Avalanche danger growing, says federal office
Dutch prince “stable” but not out of danger after Austrian avalanche
Very steep slope above Ardon, canton Valais
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The weekend promises every skier’s dream: fresh powder on top of an excellent base throughout the Alps and Jura, warmer weather and mostly sunny skies.
There is a down side: the risk of avalanches is growing, thanks to the combination of warmer weather and significant layers of fresh snow.
Prince Johan Friso, 43, the second son of Dutch Queen Beatrix, is in stable condition in an Innsbruck hospital after being buried under an avalanche for 15 minutes.
He was skiing off-piste with three other people when the avalanche, reportedly 30 metres wide and 40m long, occurred.
He was wearing an avalanche beeper, which allowed rescuers to reach him quickly and he was resuscitated at the scene, but doctors say he is not yet out of danger.
Several members of the Dutch royal family were on holiday together, including the queen, reports the BBC.
Weather forecast, snow conditions
Frosted Jura (photo, Shirley Curran)
Saturday: sunshine and highs of 6-8C, with the Valais Alps the warmest area until you get to Ticino, says MeteoSwiss. Rain or snow in some areas on Sunday, but less likely in Valais. Get in your day on the slopes Saturday.
More snow appeared during the week than was forecast, so there’s a good fresh layer in most resorts. Alpine areas north of the Rhone had 10-25cm Wednesday and early Thursday, with peaks in the centre and some parts of the Vaud Alps getting 25-50cm.
The avalanche risk level is 3 for Saturday, but note that WSL, the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, is providing a longer than usual bulletin for this week. Three skiers were caught by an avalanche in Obwald Friday.
The WSL notes that “Snowdrift accumulations can be easily triggered in some places and should be circumvented. Experience in assessing avalanche hazards is essential. In all regions of this danger level, particularly on steep, south facing slopes, the avalanche hazards are subject to a daytime cycle. The likelihood of avalanches being triggered is somewhat lesser in early morning, but subsequently escalates in line with the daytime warming cycle.”
More snow expected Sunday in some areas means the avalanche situation will “remain tense” according to WSL. Avalanche-prone areas are above 2,000 metres in western parts of the Alps, but they are found “on steep slopes in all aspects above approximately 1,600m; in the western part of the northern flank of the Alps the danger zones are above approximately 1800 m.
Alpine resort highlights
Crans-Montana Next weekend is the FIS Men’s World Cup downhill races, with super G and giant slalom, so plan ahead to watch them tear down the National run.
Gstaad Curling tournament: the Curling Schweizer Meisterschaften from 17-25 February, your golden opportunity to see top Swiss teams. Also consider next weekend’s snow games, with a lot of family activities.
Verbier Take along a costume – it’s carnival time! You’ll find this true throughout the Alps, starting Friday 17 February, but Verbier is taking it seriously with a procession followed by a ball Saturday night.
Jura resorts
by Shirley Curran
Conditions are superb in the resorts in the Jura mountains with this week’s falls of snow added to what was already an exceptional cover and the cold weather holding up. However, it is no longer bitterly cold up there, just very pleasant with all the lifts running and queuing very rare. Of course, you have a choice of Jouvencelles/La Dôle (the Franco-Suisse resort), Les Rousses, St Cergue and all the Monts-Jura resorts. Even charming little Menthières is boasting exceptional snow conditions.
And don’t forget about ice-skating!
For those who want something beside skiing, or who are staying on the plain, here’s a little help if you want to talk intelligently about ice-skating, from EPFL in Lausanne: Ice skates glide across the ice because … check out the quiz and its informative answer page.
La Loge (photo, Shirley Curran)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – This report is coming to you a bit later than usual as we waited for the ski news to improve and, happily, it has, but it’s not the perfect weekend for beginners. Sunday promises occasional glimpses of sun.
Yes there is snow, fresh snow, throughout much of the Alps, the depth is excellent everywhere and there is good powder. The snow line has been falling since early morning, to 400 metres in some areas.
The less happy news, for those who like blue skies, is that there aren’t any: gray is the norm. And for less confident skiers, whiteout conditions come and go, especially at relatively low altitudes.
In the news: Vaud is studying the option of a super-region that would connect Gstaad-Diableret-Villars-Gryon. The canton has ordered the “Vision Alpes vaudoises 2020″ study that estimates it would cost CHF160 million to build new lifts to link up the resorts and to recreate others, notably in the Glacier 3000 area. Other runs could be closed.
Note that the Vaud Alps resorts share an information web site, which has useful information in English, but if the links don’t take you anywhere try switching to French.
Keep French and Swiss school holiday dates in mind if you’re planning a ski trip in the near future, as the slopes become much busier at these times. Geneva school break starts 11 February, Vaud and Neuchatel break starts 25 February and French schools break at these times depending on their zones.
This weekend Swiss mountain roads are very icy and chains will be needed in more places than usual, with daytime temperatures just above zero then falling at dusk.
Weather forecast
Temperatures will start to fall, with daytime highs of 2 Sunday in most of Western Switzerland. A mixed snow and sun picture: intermittent snow is expected, with occasional sunshine.
Looking ahead, MeteoSwiss says we could be in for one of the coldest snaps in February in years, with highs next weekend already falling, to -6 and -7.
Special activities, offers in resorts this week
Anzeres has a deal worth considering: reserve before 31 January and you can get 20 percent off on several things including a number of hotels and apartments, ski passes, and equipment rentals.
Gstaad kicks off a winter season of 16 concerts at the beautiful old Rougement church, Sunday 29 January.
Leysin/Les Mosses hosts the start of the beautiful Transalp dog races 30 January. This run that covers 160 km of mountain terrain ends 5 February and is one of the highlights of the Alpine purebred Huskies dog race season.
You can now buy package tickets that combine various fun things like fondue dinners with the Villars Night Show that starts 11 February and is on Saturdays and Wednesdays through March.
Jura report
by Shirley Curran
We have another week before the French holidays begin in earnest and we have been favoured this year by great falls of snow. More is expected at the end of the week. As always, it is a good idea to log in to Monts-jura.com and check the webcams to see our impressive conditions for yourself. Snow depth: 120-155cm, depending on the station.
Ed. note: the site corrected Friday evening’s forecast noting that Saturday morning opened with clear skies, although the web cams show clouding over by noon, so definitely check the site for the latest updates.
Alpine resorts
Holding up against the snow - just
Anzere The snowcross (snowmobile) races as well as the 4x mountain bike on snow races scheduled for Saturday 28 January have been postponed; stay tuned for an update.
Crans-Montana Mostly open, with little wind in the region. Snow conditions superb.
Gstaad 80% of runs are open, but whiteout conditions throughout much of the area
Leysin Slopes open, except superpipe snow park, and hints of sunshine. A highlight this winter, with the great snow, is the village toboggan park that features 8 corridors of 150-200 metres and snow tubing, open from 10-20:00
Verbier Virtually everything open, avalanche risk down to level 2, snow depth at Les Gentianes at 310cm and for the good skiers who love this place, the gray skies won’t matter, although with temperatures at -3 to -10, it’s chillier than it’s been.
Villars Mostly open, 10cm of fresh snow added to the 235cm depth.
Mountain roads alert – very icy
Pressure builds on the metre-high fence as more snow arrives in the Alps (here, at 1,100 metres)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Snow again, and plenty of it throughout Swiss and French mountain regions. The roads were very icy Friday night and, very exceptionally, we needed chains at 800 metres, for the slippery surface rather than deep snow. Snow has been falling steadily since Friday afternoon and the wind has picked up from central to eastern canton Valais resort areas. Be sure to carry chains if you’re driving to the mountains.
Weather forecast
Snow expected through Tuesday in the Jura and the Alps, although Jura areas can expect it to turn to rain in the afternoons this weekend.
The snow line will move up and down between 600 and 1,400 metres and by Monday in canton Valais it will start to be drier, with intermittent sunshine and temperatures rising to 8C at lower altitudes.
Expect sunny slopes again Wednesday, says MeteoSwiss.
Ski report, Alps
Several lifts are closed Saturday morning due to a mix of snow and high winds, with local situations varying considerably. At 10:00 Saturday:
Crans-Montana Entire area closed due to high winds; next update at noon Saturday.
Gstaad Snowing and winds of 45kph and 32 of 57 lifts open. La Vidamanette and Glacier 3000 area closed.
Morgins La Crete and La Tuche closed, but the rest of the lifts are open, 20cm of fresh snow; snowing.
Verbier About 50 percent open, with Mont Forte and Gentiane closed. Winds at 15-35kph, snowing. Snow depth now at 330cm at Col des Gentianes.
Villars-Gryon Mostly open but Glacier 3000 area closed and link to Diableret opening at 11:00, 30cm of fresh snow.
Zermatt Three Furi lifts open but the rest closed. Snowing, but should end by afternoon, with snow Sunday morning and sun/partly cloudy weather in the afternoon.
Avalanche bulletin
Considerable risk, level 3, in most areas and notably for back country skiers and ski touring, although a large swath north of a line running from the Upper Goms Valley in canton Valais to Andermatt and over to Chur in canton Graubuenden has a high risk, level 4.
“The bonding of the new fallen snow and snowdrift to the surface of the old snowpack is generally unfavourable. The old snowpack is favourably structured far and wide. Particularly on the Main Alpine Ridge and in the Upper Engadine on north facing slopes above approximately 2500 m, the snowpack layers near the ground are weakly bonded. Numerous avalanche corridors are filled to the brim with snow or have been effectively obliterated by earlier avalanche releases,” reports the national avalanche research centre’s daily bulletin.
Jura ski resorts
by Shirley Curran
Conditions in the Jura resorts have been exceptional. The very cold weather has permitted the making of vast mounds of artificial snow at Crozet and Lélex to fill bare spots later in the season. Sadly, the long spell of clear cold weather broke on Thursday. Three or four days of snow and rain are now predicted. As usual you are encouraged to go to the website of MontsJura.com to see for yourself what the conditions are like on the slopes.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A quick Saturday morning update on the status of Swiss and neighbouring France resorts this weekend, following the heavy snowfalls of the past two days:
Alps
Zermatt, early Saturday morning (photo: William Olenick)
Major resorts now have at least some runs open, but many remain closed as crews try to prepare the pistes following more than 100cm of fresh snow in just one day, Thursday, with more snow Friday and heavy drifting.
The quality of the snow is excellent: powder skiing available everywhere.
Anzere 14 of 52 km open, but the rest being prepared
Crans-Montana Plaine Morte and Aminona are closed Saturday; rest is open or being prepared. Snow depth on the Plaine Morte glacier has reached 380cm and in the village it is 150cm.
Gstaad Snow depth is 85-380cm, one of the best years in recent memory for the resort. Saturday: 44 of 57 runs are open.
Verbier Some open, some closed, snowing. Ski depth at Gentiane is now 307cm.
Villars + Gryon Mix of sun and clouds, lifts open, but some snow activities not available
Zermatt Several lifts and runs remain closed, and while the day started with clear blue skies and -10C, Sunday’s clouds, with warmer temperatures, are already on the way. Forecast: three days of sunshine starting Monday.
The avalanche risk is unusually high throughout the Alps, down to 3 (high) but remaining at 4/5 throughout the eastern Alps. Daily avalanche bulletin and map from WSL/SLF.
Jura
by Shirley Curran
Severe winter conditions have affected skiing for most of this week. This means that we have no lack of snow in the Jura resorts but high winds have frequently interrupted the running of the lifts. Next week will probably be very cold so you should wrap up well and enjoy fresh powder. Consult the webcams at MontsJura.com and
their information about what is in operation before you set off!
Ed. note: starting Monday 9 January we are back from the holiday break and posting news as usual on GenevaLunch, including our regular more expanded weekend snow and winter sports report.
Sun-drop yellow diamond discovered in 2010 goes for CHF11.28m at its first-ever sale in Geneva
James Bond and his amazing Rolex watch adapted in 1973 for "Live and Let Die" (source: Christie's Images Ltd, ©2011)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Going, going, gone! For CHF11.28 million, the world’s “largest known pear-shaped fancy vivid yellow diamond”, a rarity for colour at its size and a newcomer on the market, went to an individual who wishes to remain anonymous, says Sotheby’s. The diamond was the hottest item in the auction house’s semi-annual Geneva fine jewels sale Tuesday night 15 November.
It kept great company this week, with jewels (not, of course, just baubles) that could tell tales and watches to match every fantasy. Wednesday night Christie’s holds its fine jewels sales, expected to fetch CHF49 million in total.
A watch sale by the auction house Monday night sold more than CHF26m in timepieces, including a 1968 Patek Philippe pink platinum watch that went for CHF2m, twice its estimated sale price.
Roger Moore's James Bond Rolex (click on image to view larger): Oyster Perpetual, 660ft=200m, Submariner, manufactured in 1972 and then converted. Movement removed to allow customization, black dial, luminous baton and dot numerals, luminous mercedes-style hands, tonneau-shaped case with calibrated rotating black bezel with saw-tooth edge, modified screw back, the inside case back signed Roger Moore 007, screw down crown, stainless steel Rolex Oyster expandable bracelet with deployant clasp stamped 7-72, a small hole in the end links used to attach an invisible wire to unzip Miss Caruso's dress, case and dial signed (source: Christie's Images Ltd, ©2011)
Journalists oohed and aahed over the Taylor collection, struggling to capture the sparkling jewels with cameras
Geneva’s “palaces”, or five-star hotels, hosted visits by James Bond’s electrifying watch (not literally, one of the few things it doesn’t do), which was also sold Monday night. fpr CHF219,000, as well as a collection of astonishing jewels from the star-studded world of Hollywood’s last “real star”, Liz Taylor. The Taylor collection then moved on to Paris and soon heads for New York where Christie’s will hold a four-day special auction in December, linked to a number of Elizabeth Taylor events.
The Wednesday night Christie’s sale features one of the largest selections of BVlgari jewels ever seen at auction, it says, as well as 40 jewels that Welsh actor Richard Burton gave to Susan Hunt Burton, his third of four wives, from 1976-82; Burton, was famously earlier married twice to Taylor.
Burton, who moved to Celigny in 1957 is buried in the village, not far from Geneva.
For Russian friends in Geneva, a parure as rich in historical and emotional value as beauty, was the highlight of the week’s shows, but it failed to find a buyer Tuesday night at Sotheby’s despite strong interest.
The jewels in the diamond necklace with earrings and brooch, whose asking price was not published, are reputed to have been part of the ransom offered by Catherine I of Russia, wife of Peter the Great, to Ahmed III, the 23rd Ottoman Sultan after the Pruth River battles in 1711. The battles were a key point in the war upon Russia by the Sultan, undertaken with the encouragement of Sweden’s ruler Charles XII. Russian forces were surrounded and in desperate straits when Catherine, who had accompanied her husband to the Pruth River for the final battle, gathered her jewels in secret and sent them with a last plea for peace from her husband to the sultan. A treaty was thus negotiated and, popular history has it, Catherine saved her husband and the empire.
The jewels went on to have a rich history, ending up in Egypt and eventually, in 1963, on the market. Christie’s notes that they are probably the most “important suite of antique coloured diamond jewels to appear at auction in the past 50 years”.
La Peregrina by Cartier, with 16th century drop-shaped pearl pendant, detachable from necklace designed by Taylor herself; a gift from Richard Burton, 1972
Fine jewels have value because of their intrinsic beauty and/or their rarity, but also often because of their history, as in the case of Empress Catherine’s peace offering. But glamour counts for much and Geneva has seen plenty of it, or at least the acoutrements of it, in the past week.
The Taylor jewels in particular, were accompanied by non-stop film footage of the star wearing her glamorous pieces, who went from National Velvet to Cleopatra, but who also lived her private life very much as a star. She was one of the early entertainment world celebrities to set up house in the Swiss ski resort of Gstaad, where she was a familiar sight, wearing her extraordinary and often over-sized jewels on a daily basis.
“She was the last of the great Hollywood stars”, said Christie’s Jonathan Rendell, deputy chairman of its Americas division, when presenting the collection to the press. She understood, he said, that “when she stepped outside her door she was no longer Elizabeth Taylor the private person, but the Hollywood star.”
Christie’s will not say how much of the money from the sale will go to support Taylor’s humanitarian work, but Rendell did make clear that she selected the pieces before her death and asked that Christie’s handle the sale. She died 23 March 2011, age 79.
GenevaLunch will be adding a photo album of Elizabeth Taylor’s jewels, from the Geneva exhibition, Wednesday afternoon.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Swiss jewelers are being hit by a spate of armed robberies, with two people injured Friday morning in Lugano and one person in Gstaad.
The thieves in Gstaad, a luxury resort in the Bernese Oberland region, tied up an employee, who was threatened with a knife, before getting away with several thousand francs worth of watches, say police.
The owner of a jewelry shop in Lugano, canton Ticino, was injured, as was a shop employee, who tried to chase two thieves despite his injuries. One of the thieves was caught, but the other escaped.
Link to photos at the Corriere del Ticino.
Chateau de Coppet, home to the International Menuhin Music Academy (source: IMMA)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The International Menuhim Music Academy (IMMA), newly based in Coppet, Tuesday 23 August named Maestro Maxim Vengerov, “the greatest violinist of his generation”, its new music counselor.
The IMMA was founded 30 years ago in Gstaad by Yehudi Menuhin, widely considered the finest violinist of the 20th century. It has 16 students from throughout the world and its mission is to offer a three-year scholarship every year to a number of violin and other string instrument virtuosos the opportunity to perfect their education by working with maestros and professors.
Gstaad remains the centre for IMMA’s week-long “Rencontres Musicales” every summer, where students and teachers work and offer performances that are open to the public.
The students, who are selected based only on talent, follow individualized programmes, including master classes at the IMMA. Their academic musical studies are designed to lead to a Master of Advanced Studies, MAS, and the academy is currently working towards its programme being recognized by the HES SO and expects to offer the MAS by 2012.
Students have a second part to their education, public concerts, as part of the newly renamed Menuhin Academy Soloists chamber orchestra.
Tuition is free for the students, who live with families in the area (see Editor’s Notepad: appeal to local families).
Gunter Sachs and Brigitte Bardot in St Moritz, Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Gunter Sachs, who inherited German wealth, adopted celebrity friends and developed into a world-class photographer and filmmaker, has died, age 78, in Gstaad, Switzerland. He was best known for a playboy lifestyle and his three-year marriage to French film star Brigitte Bardot, from 1966-69.
He was also a wealthy philanthropist in his later years and his foundation was one of the first to confirm the news of his death, according to French daily Liberation. Some of his wealth came from his grandfather Adam Opel, founder of the automobile company of the same name.
His family released a statement Sunday, at his request, saying that he took his own life. German media report that he shot himself at his home in Gstaad, a decision he took because he was suffering from a debilitating and incurable degenerative disease, information not confirmed by the family.
Elizabeth Taylor, whose called Gstaad, Switzerland a second home, died in Los Angeles Wednesday, age 79, of congestive heart failure. She soared to fame in 1944 as the violet-eyed beauty in the film National Velvet at age 12, but she starred in numerous other films, including the critically acclaimed Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
She was equally famous for her eight marriages, glamorous lifestyle and her jewelry collection, but in later years she gained a reputation as one of the earliest and most forceful allies of the fight against Aids.
Links to other sites: Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post
The newely baptized “Graff Pink” diamond goes to the king of diamonds
CHF45 million for a pink diamond
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The final ring on the cash register and the total for a hard day’s work at Sotheby‘s in Geneva was CHF103,418,050 million and a bit, a record total for a jewelry auction.
The third sale of the day at Beau-Rivage Hotel, in the evening, brought in CHF90,472,100. Fully half of that came from the sale of one diamond ring: CHF45,442,500 ($46.2m), well over the pre-auction estimate of CHF27-38m.
“Most fabulous” diamond Graff has seen
The top-selling gem had four bidders. In the end it went to 72-year-old Laurence Graff, who calls the Swiss resort of Gstaad home. His bid was handled by the chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, Patti Wong.
The buyer took advantage of his right to name it, and the diamond will now be known as the Graff Pink. “It is the most fabulous diamond I’ve seen in the history of my career and I’m delighted to have bought it,” says Graff.
He is a man who knows his diamonds. The new owner is from London’s East End, a school dropout and self-made man who has become one of Britain’s wealthiest people through his diamond business.
Forbes in 2009 said he was worth $2.2 billion and wrote that “jewelry business insiders call British diamond merchant Graff the new Harry Winston”, a fitting reference since the diamond for which he paid CHF45m Tuesday night was sold for the first and last time by Winston, 60 years earlier.
Other diamonds are more costly: the Hope diamond is valued at $100 million and others are more, but some of these are museum pieces rather than wearable jewelry.
Filmmaker freed this noon from house arrrest in Gstaad
Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – Roman Polanski, who has been under house arrest in Gstaad, canton Bern, since he posted bail in October 2009, following his arrest at Zurich Airport in September 2009, will not be extradited to the United States. Swiss Federal Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf made the announcement at a press conference in Bern Monday afternoon 12 July. The film director was convicted and sentenced in the US in the 1970s on charges of having raped a 13-year-old girl but he fled the country before serving his sentence. He had, however, already spent time in a psychiatric prison pending sentencing.
The decision centred around the question of whether or not Polanski had already served, in the US, the jail term to which he had been sentenced. If he has, an extradition request is not valid. The Justice Department Monday issued a statement noting that
on 3rd March 2010, the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) asked the USA authorities to substantiate the extradition request by supplying the records of a hearing carried out on 26th January 2010 by the public prosecutor, Roger Gunson, who was in charge of the case in the seventies. The records should prove that, in a meeting held on 19th September 1977, the judge in charge at the time had expressly assured the representatives of the parties that the 42 days of detention spent by Roman Polanski in the psychiatric unit of a Californian prison represented the whole term of imprisonment he was condemned to. If this were the case, Roman Polanski would actually have already served his sentence and therefore both the proceedings on which the US extradition request is founded and the request itself would have no foundation.
The US Department of Justice turned down the request 13 May, citing a court secrecy ruling.
New winter campus near Gstaad brings construction projects to nearly CHF100 million
Rolle, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – Institut Le Rosey in Rolle, long known for educating many of the world’s royalty as well as the children of celebrities, is about to get a state-of-the-art cultural centre, to be baptized Carnal Hall [sic], named after the school’s founder, Paul Carnal. The new CHF35 million centre was designed by Paris/New York architect Bernard Tschumi, a graduate of EHZ in Zurich, and will house a theatre that will take 1,000 people, as well as several exhibit areas for the arts. The centre will be open to the public occasionally.
Bernard Tschumi designed the Ecal School of Arts in Lausanne and a number of other educational projects. Among the firm’s other projects are the new Acropolis museum in Greece and a new project to renovate the zoo in Paris.
Le Rosey will also begin work on a new winter campus.
Garden, fresh snow, Saturday 12 December, Valais (1,100 m)
Aminona, near Crans-Montana, canton Valais, Switzerland, 4 December 2009
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Last weekend there was snow: it wasn’t always pretty and it was wet, but it was the white stuff. It’s mostly gone now, except above 2,000 metres, but crowds nevertheless packed the autoroute from Geneva and canton Vaud to the resorts in Valais Friday evening. Saturday morning: it’s snowing again at 1,100 metres, so the buildup on the slopes is starting!
Here is your first taste of GenevaLunch’s popular winter weekend reports, a regular feature, now in its third season.
Alps, season gradually opening
Resorts news:
- Crans-Montana’s ski web site, mycma.ch, has a new look and offers more functions, but it’s slow. This weekend the resort offers low season rates, CHF57 for the day. You pay high season rates, CHF63 for the day, starting 19 December so get out there this weekend! (Ed. note: the Telegraph, UK, just ran a big feature on the resort but missed the boat when they got it wrong when they said it doesn’t strike them as a family resort)
- Gstaad, join the papparazzi, all sitting around outside Roman Polanski’s chalet, where he has been confined by a Swiss judge. Gstaad, for all its glamour, is not one of the high resorts, so not much is open in or near the town, but you can always head for the Glacier 3,000 area nearby.
- Verbier has been open since 20 November and will have five lifts open 12-13 December. CHF23-45 for day passes right now. New feature this winter – video snow reports. Snow depth Thursday, last snowfall: 70cm at 2,200m and 95cm at 2,950m
- Zermatt has 60 km of decent skiing at the moment.
Jura: you might prefer hiking to skiing this weekend, but some good news for later
December 2008, Jura
(Ed. note: Shirley Curran is back with her weekly reports on the Jura slopes, where she has taught skiing for years)
Our Jura resorts are due to open on December 19th and, in view of the excellent seasons we have had recently, to remain open until April 5th. Unfortunately, the weather is glorious in the Jura mountains at the moment with cobalt blue skies and some green slopes. We are not too worried. A cold spell is expected next week and snow will fall. This will be the first time for many seasons that we have not had a substantial fall in November!
Good news is that our downhill resorts (La Faucille, Mijoux, Crozet and Lélex) are all now using only the magnetic ‘forfaits’ that you can recharge on-line or at the ticket offices. The bornes read them automatically, so there will be no more fumbling with the ticket strung round your neck. The card is valid for three years and now costs only 1€.
9 December 2009, Jura - bit slushy yet!
Further good news is that Jean Charles and Pauline are back for another season running the refuge at Crozet. My top tip is a mid-morning hot wine next to their roaring fire or their home-cooked speciality of the day.
Weather forecast for the Swiss mountain regions
Snow in the Jura and the Alps, although some dry stretches in the Valais Alps. High of 3C, but -8C at 2,000m. Sunday 13 December colder, cloudy, highs of 0-2C. Snow intermittent throughout the mountain regions. MeteoSwiss
Swiss skiers off to a great start
Be sure to check our Monday morning weekend sports reports to follow Switzerland’s skiers, who are off to a great start this year.
Title: Country music night in Gstaad
Location: Gstaad
Link out: Click here
Description: This is a lot more than ” a little bit country.” This year Kenny Rogers, is the center star of the festival that also promises a bit of Texas in the Alps.
Start Date: 11 Sep 2009
End Date: 13 Sep 2009
Title: Allianz Suisse Open in Gstaad
Location: Gstaad
Link out: Click here
Description: This tennis tournament, played in one of the most “expensive” towns in Switzerland, has been a favorite of clay court fans since 1915.
Start Date: 25 Jul 2009
End Date: 02 Aug 2009
