J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by SwingBeep

The government no longer thinks that "Lex Koller" is necessary, they tried to repeal it in 2007 http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/internal_affairs/Property_rules_could_get_simpler_for_foreigners.html?cid=249824 but parliament sent the bill back to the federal council with a request that they consider the introduction of some safeguards. These included a minimum residence time as a prerequisite for the purchase of property, measures to solve the problem of under utilised second homes ("cold beds") and the bills compatibility with the popular initiative "Save Swiss Soil" there has as yet been no further progress. So when Sawiris requested exemption it was no big deal, he was after all the only serious bidder for the army barracks and training grounds which included lead contaminated firing ranges.

In order to deflect any criticism he first offered the property for sale exclusively to the Swiss, he only started marketing the development to foreigners at the end of the summer. By his own admission this was a tactical decision, he wants to gain long term acceptance here. The army has a lot of surplus land and property 90 – 95% of which is classified as unsaleable so there may be further opportunities in the future.

Maybe here but not in Andermatt! Andermatt used to be an important staging post on the Gotthard pass road, but has been in decline since the building of the Gotthard rail and road tunnels. It received a further blow when Swiss army left making 1400 employees redundant. So when Samih Sawiris rolled up in 2005 and offered to buy the land previously occupied by the army (much of it contaminated) and spend a $1 billion (of his own money) on building a resort that would employ 2000 people, some of the locals are said to have remarked that he bore a striking resemblance to William Tell! Nevertheless he still had to get his plans passed by the federal, cantonal and local planning authorities. There's a lot of info on Swissinfo http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/Bankrolling_a_new_Swiss_resort.html?cid=28577428 if you want to see what it will look like when finished http://andermatt-swissalps.ch/default.aspxb the webcams are also worth a look http://andermatt-swissalps.ch/subContent.aspx?SubSectionId=43

This seems to be the situation a lot of big resorts. The European ski rental business is dominated by two organisations: Intersport http://www.intersport.com/company (turnover
€ 8.9 billion) and Sport 2000 http://www.sport2000international.com (turnover € 5.1 billion). They provide affiliated shops with purchasing and management services including rental equipment and the supporting infrastructure. In St Anton Intersport has four affiliated outlets as does Sport 2000, so it looks like they have the rental market sewn up. If you book online via http://www.intersportrent.at/winter/index.html?lang=en you can get a 5% discount and if you can get a promo code (reducsport2000 might work) you can also get 5% off at http://www.sport2000rent.at/en/rent/ One of the online booking agents http://www.snowrental.net/index.html (part of the TravelHorizon Group based in Aix en Provence) also offers discounted ski hire in St Anton.

Binding position can affect the turning performance of a ski. A more forward position puts more pressure on the ski tips, making the ski initiate turns more quickly. More rearward, and the ski becomes more stable but less responsive.

-Core Centre (FS), if FS means freestyle then this may be a forward position.

-True Ski Centre, perhaps the middle of the ski as marked by the manufacturer.

-Traditional Centre (FR), if FR means freeride then this may be a rearward position.

-3 Pin (Telemark Standard), this could be the chord centre of the ski.

You could always contact Sport-Conrad, they have English speaking staff who will talk you through the options.

Steverandomno

There's an overview of Zermatt's off-piste terrain here: http://mountaintrx.blogspot.com/2008/11/matts-off-piste-guide-to-zermatt.html

http://www.ian-lumb.com/winecellar/2005/01/skiing_in_zerma.html has some general info and a list of bars and restaurants etc.

And to keep your excitement level up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6blqhtFvhL8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TvM9lgGlog&NR=1

I don't want to be a party pooper and I know it doesn't specifically say so on the form but I think that in order to qualify for the 200 litre allowance you need to have owned the beer for at least six months. http://www.isyours.com/e/immigration/relocation/wine.html Pity as I was hoping that you would have room for a couple of crates of Boltens Ur-Alt.

The nearest ski resort of any size to Ghedi is Ponte di Legno - Tonale http://www.adamelloski.com/home_default.ashx?ID=3114 a distance of 132 km – about 2.5 hrs by car depending on conditions. If you would prefer to use public transport take the train from Ghedi to Brescia and from there take the train to Edolo. From Edolo take the bus to Ponte di Legno. Its part of the Skirama Dolomiti http://www.skirama.it/EN/home/ which comprises 8 ski resorts, 150 lifts and 380 km slopes. Details of packages, special offers etc. can be found here: http://www.adamelloski.com/documenti/Estate/INVERNO_2010_10.pdf

The ski pass discount is around 30%, some lift companies give a bit more others less. I think the Zermatt Bergbahnen is one of the more generous companies (bear in mind that only the Zermatt portion of the pass will be discounted). The price of the international pass for next season is €1025, there are however a few restrictions: first access has to be on the Italian side and you can only start skiing from the Zermatt side on 6 days in any month. http://www.skivallee.it/interna.asp?CodPage=tariffe2