GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Two men died in the Swiss Alps in separate accidents Monday 9 April, one in canton Valais and the other in Ticino. A hiker in Ticino came across “human remains” Saturday.
Monday was the end of the long Easter holiday weekend in Switzerland.
A 36-year-old man from canton Fribourg died when a snow plaque broke loose as he and two other ski tourers were crossing a couloir as they climbed Mont Vélan, 3,710 metres, near Bourg-St-Pierre, in the Grand St Bernard area. The three had removed and were carrying their skis at about 3,400m altitude when the accident occurred, carrying the first skier who fell 500m. His companions, both also from Fribourg, immediately alerted authorities. The doctor who was part of the rescue team declared the man dead at the scene of the accident.
Ticino man slips over cliff edge
A 61-year-old Ticino man, out hiking around the Monti di Lasagno in Carasso near Bellinzona, fell into a ravine for reasons that are not yet clear. He was declared dead at the scene of the accident.
In other Easter weekend accidents, a woman was critically injured, with severe burns to her head and upper body in a fire at a campsite in Ricken, canton St Gallen. The cause of the fire is unknown, but other campers who saw her running, with the top of her body on fire, put out the flames.
And 75 people were pulled from a skilift at Diavolezza in canton Graubuenden Sunday, when the lift broke down. The rescue operation by three Swiss Alpine Club rescue workers and two Rega helicopters lasted two hours.
Police provide few details about the human remains
A hiker who was at about 800m altitude in the Arogno area, around Garavina, Saturday found human remains. Police are saying only that it is “a human body” and that forensic tests are underway.
Gotthard tunnel lines were long as weekend drew to close
Traffic returning Monday from the south formed long queues outside the Gotthard tunnel, as snow fell to 900 metres during the evening.
Google on famed Rhaetian Railways line in Switzerland: world's first Street View train shots
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – What better country than Switzerland to start showing train lines on Google Maps Street View, and what better line than the Unesco World Heritage site Albula/Bernina line on the Rhaetian Railways!
The new views were unveiled Thursday at the Transport Museum in Lucerne.
The rail company and Google worked together in October to show the magnificent scenery and craftsmanship of this very special train line, with Street View images from the 122 km between Thusis in canton Graubuenden Tirano in Italy.
The project is part of a larger cooperative effort between Unesco and Google to make digital visits of World Heritage sites available to people around the world, says Mattias Nutt, director of UNESCO Destination Switzerland.
Mounting the Google Trike onto the Rhaetian Railways train roof
The images were shot by Street View cameras mounted on a “Trike”, a three-wheeled bicycle placed on one of the Rhaetian Railways cars that was specially prepared for the job.
It was put at the head of a special train, allowing the cameras to take a series of panoramic photos of the line and its vistas.
Four of Google’s new Rhaetian Railways Street Views
View of the Jura range from La Faucille (photo, Shirley Curran)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Visitors to the Geneva area for the car show get a real bonus this year, with excellent skiing lined up for this weekend in the Jura, with ski lifts 3 minutes from the centre of the city.
The snow is superb, reports our Jura correspondent, with fresh powder.
Tip for iPhone, iPad owners: the new My Switzerland national tourism office app, released 28 February, as well as the GVA Geneva airport app, released 6 March, were both selected by the iPhone store as featured “noteworthy” apps this week.
Weather forecast, snow conditions
Highs of 8C in Geneva, 10C in Sion, and 7-8C in Verbier and Crans-Montana. Mostly sunny, with overnight lows falling below freezing, keeping the still-deep snow in good condition. Expect strong winds today on the west side of Lake Geneva, gusting heavily in the mountains, but winds should die down by Saturday. Temperatures will rise Monday and Tuesday with highs of 14C, so get your skiing in this weekend.
Some fresh snow fell in many areas, in relatively small amounts, 5-20cm. Snow is hard at 1,500m in the Alps, but powder at 2,200-2,400m. Temperature Friday morning at 2,400m near Crans-Montana: -8C.
Avalanche bulletin
From the Swiss Institute for Avalanche Rsearch, WSL (full bulletin, all areas):
“On the northern flank of the Alps not including the northern Alpine Ridge from Chablais to the Wildstrubel, as well as in the regions of northern Tavetsch and Flims, the danger zones are found above approximately 2200 m. On the northern Alpine Ridge from Chablais to the Wildstrubel, the hazardous zones are found above approximately 2600 m. The size and spread of the freshly formed snowdrift accumulations tend to increase with ascending altitude and during the course of the day. They can be triggered as avalanches even by a single backcountry skier or freerider. Experience in evaluating avalanche danger is imperative.”
What’s on in Alpine resorts
This is one of the busiest weekends of the year, on and around the slopes. Great weather and excellent snow make this a very special year for several of these key events:
Crans-Montana: note that the Snowgames, earlier scheduled for 10-11 March, have been moved to 7-8 April. This weekend the Kiwanis are organizing a charity drive moonlight snowshoe trek and party for 300 at Violettes.
Davos, the Parsenn Derby, 9-11 March, open to all, is one of the world’s oldest ski races, first run in 1924. It’s a wonderfully lively three-day event in one of the country’s most beautiful ski regions, canton Graubuenden. The resort also holds its Snow Jam Party 10 March.
Engadin ski marathon, St Moritz in canton Graubuenden, is a huge and beautiful event where thousands of cross-country skiers take part, 11 March. The marathon has been held since 1969 and is one of the main winter outdoor events in Switzerland.
Grindelwald, in canton Bern, 10 March is hosting a Skicross World Cup event, giving spectators a chance to see this new Olympic winter sport in action.
Les Mosses, canton Vaud, 10-11 March, 1,000 people participate in the Mara cross-country dog sled race, one of the most important ones in the winter competition circuit. Full moon guided cross-country skiing followed by hot wine is also on offer this weekend.
Muerren, near Grindelwald in Bern, 10-11 is holding its White Style Open, for freeskiers and snowboarders, with open competitions and lessons from a pro.
Verbier: time to put a reminder on your calendar that 23 March one of the world’s top Xtreme sports events, the final leg of the Freeride World Tour, is held in Verbier. Words cannot capture this breathtaking event.
Villars, canton Vaud, Saturday night 10 March, full moon skiing on the Bretaye slopes , disco and party time, CHF10 for a pass for the event that starts at 17:00 and goes until the wee hours.
Zermatt, one of the best of the many moonlight ski run offers that take advantage of this weekend’s combination of good weather, great snow and a full moon.
Jura ski report
Jura ski lifts: the crowd are gone, but the snow is great!
We thought the season was reaching an end but this week’s snowfalls have been a delight and we were skiing in powder snow again with temperatures well below zero.
The Crozet installations will run only at weekends and on Wednesdays from now till the end of season but Lélex is still operating fully and the Faucille/Mijoux installations, with tip top snow coverage. The French holiday period is over so you can have runs almost to yourself now!
Ed. note: snow depth remains 50-150cm in the higher resorts. Daily snow and weather bulletins, plus opening hours are aonthe Monts-Jura site, “infos neige”.
Taeschhorn, scene of climbing accident in canton Graubuenden
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 55-year-old man from Solothurn died Saturday 10 September after climbing the Taeschhorn in canton Graubuenden, in the company of a guide.
The small group of climbers was coming down from the peak and heading towards Taeschalp at 12:15.
They had just removed their ropes five minutes before, according to the guide, and were walking along Weingarten glacial moraine when the man fell 100 metres to his death from the edge of a cliff.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Two people were killed this weekend in mountain accidents. A 68-year-old German motorcyclist was killed Sunday afternoon 14 August at the Maloja Pass in canton Graubuenden and his 62-year-old passenger injured when he crashed while passing a caravan being pulled by a car shortly before the final bend at the top of the pass. Initial reports indicate that he hit the left rearview mirror on the car and crashed into the guardrail on the left.
Sunday at 10:35 a climber lost her life in a fall in the area of the Festi-kin-Luecke near Randa, in canton Valais. She was climbing at 3,650 metres and was not roped. Canton Valais police have not released details while identification is underway. They are investigating the cause of the accident, which was unclear initially.
Swiss forest fires: prevention is the best solution (shown: history of fire hydrants, Zurich, ©2011 Ellen Wallace)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A dozen bush fires have been sparked in canton Vaud in the past week, mostly started by negligence, from cigarette butts and cooking fires not put out properly, police warn.
The canton has had a ban since 15 April on lighting fires closer than 10 metres from forests, woods, hedges, grasslands and reedbeds. Small amounts of rain fell over the weekend in some areas, but the largest amount recorded was only 10 cm, far short of what is needed to end the record April dry spell.
Cantons Graubuenden and Ticino both had sizeable forest fires in the past few days, reports TSR, with 2,000m2 burning under a ski lift in the commune of Celerina and 3,000m2 burning in the area of Maggia, in Ticino.
In the first case a discarded cigarette butt is suspected of causing the fire that took several hours to put out, using three helicopters, with 60 firefighters involved.
Fire warnings issued in canton Vaud due to dryness
Farmers are watering fields early as animals are put out to pasture in Switzerland, in fields with slow growth due to dryness
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Temperature extremes are normal in April in Switzerland, with cool nights and warm days, but the week of 18 April promises to show off the phenomenon at its best, with cold and even frost in some parts of Switzerland early Monday, then temperatures rising to 22C.
Expect sunshine, with occasional clouds that won’t do more than provide a whiff of shade, throughout the week. Temperatures are expected to slowly climb, continuing Switzerland’s unususally dry and balmy month of April.
A few drops of rain are forecast in canton Valais starting Thursday, with expected highs of 24-25C, according to MeteoSwiss, the national weather service. Ed. note: keep abreast of forecasts on GenevaLunch’s MeteoSwiss weather pages.
Authorities in canton Vaud issued a rare spring public fire aert Friday, due to excessive dryness: it is now illegal to light a fire unless you are at least 10 metres from a wooded stretch. Valais has had an open-air fire ban since mid-March and Ticino has now banned open fires, with canton Graubuenden having a ban on fires near forests.
The national weather service notes that 2011 could well bypass 1976 as the driest year since records were started in 1870: Geneva will need more than 34cm of rain and Sion 44cm to avoid this.
Gotthard base tunnel workers line up to return to the surface at the end of their shift
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The second of the twin Gotthard rail tunnels was completely pierced Wednesday 23 March near Sedrun in canton Graubuenden, inching the mega-project to build the world’s longest train tunnel closer to completion.
When the Gotthard opens in December 2016 the 57 km tunnel will cut travel time between Zurich and Milan to 2 hours, 50 minutes, reducing it by nearly an hour.
The first tunnel was pierced to much fanfare five months earlier, in October 2010. The engineering feat came soon after 33 Chilean miners were trapped underground, drawing attention to the dangers and difficulty of work hundreds of metres underground.
Workers must now encase the galleries in cement, add the high-speed train rails and other fittings for the tunnels, parts of which sit 2km underground.
Background story, GenevaLunch, 16 October 2010: Life down under: the Gotthard tunnel workers have reason to cheer
Links to other sites: TSR, “The New Gotthard Rail Link”, pdf, brochure by Alp Transit, in English with technical descriptions, Alp Transit home page
Liam and Nick Bates, Swiss ski dream week team
This is the fourth in the Swiss dream ski week series, where Nick and Liam Bates, regular contributors to GenevaLunch, see how much great skiing at top Swiss resorts they can pack into one week. Be sure to check their tips at the end.
Click on images to view larger
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – This was the perfect spa and smaller resort stop during the week, a relaxing antidote to the miles of slopes in the larger resorts. Resorts don’t get much more comfortable, charming and relaxing, with good skiing, great thermal baths and superb meals.
The fact that you can get off the train and the bottom of the lift is just 100 metres away is a plus.
Scuol basics
This is a main train stop, so it’s easy to reach, part of the heritage of the area’s success in the latter half of the 19th century as a mineral baths spa. Zurich-Landquart-Scuol by train takes a little over two-and-a-half hours.
Scuol is one of a string of beautiful villages as famed for their architecture and “Sgraffito” traditionally decorated buildings as for the spectacular Engadine Valley scenery around them.
It is a centre of Romansh, Switzerland’s fourth language, spoken by only 1 percent of the population, but treasured here.
This is also a hugely popular summer resort area, in part because this is home to Switzerland’s only national park.
Scuol, the mountains, with snow starting to fall
Scuol has 10 thermal baths, with the Engadin Bad Scuol the largest and most well known. The calcium- and magnesium-rich springs in Scuol itself were mentioned as far back as 1369.
The water is cold when it reaches the Earth’s surface, 6 to 8C. It contains between 1.1 and 17 grams of mineral salt per litre.
The sources for over 20 mineral springs are located near Scuol, 10 of which have been tapped and are used for mineral water cures, carbonic acid mineral baths and the Engadine Spa Scuol.
The Motta Naluns ski area goes from 1,250 to 2,800 metres, with a chairlift from Ftans and two cablecars from Scuol and another 11 lifts once you’re up on the mountain.
Time out for the baths and fine dining
Nick’s notes
Scuol has some excellent hotels and is noted for its fine cuisine
We took an afternoon train to Scuol and settled into the Guarda Val, a charming local hotel. We then headed down to the local mineral baths, stopping off to taste the waters of a public fountain. This was a real surprise, as it offers a choice of clear drinking water or a sparkling, heavily iron-flavoured version, straight from the source.
The baths include a range of different temperatures and mineral content; some leaving the skin tingling. There is a sauna, jacuzzi, Turkish baths.
The local youngsters use the baths as a place to hang out, so it stays busy and lively, with boys on one side of the sauna and girls on the other.
We had a fantastic meal in the hotel restaurant, which is linked to the group of “Jeunes Restauraters”. The prices were more reasonable than St Moritz, with a three-course gourmet meal for CHF75, or four courses for CHF85. There was a good range of wine available by the glass or by the bottle.
Skiing and snowboarding in Scuol
Liam’s notes
Fresh snow!
We had a little dump of snow overnight, and it kept snowing throughout the morning, which meant lovely snow with not-so-lovely visibility.
The first run of the day was great because it was a layer of powder on top of groomed piste, so the runs were safe but smooth. Scuol is a much smaller resort than Verbier or St Moritz, with only about 80km of piste (Verbier has 400+) but it is nicely designed.
Liam and Nick Bates, Swiss ski dream week team
This is the third in the Swiss dream ski week series, where Nick and Liam Bates, regular contributors to GenevaLunch, see how much great skiing at top Swiss resorts they can pack into one week. Be sure to check their tips at the end, as well as the video from the slopes.
Click on images to view larger – snowboard video at end
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - St Moritz and glitz: it’s hard to separate them, but for two skiers intent on getting the best out of Swiss mountains in a week, the furs and razzmatazz of St Moritz become just a small sideshow.
Skiing father Nick and snowboarding son Liam gave the famous but also very large resort two days, arriving by train from Zurich. The Zermatt-St Moritz Glacier Express would have been a beautiful option, but it’s not for those in a hurry to get to the slopes. And one week for five resorts with as much skiing as possible meant leaving out the 10 km tough Diavolezza to Morteratsch run. 2,978 m to 1,896 m, the “longest secured glacier descent in Switzerland”.
But you can’t expect to do everything in just two days in St Moritz.
The basics: 350km ski slopes, 1,800-3,300 metres
The village of St Moritz has given its name to a cluster of beautiful little hamlets and villages in canton Graubuenden that together offer 350 km of skiing, four large areas and seven smaller ones, reliably some of the best (and surest) snow in Switzerland at 1,800-3,300 metres. First lift opens at 07:45, the rest by 08:00, so if you want the first one on fresh snow, head out early. Four major peaks.
Corviglia in St Moritz: plenty of blue sky and space on the slopes for a snowboarder
Other ice and snow sports are hugely popular, so there is no shortage of winter sports, from 200km of cross country skiing and long sledding runs to the world-class White Turf horse race on the frozen lake in St Moritz village, in early February.
The Preda to Berguen sled run goes alongside the lovely Albula railway section that is a Unesco World Heritage site, and the bright red rail cars travelling through banks of light white snow is one of the sights of the area worth seeing while you’re out doing sports.
The resort claims to be the birthplace of winter tourism 150 years ago, but there is certainly nothing decrepit about the village or the area around it, and don’t be surprised if you recognize a few royals or headline-makers.
A good thing about the resort’s luxurious approach to life if you’re a skier is that the lifts are in good shape and queues are not a problem.
Skiers’ notes from Saint Moritz
Day 1 – Skied Corviglia mountain
Lunch pause, El Paradiso, St Moritz
There was a clear blue sky and it was cold, -17C at the top of the peak where we were, Piz Nair, at just over 3,000 metres.
The slopes were steep but very wide and well groomed, so we could ski fast but safely.
There were very few people on the slopes before lunch. By the time we stopped for a much-appreciated hot chocolate at Chamanna cabin at 10:30, it already felt like we had done a full day of skiing.
Overnight stays up in Switzerland despite strong franc
Bern's new riverside bear pit is a popular attraction, although crowds thin on a snowy day
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The number of visitors to Switzerland rose in January despite record highs for the Swiss franc at the start of 2011. Asian tourists provided a strong boost, with numbers up 5.4 percent. Tourism, calculated on the basis of overnight stays, rose 1.6 percent overall, compared to January 2010.
The overall increase in foreign tourists was 0.4 percent.
Fewer Germans and Italians, but Belgians made up for it
The good news hides a worrisome fall in the number of German tourists, down by 5,000 overnight stays (-1 percent) compared to a year earlier. Ski resorts in German-speaking areas in Switzerland, notably Graubuenden, rely heavily on German tourists, but the canton nevertheless showed an increase of 10,000 nights for the month.
The British had 4,300 fewer nights and Italians 3,600 fewer nights, in Switzerland as a whole.
Diableret, canton Vaud, still drawing skiers
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – All eyes have been on Davos this week for the World Economic Forum (WEF), which also means journalists covering it have had a chance to ski there. And they says that what they’ve seen confirms what they suspected: the strong Swiss franc is keeping foreign tourists away. The problem is, they have the story wrong.
The franc has appreciated 9 percent against the dollar in the past 12 months and 18 percent against the euro. Mountain visitors account for 47 percent of Swiss overnight stays, so if resorts are in a slump, Swiss tourism will be hurting.
But they have the story wrong
Not just an uphill battle for resorts, despite the franc's strength (photo: Les Mosses, juncture between Vaud and Bernese Alps)
There are two problems with this: one is that Davos is far from representative of Swiss ski resorts, and the other is that while shop and hotelkeepers grumble everywhere that business is down, statistics show that the situation is far from dire.
Skiers are still coming to Switzerland, and in substantial numbers, and this despite a strong franc and a snow base that is adequate if not as deep as many skiers would like, especially in parts of canton Valais.
2011 decrease of 2-3 percent expected
Véronique Kanel at the Swiss national tourism office in Zurich puts the currency problem in perspective. “We are concerned that the impact of the strong Swiss franc will be increasingly felt by the tourism industry over the coming months. Switzerland Tourism believes that a decrease of 3-5 percent in overnights for 2011 (not only the winter season) for markets of the euro zone, and overall, a decrease of 2-3 percent in all overnights would be realistic, should the euro remain at its current level against the Swiss franc.”
Statistics to the end of November 2010, the latest available, show an overall 2.4 percent decrease in overnight stays from January to end-November for the five euro currency countries that bring in 50 percent of the foreigners visiting Switzerland: Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium. Two other important markets for the Swiss are Britain and the US, both of which have currencies that have weakened against the franc.
November and December were good and January promising, but some dips
But overnight stays from the US rose nearly 9 percent in 2010, and the number of visitors was up nearly 11 percent in 2010, bouncing back from a 2009 dip.
And November was generally a good month, with hotel overnights up 4.9 percent during this weakest months of the winter season. Christmas and New Year’s traffic was good at most resorts, with canton Valais, for example, saying it was at 90 percent of capacity for bookings up to New Year’s. Canton Vaud told Swiss public television TSR in late December that books for January were relatively strong.
The Matterhorn's appeal is perennial, no matter where the Swiss franc stands
Zermatt saw things somewhat differently, but it depends more heavily on foreign traffic than some resorts. Daniel Luggen has an upbeat take on the situation:
“It is certainly not an easy time for Swiss tourism, especially for a destination like Zermatt, where 70 percent of the guests are coming from abroad. We have felt the influence during this last two months in terms of fewer overnights, with December down approximately 8 percent and January down about 10 percent, but also in the consuming habits of the guests. Thanks to a strong number of loyal vistors, the decrease was not too bad—among the Zermatt guests there are 75 percent repeaters.
“Even though we would appreciate it if the Swiss franc would lose its power, the decrease has also a good side: Zermatt suppliers actually have more time to take care of and pamper their guests.”
A personal observation from this journalist: easyJet at Geneva airport, which carries hordes of British skiers, continues to have large crowds.
Davos is different. It and most of canton Graubuenden rely very heavily on German tourists, so when the Germans stay away, the drop can be dramatic. And while the slopes are magnificent, some skiers would rather be on them when the WEF show and military presence have ended.
Gotthard tunnel works, above ground 2010 (photo, Alp Transit)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The TV cameras will be whirring away as a group of men shake hands and probably wipe away tears nearly two kilometres below ground, but the event this time is not trapped miners, it’s a celebration as the final bit of Switzerland’s Gotthard base rail tunnel is bored early Friday afternoon. The world’s longest rail tunnel, 57 km, will be pierced early in the afternoon 15 October, the culmination of 17 years of tunneling work.
Drillers from Sedrun in canton Graubuenden will meet those from Faido, Ticino, completing the drilling of 151.4 km in total (roads in both directions and galleries). The workers from Ticino will climb through the manhole once the final boring is done.
TSR will cover it live in French: 6.5 km long fiberglass cables had to be laid to make the live broadcasts possible.
The tunnel itself will not open until 2017, with construction and safety work inside the tunnel remaining a major project.
Once completed, the Gotthard tunnel will be a key part of the European rail system’s transalpine line, linking northern and southern Europe with high-speed trains.
Update 14:30 Merano, Italy (GenevaLunch) – An Italian regional train came off the rails near Merano, in northern Italy, not far from Switzerland’s canton Graubuenden and the border with Austria, 09:00 Monday morning 12 April. Seven people died and 25 people are injured, five of them seriously. Another train had passed just moments before, going in the other direction, without a problem. First reports are that the cars on what is considered one of Italy’s most modern train lines were derailed when a landslide was set off by a ruptured irrigation pipe for nearby farmers’ fields.
Links to other sites: Corriere della Sera (Ita), Reuters (Ita) and Reuters UK, TSR (Fre)
Chur, Graubuenden, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The apparent suicide of Markus Reinhardt, police chief for canton Graubuenden and head of security operations for the World Economic Forum in Davos, has Swiss-German media doggedly pushing for more information. Reinhardt was found dead in a Davos hotel room Tuesday morning 26 January. Cantonal officials said that signs pointed to suicide, that it was a personal tragedy, and they would not share further information out of respect for his family.
But journalists have been pursuing the story, insisting on more information, as details of problems Reinhardt has had in the past 10 years, including alcoholism, according to Blick magazine, have surfaced.
Davos during the World Economic Forum, 2009 (image: WEF)
Update 11:37 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Army has begun preparations for the World Economic Forum in Davos, from 27-31 January 2010, with 200 soldiers dispatched to canton Graubuenden to begin making security arrangements. The army will supply 5,000 soldiers this year, the same as last, and the government will spend CHF1.5 million providing military security for the event. The cost is down slightly thanks to technical improvements, according to Bern.
The army provides security on the ground, including clearances for people attending the event, which pulls in top-level business and political leaders. The Swiss and Austrian air forces provide air surveillance.
Swiss military flights are flying over the Alps frequently this week, noticeable to skiers, but these are regular training flights, the military department confirmed to GenevaLunch. Military training linked to WEF begins closer to the event.
Bern / Chur, Graubuenden, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Two guides who have been on trial for their part in the deaths of six soldiers during a military mountain training expedition on the Jungfrau have been acquitted. They were on trial in a Swiss military court for involuntary manslaughter and for not observing military regulations.
Update 18 November Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Anne-Sophie Pic, head chef at the Beau-Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne, has been given a prestigious second star by French-based Michelin Red Guides, whose new guide to Switzerland comes out 19 November. The Beau-Rivage is one of only thirteen 2-star restaurants in Switzerland. Pic leads the way for the Lake Geneva region, which continues to boast two of Switzerland’s three three-star restaurants, Philippe Rochat in Crissier, canton Vaud and Le Pont de Brent in Montreux, Vaud.
Swiss restaurants have a total of 101 stars, making it the country with the highest number of starred restaurants per inhabitant.
Michelin’s new guide to Tokyo is also out (it goes on sale in Europe only in February 2010). The city now has the highest number of 3-star restaurants in the world, with three. It also has more stars than any other city, 261, and Michelin refers to it as “world leader in gourmet dining.”
Two other restaurants which currently have one star are in line to receive a second star: Auberge de Floris in Anières, canton Geneva and Homann’s Restaurant in Samnaun, canton Graubuenden.
Michelin gave new single stars to three restaurants in Geneva, awarding them to chefs:
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – GaultMillau has awarded its coveted title of Swiss chef of the year 2010 to Andreas Caminada, the second time the chef has been given this distinction. Caminada tends the stoves at Schloss Schauenstein in Fuerstenau, Graubuenden, which has 19 points. He won the title in 2008 as well.
GaultMillau includes 816 restaurants in its 2010 Swiss guide, none of which have 20 points, but eight of which have 19 (five are in French-speaking Switzerland). The promising young chef of the year for French-speaking Switzerland is Pierrick Suter at the Hôtel de la Gare in Lucens, Vaud.
Links to other sites: Lake Geneva region tourism office, GaultMillau and Michelin restaurants list
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A Swiss army helicopter with forward-looking infrared technology (Flir) assisted in the rescue of an injured woman hiker near Disentis, canton Graubuenden, early Tuesday 8 September. The Super Puma army helicopter was called in after rescuers from the Swiss airborne rescue corps Rega and Swiss Alpine Club (CAS) were unable to visually locate her late the previous night, according to the Swiss Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS).
GenevaLunch spoke to Christian Trottman of Rega, who said that the alarm was given by the woman herself, a German who was out hiking alone, by cell phone late afternoon, 7 September.
Swiss brown bear (image: ©2009 Josef Griffel/Swiss federal environment office)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss brown bear is coming home and while he’s being welcomed with open arms, he will have to get used to new rules that should make it harder for him to become too familiar with humans. The federal government laid out its brown bear management policy in 2006 after the first brown bear in a century appeared in 2005.
Four bears have since been seen in Switzerland, but two have since died, and one has disappeared.
Celebrations after boring through to link 2 tunnels, St Gotthard new rail line (photo: AlpTransit)
St Gotthard rail tunnel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The miners digging the new St Gotthard train tunnel, which at 57 km will be the longest in the world, Tuesday 16 June celebrated the final boring of the 7.5 km Erstfeld-Amsteg leg, completing the eastern side of the tunneling project.
Graubuenden, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Three climbers died in a 400-metre fall Saturday when the rope holding them together gave way. Investigators believe a snow plate gave way under their weight when they were at 3,750m altitude. The three, a 35-year-old couple from Zurich and a 41-year-old man from St Gallen, were on the Piz Palue after spending the night at the Diavolezza hut.
The deaths bring to 23 the number of people who died during the 2008-2009 winter season in the Swiss Alps, just under the average of 25, according to TSR.
