Well, it seems a little early to start talking about the next winter sports season, but a chilly Monday in Basel got me in the spirit and... well I've got a project in hand to document skiing and snowboarding and other winter activities in Switzerland to a greater level of detail than (I think) has been achieved anywhere else, at least in English. Anyway, I've started documenting previous season's experiences at http://www.oatridge.co.uk/nic and welcome contributions. I'm not looking to replace or replicate what is already on this bulletin board, just capture hard info on whch places to visit in winter andd how to get the most out of them... info I've acquired the hard way, but which I would have appreciated being available to me the first time round - and which is still very cursory for many places.

I'm not sure where this project is going. At this time it's a blog of sorts. Let me know what you think...

I had a quick look but the link didn't work.

Master Eire has an excellent site that already has a wealth of indepth information on exactly the same subject in English for winter sports and MTB'ing

http://www.swissalpineadventure.com/ski-snowboard

Thanks Papa G

If you are looking for info and to meet like minded people to get out in the Swiss Alps with then www.swissalpineadventure.com is the place to go.

Curses, you posted the link before I did sensai

But as someone has kicked this off, maybe a mod could sticky the thread, and us snowhounds should think about a social

Social Time!


With Papa G's blessing, Should I assume this is the official Winter 2010-2011 Snowhound thread?

Anybody see any deals to get an equipment tune-up?

Social time indeed lumi... watch this space.

Ocshner have a promo' on ski and binding servicing @ half price starting next week:
Big service - 27
sml service - 17
bindings - 15

Thanks, I'll check out the site more - looks good but a lot of the smaller sites IMHO are worth checking out but are not covered, and there's not much info on them generally out there although they're worth a day out. Nothing worse than getting up at 5am to take a Snow'n'Rail pass to somewhere then trying to figure out which stop to get off at, where the best skiing is etc.

Not sure why the link didn't work, here it is again: http://www.oatridge.co.uk/nic

The amount of information on each page is small for a reason. The resort web pages are too full of information, in 90% of them it is almost impossible to find a piste map or the basic information you will require to spend a day there. For this reason I put links to the important information (piste map, weather forecast) plus a link to the resorts website incase you need further information.

In terms of including the smaller resorts there are a number of small ones on there. I generally go to the smaller resorts to avoid the crowds of the big ones. I have personally visited every resort on the website so the information is first hand not hear say. As I visit more resorts they will be added to the site.

The best skiing is a very personal thing. For beginners I have specified some areas of certain resorts that are best suited, for freeriders I have suggested other areas of different resorts. The thing is that in most cases most people can enjoy many resorts. What one person considers amazing skiing can freeze another person to the spot and vica versa. Thus I have made suggestions, but no blinding statements that piste 41 in resort X is exactly where you need to go.

I've also made the webcam page an overview of the alps so that if someone is wondering where might be good to go they can get a look at many different places in one go.

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Interested in skiing, Snowboarding or Mountain Biking in Switzerland? Information in English available here.

Cool site, wish I'd found it before some of my adventures. It's the best English language insiders accounts I've seen, although I also rate the "Activity Workshop" site but it hasn't been updated for a while. I agree with you on the level of detail. I often get to Adelboden so I wrote up a blog page listing everything I knew or could find out about the place, but it's not very interesting and I'm not sure anyone will find it useful. Oh well, got to do something to distract myself until the season starts again!

There are some small places you've been to that I didn't know about but sound like they're worth a day out. I'm based in Basel, and tend to ski more in Valais and Bernese Oberland than the East.

ok, been there.epic weather typical glacier conditions. not too packed. cant wait the snow to hit switzerland!!!

Went to Saas Fee and it was very good! Snow was good for carving, weather sunny and snow stayed wonderfully dry despite the sunshine but temp remained below freezing the whole day. Only minus were the long queues to the t-bar lifts.

Saas Fee is my favorite pre-season destination with three lifts and five to six runs open. Perfect to get the feel and refresh your skills! I personally prefer Saas Fee to Zermatt because SF has steeper glacier runs than Zermatt and is of course closer to Zurich.

To all who search ski in Switzerland, i recommend you travel to Bad Gastein in Austria (very cheap train tickets now!). Good ski routes, cheaper hotels!

Yesterday was a blast in Davos, good company, great weather and and excellent kick off to the season... just waiting for the old legs to catch up

Who's for drinks on Thursday at the Shamrock?

regarding "Chinese Downhill" -- yearly in Arlberg there's a big ski race, "Der weisse Ring" (website with Vorarlberger Alpine music! ), "the longest ski race in the world". Also quite some videos on YouTube about this traditional ski race which dates back many many years ("over 50 years") !

:O I forgot about this thread until this weekend when I got a ski salopette exactly my size. I'll be sure to read more about events and stuff

Wehn are the resorts opening around Zurich (Okay I mean Laax, Flumserberg etc)? I heard about the opening apero and parties as well. Nothing on the websites.

Going to hit the slopes tomorrow, but Engelberg, my closest resort only has 12ks open, on the glacier.

Anyone know if a close resort which currently has a few more runs open?

Cheers

This freaks me out. POV video of avalanche burial and rescue.
Now that I am a father I think my backcountry explorations will be cut down a bit. But then again........ It all depends on how well trained the people you go with are. If they are not, then dont go. Thats my new motto.

http://vimeo.com/6581009

Think I might buy myself a christmas present.
http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com...p/ski/avalung/

I'm not sure anywhere close will be better than Engelberg. Diavolezza and Saas-Fee are probably the best alternatives just now. I wouldn't be surprised if you can ski off the glacier at Engelberg off-piste down the Laub or on the trail down to Stand. personally being a weekend and given the snow conditions I wouldn't be surprised if the runs are open down to Trübsee, but maybe it's worth giving the resort or the ski school there a call?

I'm curious:

I have a bit of a Hoch Ybrig fetish, and I've been wondering whether I couldn't store my skiis and boots there during the season. Doesn't someone, somewhere have an offer like that?

Mike