J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by SwingBeep

Anything to do with racing usually involves a lot of hanging around waiting for something to happen.

The price doesn't seem to be much different from one of the pre season glacier training courses run by Snoworks, one of the UK based ski schools. If you went on one of those you could get some coaching from an Olympian and you would have a set of new skills to use on your Christmas holiday.

Finding hotel accommodation and Kosher food for 200-250 people in the alps isn't going to be easy, 60% of the hotels in the Swiss alps have no more than 20 beds.

There are a few other hostels that can cater for that number of people in Switzerland; this site (only in German) has a list of hostels and the number of people they can accommodate http://www.gruppen-unterkuenfte.ch/ The Sport Holiday Resort just outside Fiesch in Canton Valais can accommodate up to 1000 people http://www.sport-ferienresort.ch/ and the youth hostel in St Moritz has space for 306 http://www.youthhostel.ch/de/hostels/st-moritz This organization might be able to help http://www.groups.ch/en/index.php

The UCPA (Union des Centres Sportifs de Plein Air) a French organization that offers outdoor sports holidays for people aged 7–39 also caters for large groups and has accommodation in some of the large ski resorts http://www.ucpa-vacances.com/

I think the trains from Interlaken Ost railway station to the ski areas are included in the Jungfrau regional ski pass http://www.jungfrau.ch/en/winter/tourism/travel-information/skipass/jungfrau/ You can get the journey times from the timetable http://www.jungfrau.ch/en/winter/tourism/travel-information/timetable/

Mürren and Wengen are car free. The nearest parking is in Lauterbrunnen and costs CHF 13.50 a day during the week and CHF 16.50 at weekends, if you can find a space. Parking in Grindelwald is limited, you would more than likely have to park in Grindelwald-Grund at CHF 6 a day

Interlaken isn't a ski resort; at only 568 m it's much too low. There is a free ski bus to Grindelwald (takes about an hour) that stops in Zweilütschinen where you can catch the train to Mürren/Wengen.

The Omnia in Zermatt has an outdoor whirlpool (with Matterhorn view) and a partial outdoor swimming pool http://www.the-omnia.com/en/feel-well/wellness/



If you don't want to go to Zermatt, get in touch with the local tourist office for the resort you want to visit. They should be able to provide you with a list of hotels that have one.

December is much too early to go to Zermatt. The region around Zermatt is one of the driest in the alps, so its best to wait until the snow builds up. IMO March is the best month to go. In the early part of the season the link is often closed because of high winds.

pavelski wrote:
Is this a ski lift ?

Er, well actually no :oops:, but it is unique and riding above the cables is very strange.

It takes tourists up the Stanserhorn, a spectacular view point above lake Lucerne. The summit can also be reached by a Funicular railway that dates back to 1893 http://www.pictures-switzerland.com/stanserhorn/index.htm.

Wonder what happens in snow storm ?

I don't think it runs in the winter.