Messages posted by : SwingBeep
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5 dead and 2 injured, they were taking part in a "Freeride Camp". Prior to setting off from the Lizumer Hütte the hut guardian warned them several times about the avalanche danger. This was one of 18 avalanches in Tyrol today, several skiers were caught (the exact number is not known) fortunately there were no other fatalities.
http://www.krone.at/Oesterreich/Fuenf_Tote_bei_Lawinenabgang_in_Tirol-17_Verschuettete-Story-494786 |
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Resort wide wifi was introduced at the beginning of this season, but for some reason they chose not to publicise it. They have also produced a new app http://app.matterhornparadise.ch/en/ but it doesn't seem to be available yet.
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If your last visit was in 2008 the exchange rate would have been around 2.0 in 2009 it was about 1.6, today it's 1.45. Most of the mountain restaurants in Zermatt have websites so it's easy to to get an overview of costs.
Ice - Buffet Bar Pizzeria Trockener Steg (self service) http://www.matterhorn-group.ch/fileadmin/redaktion/mgroup/downloads/ice_Menuekarte_Pizzeria_19_B_4.pdf Kulmhotel Gornergrat http://gornergrat-kulm.ch/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/vis-a-vis_Speisekarte.pdf Restaurant Rothorn http://www.matterhorn-group.ch/fileadmin/redaktion/mgroup/downloads/Speisekarte_Rothorn_Winter_1415.pdf And if you want to push the boat out the excellent Findlerhof with 14 Gault Millau points http://www.findlerhof.ch/karten/speisekarte.pdf Hotel prices have gone down by about 10% since the Swiss National Bank removed the Euro peg, but the international lift pass is still the most expensive in Europe at CHF 434 for 6 days. |
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Information on this accident is still pretty sketchy, but several German news sites are now reporting that after colliding sideways with each other at medium-fast speed they then collided with a snow cannon mast, which is thought to have caused their fatal injuries. Sounds to me like they were having a race.
On initial inspection the helmets they were wearing did not display any obvious damage, a closer inspection revealed that one of them was undamaged and the other was very slightly damaged. http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/feldberg-unglueck-skifahrer-prallten-gegen-masten-einer-schneekanone-a-1074066.html |
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There are still a few areas in your neck of the woods without mobile phone reception http://mobile.free.fr/couverture/ If you are in one of these areas and need to contact the rescue service you can use the emergency radio channel (161.300 MHz) http://www.sdis74.fr/datas/wysiwyg/Alerte-secourisme/CanalEanglais.pdf the radios cost about CHF 300 http://www.gianora-hsu.ch/rega.html?lang=en
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The Club Med hotel is nearly 100m above the village and about 1km from the Plan Maison lifts so it's a bit more than a short walk. Piste 16 (Cieloalto) passes close by so getting down to the lifts for opening time shouldn't be a problem.
As others have mentioned the skiing on the Italian side is pretty easy, it's a carvers paradise. Most of the restaurants serve good to excellent food, Chalet Etoile, Hotel Principe Delle Nevi, The Bontadini (launch pad toilets) and the Foyer Des Guides on the piste down to Valtourneche are all well worth a visit. The link to Zermatt is often closed due to high winds at this time of year, they only open it if they can keep it open for the whole day. The runs from the top down to Zermatt and Cervinia are some of the longest in the alps, it's 21km from the Kleine Matterhorn down to Zermatt with a vertical height difference of 2,279 metres, so allow plenty of time to get back. It takes 25mins to get from the bottom station up to Trockener Steg and about the same again to Testa Grigia using the drag lifts, there are often long queues for the cable car up to the Kleine Matterhorn so I nearly always take the drags. I'm not certain, but the quickest way back from the Sunnegga sector might be to take the Funicular down to the village and the free bus to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise gondola. The GBP / CHF exchange rate has taken a turn for the worse lately so lunch will be very expensive. The food in the self service restaurants isn't that good, but the food in the Findlerhof, Zum See, Chez Vrony and Paradies is excellent. You don't really need your passport, but it would be good idea to take it and your EHIC, just in case something unfortunate happens. In order to make the most of Zermatt you could spend a night in the guides hut at Testa Grigia http://www.rifugioguidedelcervino.com/index.asp good food and a surprisingly good wine list for somewhere above 3000m. The weather is forecast to be mostly sunny but very cold (-20°C) next week. |
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The last Arlberg Express coach leaves Zürich airport at 19:00.
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I think 14mins is plenty, it's about 75m from the railway platform to the bus station. Altibus was set up to encourage skiers to use public transport to get to the ski resorts, so it wouldn't make sense if there wasn't enough time to get from the train to the bus. If you have any doubts you could contact Altibus directly https://altibus.com/call-center-rp26_en.aspx
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