Messages posted by : verbier_ski_bum
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I believe that a company operating in Switzerland should be paying their staff Swiss wages, which should be taxed in Switzerland. It doesn't preclude free movement of labour at all. I spoke to people in resort and this move is generally regarded as positive. No-one should be paid 100 chf or less a week with 1 day off (which can also be taken away when it's busy). Not in this country, 100 chf doesn't take you anywhere, not even enough for a night out in a pub. Deduce for "living" expenses as you wish, but deduce it from the Swiss wage. Bringing cheap labour is not a competitive practice. It's actually unfair competition. The fact that chalet operators are pulling out only proves it.
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You can look at this situation from the position of attracting visitors (who look for the cheapest options) and from the position of maintaining a healthy job market and boosting employment. There is no way any Swiss person who wants to live in the mountains can compete on a labour market with kids from well-off families ready to work for pittance that is even below the minimum wage(29k is not much in Switzerland at all) just for the sake of experience. What should the government do? Tell local population to leave and get a job somewhere abroad because this job market now belongs to British who don't need wages? TO's that are leaving this market are making profits from cheap labour, not because they sell any special services. Good riddance. New TO's will take their place, who can indeed be competitive. It's not that Switzerland has nothing to offer to people visiting it. Plus, I've noticed that France is doing similar things. There are laws that have been in place for years and they will be enforced now. Tourism should benefit local economy not the foreign one. The kind of business that these TO's were bringing was rather undermining local economy, not boosting it.
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I am just thinking about less people queuing up at Tortin cable and gondola to go up. |
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TO's are pulling out because they won't be making as much profit without slave labour, up to them really. Plus there would still be chalets.
It's not that difficult to book a chalet via any real estate agent that runs them on behalf of owners. Yeah, not all-inclusive, but when people are in charge of their own catering they eat and drink better and don't tend to stuff themselves because "it's all paid for", they are also more flexible and don't rush because they can miss afternoon tea or whatever. |
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As for the impact I suspect the rift between the resorts while not particularly good for anyone might affect the 4 vallées side more. Generally speaking, Verbier side is famous for off-piste, pistes skiing is boring there, but some good pistes are on the other side (though if you are staying in Verbier it's a long trek with a few drag lifts for the opportunity to ski down the Piste de l'Ours couple times). Verbier is higher and snow lasts there a few weeks longer after Nendaz becomes unskiable. Quite a few people choose to stay on Nendaz side as it's cheaper while benefiting from freeride opportunities provided by Verbier. They are likely to go to other places now or stay in Verbier and pay Verbier prices, or in La Tzoumaz which is cheap but so quiet it's like a grave yard. Basically a split between Thyon and Veysonnaz means that 4 vallées now offer almost no freeride options bar couple descents off Plan du Fou which turn cr@p very quickly as low or directy facing the sun. Even if Combatseline falls under Nendaz/Veysonnaz management the backside of Greppon blanc will be off limits since to get back skiers need to get a few lifts that are on Thyon side. A big mess, unless they want to focus now solely on families skiing strictly piste. I suspect queues at the bottom of Tortin to go up to Gentianes and Mt Fort will be shorter even at peak times which is not such a bad thing and most people for whom Verbier is the resort of choice will come back regardless. The price hike is not substantial and not many ever venture beyond Tortin anyway to feel that they are being ripped off or to miss anything. But it's just stupid that linked areas should require different ski passes.
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Conseil d'Etat offered to serve as a mediator so there is hope it will get resolved. I understood that initial squabble was between Televeysonnaz and Telethyon, where Veysonnaz wanted bigger share of the revenues (Nendaz belongs to the same company). On balance, I won't miss too much the 4 vallées side,even though I like the backside of Greppon Blanc and some nice tree skiing in Siviez. But Verbier side is still the best. Most of my skiing ends at the bottom of Tortin gondola and I can spend all day on Mont Gele and won't get bored, but many skiers were attracted by the offered mileage on the same pass and as result of this split will be skiing elsewhere. Maybe business and common sense will prevail in the end.
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I feel like am skied-out for the season and ready to pack skis but snow keeps coming back. Big snow is expected for the weekend again when all I want is a BBQ with rosé on a sunny terrace. Not a good sign for May, so typical - it gets cold and rainy once the lifts start to close. This is the time of the year when snow in the forecast doesn't bring much excitement...
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Couple weeks ago I realised that my poles were not mine - same length and make, but a different model. How and when they got swapped I have no idea.
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