also pointed out that very few people are choosing Switzerland as their destination of choice despite having some very high resorts.

For some reason there is a perception that Switzerland is expensive. The article pointed out that infact France is the most expensive country to visit for skiing and that Switzerland was actually only the fifth most expensive destination.

From personal experience (visited Wengen this January) it wasn't expensive at all yet when ever you mention it to friends that you are holidaying in Switzerland they give you that look of "you must be doing alright".

On top of all that, the transfer from Wengen to the airport was probably one of the most picturesque journeys I've been on, although I think the bus driver did take the scenic route (The Rep had us leave the resort a bit early :twisted: )

So Ise, what are you're top tips for skiing in Switzerland? I read there's a 12km piste.

ellistine I'm sure ise will be along soon to give you a very comprehensive answer :D
I like Switzerland too, and prefer skiing there more than anywhere else. Don't like to talk about it much though, don't want to bring the crowds in :D

crikey ! that's a bit of a tall order.

You can try my blog for various stations :

http://snowslider.net/switzerland/

There's no scenic way out of Wengen though, that's just what that area's like, in fact it's quite built up in places compared to other valleys. You need to leave early as the road can be horrifically busy (by Swiss standards), part of the reason I don't go actually. Maybe Wengen is a case in point though, it's really nice and I see the attraction but I don't like it, there's way nicer places in that area. I find the skiing is indifferent and it's just too busy, Adelboden/Lenk is much nicer.

Where's this 12km piste supposed to be? Do you mean 22km ? At Zermatt?

Was the article this one ? : http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/news/story.asp?intStoryID=4916 not surprising no one goes to Switzerland with that sort of rubbish, there's a bit more to the country than Verbier, which is another station most locals refuse to go to :D

What you will find is the standard of accommodation is higher here, more spacious and just cleaner. Providing you avoid some places, Verbier, Haute Nendaz (a complete and utter toilet) and the PdS (less naff than France but still naff).

Zermatt though is something else, the town's a little busy maybe but the terrain is fantastic. Where it wins so much over Wengen/Grindelwald is that the skiing radiates from the town, for example in Wengen it's a pain to get to Grindelwald First or from Grindelwald to the Schilthorn.

Maybe the thing to do is to do it like the locals, I don't mean some ski bums but normal people who live and work here. That's small ski stations, ski touring, snow shoeing sometimes.

The real reason UK skiers don't come here is that the UK tour companies don't want them to. There's not the amount of cheap accommodation they need to make their economics work. In this respect you can say the same about Italy, Austria and a lot of France even.

2005/06 I was largely skiing in Gstaad as I had a season pass there and we were in a limbo of having no mountain place. I'd done a week training course there so a season pass was a good deal and it's local for me. That's a great area, lot's of tree lined skiing, real chocolate box stuff. Hard to pick the best, maybe these days:

http://snowslider.net/2006/03/12/2006-03-12-chateau-doex/
http://snowslider.net/2005/12/14/2005-12-14-gstaad/

Riding the chair this weekend at Horneggli I was thinking how fantastic that winter had been.

2006/07 we finished building the chalet in Zinal. This is rubbish by UK standards, half a dozen lifts, half of them are drags, about a dozen runs and a visiting skier could "do" it in a morning easily (some mornings I do actually). Or, it's this :

http://snowslider.net/2007/04/06/grimentz-col-de-torrent/
http://snowslider.net/2007/04/11/vallon-de-rechy/
http://snowslider.net/2007/03/31/zinal-12/

And this is a big place, near my home it's much smaller, so small they don't really bother with piste markers or other skiers really :

http://snowslider.net/2005/02/20/la-berra-la-roche-20-february-2005/
http://snowslider.net/2006/03/14/2006-03-14-charmey/

If there's one thing to consider it's that comparing ski stations on their size might be a mistake. If I can spend the whole season in the Anniviers then it really ought to be enough for a weeks holiday. Public transport's excellent, get to an airport and using a train or bus is quite practical. Ringing the tourist office and booking is easy, I doubt there's one in all of Switzerland that doesn't speak English.

Most of all, in the real Switzerland good service is a way of life not an afterthought.

The Ski Club article reads like an advertisement for Ski Fresh Tracks, Verbier and Crystal! Is this journalism or advertorial?
ise great post :D

Bandit wrote:ise great post

Deffinately.

We're booked up for the coming season on group holidays booked by other people (Austria and Italy). I'll be refering back to this post for future seasons though! Good stuff. :thumbup:

ellistine wrote:

Bandit wrote:ise great post

Deffinately.

We're booked up for the coming season on group holidays booked by other people (Austria and Italy). I'll be refering back to this post for future seasons though! Good stuff. :thumbup:

ellistine perhaps you might wish to consider a short break in a Swiss resort this coming winter, before embarking on a full booking in the future. Lots of Swiss resorts are geared up for short breaks, and the transport links are generally excellent :D

Ise said:

"Verbier, Nendaz... and the PdS ( less naff than France but still naff).

Rather a sweeping generalisation, by inference, methinks, about France. In my experience there are many French resorts that are far from being unstylish or outmoded ( or 'naff' in the current jargon) . Switzerland, by and large, is a great place to ski. I have had good holidays there in five resorts I have also very much enjoyed skiing in several locations in France.

I think that it is a pity that , on this list, there is a tendency on the part of some subscribers to do down some countries as far as the quality of skiing, or of ski resorts, is concerned. My experience tells me that there are, of course, pros and cons for particular resorts anywhere in the world but that generalisations about countries need to be treated with considerable caution.

Keep smiling,

Geoff Smith

Geoff Smith wrote:Ise said:

"Verbier, Nendaz... and the PdS ( less naff than France but still naff).

Rather a sweeping generalisation, by inference, methinks, about France. In my experience there are many French resorts that are far from being unstylish or outmoded ( or 'naff' in the current jargon) . Switzerland, by and large, is a great place to ski. I have had good holidays there in five resorts I have also very much enjoyed skiing in several locations in France.

I think that it is a pity that , on this list, there is a tendency on the part of some subscribers to do down some countries as far as the quality of skiing, or of ski resorts, is concerned. My experience tells me that there are, of course, pros and cons for particular resorts anywhere in the world but that generalisations about countries need to be treated with considerable caution.

Keep smiling,

Geoff Smith

I think you may be referring to this part of ise's post.

ise wrote:
What you will find is the standard of accommodation is higher here, more spacious and just cleaner. Providing you avoid some places, Verbier, Haute Nendaz (a complete and utter toilet) and the PdS (less naff than France but still naff).

I believe that ise may be referring to the difference in the quality of the tourist accommodation between France and Switzerland. Having stayed in numerous pokey, dirty French apartments, I do tend to agree with his view on this, as the places I have stayed in Switzerland have been much smarter, cleaner and better value.
Having visited Haute Nendaz a couple of winters' ago, our household nicknamed it Bracknell on Ski (with apologies to residents of Bracknell).