Skiing in Switzerland: waiting for the bus near Lake Geneva, to head up to the slopes
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Schools in Vaud are on vacation starting this afternoon, and the weather forecast promises us some of the warmest temperatures since early January. Expect the slopes to be busy.
Snow cover is still excellent everywhere, so no matter where you head, you can’t go wrong, but don’t sleep in: the best snow will be waiting for you in the mornings.
This is a shaping up to be a big and busy weekend in the Swiss Alps, with the men’s World Cup downhill races on in Crans-Montana.
Weather and avalanche risk forecast
MeteoSwiss is telling us to get out the sun cream. Temperatures in the Alps will be 1-3C on the low end with highs of 7 to 11C. Geneva and Lausanne can expect sunny skies initially but with some cloud cover as the weekend wears on, and the sharp cold bise wind blowing by Monday. Mountain areas will have only light winds.
The wet avalanche risk will rise as the temperatures climb. The danger of dry snow avalanches is 2/5 but for wet snow avalanches it rises to 3, throughout the Alps, for Friday.
Alpine resorts
The Norwegian (shown here) and Swiss ski teams trained in Anzeres this week, in the run-up to the World Cup races in Crans-Montana
The Crans-Montana men’s downhill World Cup ski races are the big weekend event. It is the last time that Didier Cuchewill race in Switzerland before his retirement, and Saturday night at the ice rink in Montana he will be given the trophy for “Swiss man of the year”, an honor he was given last month.
The races are open to the public. Tickets are CHF20-60 and the two towns of Crans and Montana have plenty of activities lined up.
Zermatt For those who would rather be racing themselves, Zermatt has a great event Saturday 25 February, a nighttime race from 17:00-22:00 that ends with a spaghetti dinner at Sunnegga.
Verbier A wild ride for anyone who loves sledding: Sunday 26 February the resort is hosting the final of the Valais Sled Trophy, “the legendary 10km La Tzoumaz ski run,” it says on its site. “Over a 4km long stretch, between pastures and forests, the 540 m drop will get everyone’s skates on! Families, amateurs, and USO (Unidentified sliding object) owners alike are invited to take part in this popular event – it’s a veritable sled party!” Take along some medical gel for bruises, for afterwards.
Jura report
by Shirley Curran
Slightly warmer weather has arrived but snow conditions remain excellent in the resorts in the Jura mountains.All are boasting over a metre and a half of snow at the higher levels. At the moment, with the French holidays continuing, crowds are developing from 10:00 onwards, but our large capacity lifts seem to cope and all runs have been open this week.
Ghetto-blasting snowboards and other things you might find on the slopes
And now a word about the people on the slopes you might want to avoid, if you’re not part of their group: Signal Snowboards, a US company, makes snowboards that do more than just move you on the snow and in the air, reports Wired. Take, for instance, their snowboards that shoot paintballs. Or blast music.
What you’re more likely to find on Swiss slopes this weekend is strange creatures, skiers in costume as they prepare to head off for Carnival.
Carnival time!
Basel Fasnacht
If you’re willing to go down from the mountains for a bit, Bern’s Carnival is on this weekend, worth a detour en route to the Bernese Alps resorts.
And one of Switzerland’s best shows starts Monday in Basel, the city’s famed Fasnacht, which starts in the wee hours and goes until late for three days and nights. The entire city turns out, well disguised and ready for some serious play, while the 30,000 visitors who pour into the city for the fun enjoy the show.
©2012 Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
Organized 3x a week by the St Bernard kennels in Martigny, choice of a walk in the vineyards or around Champex
Location: Fondation Barry, Martigny
Link out: http://www.fondation-barry.ch/%28S%28q1m21f45ls…
Start date: 8 Feb 2012
End date: 28 Apr 2012
Fall, Christmas and summer school holidays all happen at the same time in France. But for the two-week winter and spring breaks France is then divided into three zones, each with different dates, so do check the school holiday calendar. The Jura and Alps areas are located in zone A. In winter and spring, one vacation week is shared by two zones, and roads and slopes can then become very crowded. The school calendar can be printed.
First snowfall below Crans-Montana, at 1,100 meters altitude, noon Tuesday 6 December
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Ski stations have been worrying about opening with little more than artificial snow, and with warmer than usual temperatures even that was looking dubious.
But Mother Nature came through Tuesday and snow fell continally in some Alpine resort areas all day, building a decent base for ski slopes and charming even the non-skiers.
Crans-Montana opens its Cristal Festival today, a European and Middle Eastern conference for the advertising industry that brings in some 2,000 professionals for five days. Organizers said Monday as the first snowflakes drifted tentatively down that in the 13 years the conference has been held, early in December, they have always had snow.
Over the border in France, Val d’Isère had to cancel World Cup ski races due to too little snow, and then starting Monday the white stuff began to down steadily.
And then throughout much of the Alps it fell and it fell.
Welcome to winter!
Moving downhill, ahead of the snow, canton Valais
Val d'Herens cows fighting in Raron, Valais, at a spring "combat"
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland’s famous fighting cows, the short-legged Val d’Herens breed whose home is Alpine pastures, are less aggressive, it turns out, if they head outdoors at least 60 days over the winter, new research published by the federal veterinary office Monday 11 April shows.
The secret is to get them outdoors frequently, rather than for long stretches, to keep aggressiveness in check.
By law, farmers are required to let them out of the stables 30 days.
Calm young Val d'Herens cows in the barnyard, canton Valais
The cows are natural fighters in winter and spring, locking horns and occasionally flipping each other as part of the process of determining the “queen” of the herd, the most intelligent and fit cow who can lead them to the best pastures high in the alps. The cows maintain their hierarchy even if they are separated for short periods.
The cows have been in canton Valais since at least Roman times.
Fighting cow exhibitions are hugely popular in Valais, with large numbers of the animals enrolled in a series of spring “combats”. A winner becomes a valuable animal for its owner.
Researchers at the federal agricultural station Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon (Art) studied the cows at a number of farms in Valais to determine if too much time spent indoors made them more aggressive and thus more likely to injure each other.
When the queen cow says it's time to move out of the barnyard and up the hill, the others follow
Their findings: while 60 days with time outdoors in the stable yards seems to be about right, the key factor is the frequency, or spacing, of time outside. Three days indoors and the cows begin to get aggressive again.
The study also looked at whether spending more time outdoors reduces a cow’s chances of success in the leadership stakes: “Going outdoors frequently has no negative impact on a cow’s chances of being crowned queen,” the report shows.
GenevaLunch feature, Cows come out fighting in spring
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A young lion dashing through the snow at the zoo in Zurich was frozen by photographer Tambako on flickr. Children will be doing a lot of this in the coming week, with school holidays at their peak in Switzerland. Happily for skiing families, some fresh snow is expected, mainly in western Switzerland, starting Sunday.
Related stories, weekend winter sports report 18-20 February and Swiss mountain roads: time to know the rules
Tambako’s big cats photo collection, mainly from Basel and Zurich zoos, includes several hundred of the zoos’ lions.
photo, ©2011 Tambako, flickr.com/photos/tambako/
Public transport special offer will run to 15 February
Saleve rises out of the fog: Lake Geneva in winter often sits in a damp blanket of fog that traps fine particles (photo taken 23 January 2010, ©2011 Obwoodman, http://www.flickr.com/photos/86813892@N00/)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Last week’s too-high level of fine particles in the air around Lake Geneva, higher than allowed by federal legislation, has fallen to within limits, according to canton Vaud.
Geneva and Vaud both issued warnings to residents last week to stay indoors and do fewer sports if they are elderly or susceptible to lung problems. The combination of cold air above and warmer air on the lake combined to trap fine particles in the air, up to about 1,000 metres altitude. The problem is not uncommon in the Lake Geneva region in winter.
Warmer air throughout Switzerland has eased the situation and warm, sunny weather for most of this week should help keep the air clearer.
Vaud offers 3 month half-price CFF card to increase public transport use
Vaud’s Bol d’Air programme will remain in place until 15 February, says the canton: for CHF34 instead of CHF54 the canton’s residents can buy a half-price CFF rail card that is good all trains, boats and postal buses in Switzerland, and it provides reductions on urban transport systems, including the Mobilis regional system. Details and coupon
The programme is designed to encourage people to switch to public transport once an alarm is sounded for unacceptable levels of air pollution.
Geneva Friday offered an explanation, in French, and fine particles levels in neighbouring towns, to put the problem in perspective. The web page is worth bookmarking if you have allergies or lung problems, for future pollution alerts.
Geneva, "crowning glory", trees in winter (photo ©2011 Rohit Acharya, (http://flickr.com/rhohit)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The winter face of Geneva is showing, and if that brings to mind only gray skies, try looking up at the trees.
Photographer Rohit Acharya has put together an album of Geneva’s trees in winters, showing another face of the city’s beauty, in “Life after death”.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Weather: glorious. Snow: not bad, inching up to good. Competition: some good shows on for spectators.
Topping the list this weekend, though, is surprisingly good snow reports from the Jura.
It’s also the second and final weekend of the hot air balloon show in Chateau d’Oex (see our report last week) and the weather looks more promising than last weekend, when strong winds kept them on the ground much of the time.
Hot-air balloons over Montbovon 24 January (photo ©2011 Keepps on flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/isg-online)
We have added a photo album of the world of beautiful hot air balloons from the festival in Chateau d’Oex but also balloons drifting above Montbovon, where the weather was more cooperative last week, to set your sites a little higher.
Weather forecast for Lake Geneva region, Alps and Jura
The Swiss national weather service, MeteoSwiss, has dealt us a great hand of weather cards, with sunshine and occasional clouds in the mountains, just below freezing at night and warming up to 5-7C in most of western Switzerland.
Slightly more cloud cover and weak cold bise winds around Lake Geneva, with clouds sitting below 1,000 metres.
Swiss and neighbouring France resorts report
Jura skiing, from Shirley Curran
Jura slopes (photo: Shirley Curran)
Where is everybody? The resort web site is not exaggerating when it announces that conditions on the slopes at Crozet/Lélex are very good. We have been skiing up there every morning this week. The neige de culture combined with bitterly cold weather and first-rate slope grooming means that there is a good cover on the main slopes that are open: the chairs and telecabines and one poma lift as well as all the lifts on the Crozet nursery slopes. Above the clouds the weather is superb and the slopes have been almost empty. Who could wish for more. Well, yes, we would all like more snow, but there is enough!
Check the openings, weather and snow conditions daily at Monts Jura, where the snow was described as “excellent” Friday evening.
Swiss and French Alps, skiing
The snow cover varies hugely, from none to very thin, even at 1,700-1,800 metres in Verbier and Crans-Montana, to good in Gstaad, at 1,100 metres, but the quality of the snow in most resorts is very good, thanks to continuing cold weather. You just have to go a bit higher for the snow.
Chamonix, in neighbouring France, is hosting World Cup ski races this weekend (see Competitions, below), so expect crowds and thrills on the difficult Verte des Houches. This is the likely area for the 2018 Winter Olympics ski races if Annecy wins the bid. The resort, which is actually four, is big enough to fit everyone and every winter sport, so if you’re more interested in sending yourself down slopes than watching the experts, you have plenty of options. A year ago, in January 2010, the four main villages in the valley became a federation of communes. One result is that the ski offer is clearer, from runs and jumps for hotshots to gentler skiing if you’re a family with beginners or wobbly-on-skis guests.
Chateau d'Oex 2011 Hot-ar Balloon Festival (photo, ©2011 Mr Kio on flickr)
Chateau d’Oex should have perfect conditions this weekend for the International Hot Air Balloon festival. If you’re driving from Geneva or Lausanne you can do a nice loop via Aigle in the car, going one way over the Col des Mosses, and the other via Diableret, since both are open.
Crans-Montana is hosting the Juniors World Championshiop in skiing 29 January to 6 February, a great chance to watch the world’s next generation of ski stars. The first race is the giant slalom, Sunday, ending with the super-G next Friday and Saturday. Complete programme
Verbier has a freeride fair 29-30 January, Saturday and Sunday, and one of the features is the chance to try out new equipment.
Competitions: skiing, mountaineering, free ride, figure skating and horses
Alpine ski races: men are at Chamonix and the women are racing at Sestrières, with both on TSR in Switzerland. Didier Cuche led the men during the training runs, which were marred by the second serious accident in a week that involved an Austrian skier.
The world men’s freeride races, six thrilling events during the season, move from Chamonix to Corvatsch in Engadine-St Moritz for this weekend, before leaving Europe. The final event of the season brings them back to Verbier. The French are leading the racers in snowboard and ski after Chamonix. An interesting twist is the first-ever telemark skier joining the races.
European figure skaters finish a week of competition in Bern
Tickets are still available for Saturday and Sunday’s exhibition show in Bern, for the European figure skating championships that have been running all week, 23-30 January. Ladies’ and Men’s freestyle events are on Saturday. A British professional photographer based in Helsinki, who works with the Finnish team, has been posting a series of beautiful images on flick: Tyke Tiler.
Zurich hosts major horse show
The Rolex FEI World Cup horse jumping is on this weekend in Zurich, with the series picking up after a four-week pause. World No. 1, Kevin Staut is one of the features. Tickets are available (suggestion: combine it with a visit to the amazing Picasso exhibit, which ends Sunday) or you can watch live on FEI television.
Information posted on earlier weekend snow and winter sports: check past posts for useful general information.
Click on images to view larger
Jura slopes (photo: Shirley Curran)
Max's route since the summer of 2010 (source: Fribourg Natural History Museum, 19.01.11)
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The warm spell of the past 10 days has brought tears to the eyes of skiers, watching the snow melt in the Jura and lower parts of the Alps. But for those who hate cold weather, Max has good news: it’s time to return north, as the weather warms.
Max, a Swiss white stork who headed south to Madrid 10 September, began her trek north Friday 14 January.
She took two days to fly 150 km north, to Tudela, northwest of Saragossa, Spain and she is now likely to spend the next month working her way up to the shores of Lake Constance.
Max is a white stork who has been tracked by the Fribourg Natural History Museum, thanks to banding, for longer than any other bird in the wild, 11.5 years.
Her migratory patterns between her nesting home near Lake Constance, and her winter homes in Spain or occasionally North Africa, are watched closely by bird-lovers and weather watchers.
She was the cover girl bird for the Swiss publication Nos Oiseaux in September 2010.
Sunrise 31 December 2010, fog-enshrouded Rhone Valley
Cross-country skiing, Goms Valley, Valais 27 December
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The sun is out on the mountains, but fog hovers in most lower areas in French-speaking Switzerland Friday afternoon. If it’s sunshine you want as the new year of 2011 comes in Saturday morning, head for the heights!
Weather forecast
Pea soup on the plains, clear skies in the mountains: Rhone Valley, Valais
Expect stable temperatures with highs of 2C in the Lake Geneva area and 0C in Valais, then highs hovering around 0C throughout western Switzerland until at least Tuesday 4 January.
Fog will continue to hug the plain Saturday, but will lift in Valais, where you can expect mostly sunny skies until Wednesday, when the forecast is for partly cloudy skies. Sunday will bring changeable weather to Geneva and Lausanne, with partly cloudy skies until Tuesday, when heavy fog is expected to return.
Reminder: check holiday traffic forecasts, published earlier by GenevaLunch, to avoid the worst of the holiday traffic jams.
Resorts and winter sports update
Goms Valley, the tiny hamlet where Cesar Ritz grew up before making his fortune in the hotel business
With the slightly milder weather and the sunny days this week, our Jura resorts have been able to offer great conditions for skiing. We have had a little new snow and a number of our lifts are now operating. Take care, as the snow cover is still fairly thin, but we are expecting more snow in the New Year. Enjoy the skiing.
Swiss Alps
Snow fell early in the week, but slightly warmer weather 29-30 December has reduced the snow cover slightly in most areas. Snow is hard, with a 70cm base in Crans-Montana at 2,400m. Verbier reports
Prepared cross-country ski trails are virtually all open, and all but the lower ends of most luge (sled) runs. Snow-shoe trails are in decent shapes, most resorts are reporting.
The Goms Valley above Brig, en route to the Nufenen and Furka passes, both suffers and benefits from heavier snowfalls than the rest of the country in winter, but it also has some of the most piercingly blue sunny skies. Its famously long kilometres of flat cross-country ski runs are in excellent shape right now and good for beginners and families, with many options for more experienced skiers. The trains are often packed with skiers, so travel light if you’re taking the train (a great way to get there).
Events, speedy skiers’ tool and avalanche bulletins
The sun never managed to burn off the Rhone Valley sun during the day 31 December
Good crowds are expected at upcoming World Cup Alpine ski events, including:
Adelboden, canton Bern – 8 January
Wengen, Bern – 11 January (European Cup, 7 January)
Kitzbuehel, Austria – 19 January
Chamonix – 27 January
How fast do you really ski?
And for those who prefer to speed down the slopes themselves, the Swiss Safety Council has a new tool for skiers, an iPhone app to measure your speed. The idea is to better assess the risks you’re taking, not just try to beat your best time, of course.
Avalanche bulletins are currently at level 2 out of 5, “moderate” with the risk subsiding over the next few days, thanks to cold and sunny weather. Check the daily national avalanche service bulletins for details if you’re going off-trail.
Happy New Year 2011!
Goms Valley, Valais, farms in sunshine, side valley storm brewing, 27 December 2010
Champion Xavier de la Rue during the Xtreme events in Verbier, a centre for winter extreme sports, for competitors and tourists
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss parliament has taken 10 years to work out federal legislation, but in future tourists visiting the country who want to do extreme sports will have guides who are certified to work throughout the country, not just in one canton.
A rafting accident in 1999 that killed 21 people in canton Bern led to the legislation, which was finalized Thursday morning 9 December. Companies that offer extreme sports, which including canyoning, rafting, bungie-jumping and several winter extreme sports, have been working with cantons to improve safety conditions and develop certification at that level. Seven cantons currently offer certification and, according to TSR, 60 percent of companies in Switzerland are already certified.
Links to other sites: TSR (Fre), Travelchannel, My Switzerland and tourism office in Lake Maggiore,
Few ventured out early Wednesday morning (Saint Prex, canton Vaud)
An aptly named street Wednesday morning
Update 09:30 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The overnight snowfall throughout the Lake Geneva region is causing major traffic disruptions Wednesday 1 December. Cointrin Airport in Geneva is closed until at least 14:00 and travellers are being advised to check with their airlines.
The TPG in Geneva decided early in the morning not to run any of its buses and trams until further notice. The Tribune de Geneve is providing regular updates on the city’s public transport situation, as is RSR, which says some trams are running in the city, at 08:00.
Geneva, with 20 cm of fresh snow overnight, and more falling, has been the hardest hit area, according to MeteoSwiss reports.
Roads are considered moderately dangerous, with icy conditions, from Geneva to Lausanne and up the hillsides to the Jura. Road conditions in Valais are good, with less fresh snow than around the lake.
Everyone's new best friend, on a topsy-turvy snowy morning (Saint Prex, canton Vaud)
Lausanne’s public transport is running, with relatively minor delays, after 10 cm of snow fell overnight.
The CFF Swiss train system is operating, but with some delays: details for delayed trains and a map are updated frequently. Passengers were stranded Tuesday evening along the Lausanne-Geneva line when the Intercity train had a technical problem from about 18:00-20:00, but the problem was not weather-related.
The Swiss highway department’s truck info road updates and TCS (Touring Club Suisse) provide details of congestion and closed roads, with traffic in the Lausanne-Geneva area slow Wednesday morning, but with fewer people than usual on the road before 08:00, reports one commuter.
Schools are open in Geneva and neighbouring France, but with limited public transport, some children will not be making it to school.
Turn on your lights and fill the windscreen cleaner: winter is here!
One in four Swiss road deaths occurs at pedestrian crossings: make sure your lights are set correctly and windscreen cleaner is full with dark, wet days here (photo: TCS)
Lugano and Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – One in four road deaths in Switzerland occurs at a pedestrian crosswalk, a problem the country shares with the rest of Europe. TCS (Touring Club Suissse) in 2008 embarked on a programme with other automobile clubs in Europe to test pedestrian crossings, and the worst one this year turned up in Lugano. The intersection at the Via San Gottardo and the Via Genzana was given a mark of “very inadequate”, reports news agency ats. Its low marks were due to no traffic lights, very poor light during the day and at night and the difficulty seeing pedestrians that drivers have when they turn right have.
TCS, as part of a national Day of Light 25 November, published a set of reminders for drivers that include these points:
- 90 percent of the information we receive as drivers is visual
- fatigue sharply reduces your ability to process visual information quickly
- night driving cuts visibility by 5-10 percent and rain reduces it even further
- visual acuity is reduced as we get older.
Winter weather brings a reminder to refill your car’s windscreen cleaner liquid, making sure it’s the anti-freeze kind for winter.
Ed. note: the Day of Light organizers have a safety quiz contest with only four easy questions, which require only basic French, and the prizes are handy items like a mountain bike, bicycle helmets, Swiss thermos and safety vests. It runs until 11 February 2010.
Swiss snow forecast, road alerts, Anzere traffic change, kids’ competitions this winter
La Loge at Crozet, Jura, 24 November 2010 (photo, Jean Charles and Pauline Cusin)
Update 13:20 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - It’s official: time to pull out those skis and head for the Jura slopes, or tuck up inside and light a fire, because this weekend will be cold and wintry. MeteoSwiss (see GenevaLunch weather pages) is predicting highs of 1 to 2C throughout central and western Switzerland, with sun alternating with snow.
New booklet helps winter sports fans shift to public transport
Leisure time activities account for a hefty part of road use in Switzerland. ATE, Association Transport & Environnement, has just published an excellent guide to using public transport for winter sports, with details for the time it takes, how to best get there, equipment rental and more for each Swiss resort. The guide is an excellent resource and good addition to the information available about winter sports (Fre, Ger, Ita).
Winter roads: reminder from Vaud that conditions can dictate legal speed
If you don’t yet have your winter tires on the car, don’t delay, as snow as low as the plains makes for slippery driving, Canton Vaud’s highway department reminds drivers they are legally obliged to drive at lower speeds when road conditions, such as ice and snow, call for it.
Cantonal road authorities say they replenished their stock of salt this summer, but if the winter is a tough one, supplies in Europe are likely to run short.
Road clearing times, list of Vaud closed roads
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La Faucille, Jura (photo, ©2010: Shirley Curran)
Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Snow began to make a serious appearance in the Swiss Alps and the Jura mountains over the weekend, leaving the first layers that are needed for a good skiing base. Jura skiers were already out Saturday and Sunday 20-21 November, at La Faucille. Cross-country skiers from the Lausanne area began training, while in Saas-Fee early season skiers have been having fun for a couple weeks.
GenevaLunch Friday 3 December begins its popular Friday winter weather and snow sports reports. Here’s a warm-up:
Geneva has a skiing first!
The Monts Jura will be hosting a women’s event, the FIS Coupe d’Europe de Ski Alpin Dames. This major event in the skiing calendar is coming to Geneva for the first time. The success of the Monts Jura resort in hosting the French championship competitions in 2009 and 2010 encouraged the European cup organizers to plan one stage of their competition there. The Swiss Ski Federation will be organizing Friday’s Super-Géant race and the French Ski Federation the Super-Combiné on Saturday in Crozet-Lélex, less than half an hour from the centre of Geneva.
Exceptionally, on Friday 11 February, skiers will be able to buy their day pass for 1€ at the Crozet lift. Pedestrians will be able to watch 140 world class skiers, travelling via Lélex on the Friday and the Saturday, also for 1€. Details on the Monts Jura web site.
Winter tires and chains reminder
Vercorin, canton Valais, Switzerland 21 November 2010, snowy peaks above village
Winter tires are not obligatory in Switzerland, but if you are in an accident and your summer tires or winter tires with worn treads are considered a factor, your insurance company and the judge might see fit to give you the bill.
France does not require them either, although some mountain districts do. Austria and Italy are the same. Winter tires are obligatory in Germany.
Make an appointment now, if you don’t yet have winter tires or want someone to change them for you, as garages get very busy with this work by the end of November.
American tourists should be back, even if euro spenders are down
Lucerne and its Four Cantons lake is a favourite with US tourists
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The latest tourism forecast for the Swiss government by BakBasel shows overnight stays expected to drop slightly during the May-October summer season, down 0.7 percent, mainly due to the weak euro and unemployment in Europe. But American tourists are expected to return after a 2009 summer where they were scarce on the ground. The latest figures for the winter season that has just ended show what Bern describes as a surprising increase, up 0.2 percent.
The tourism industry will remain in something of a slump in 2011, but should see growth again, 17 percent, in 2012.
Lyons, France (GenevaLunch) – If it rains in Geneva, it snows in France. The French meteorological service reports snow is still falling in neighbouring France, making this one of the longest snow-seasons in years.
Due to the heavy snow yesterday 5 May in the southern Alps, the Arche and Montgenevre Passes had to be closed.
There was more snow this winter in the south of France than the previous season, a meteo spokesperson told Dauphine Libéré. And there was less sun too. “About a month less,” says the expert.
Although the French meteorological service stops producing avalanche alerts once the ski season ends, it is cautioning that the risk of avalanches is high.
Bang! Fireworks explode, the fire roars and winter leaves Zurich!
Horses gallop around the burning effigy of winter at Sechselaaeuten in Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The weather forecast was for rain Monday 19 April, but when all of Zurich lined the streets to burn the effigy of winter and welcome spring, the sun obligingly came out. The city closes its schools and businesses including its famous banks every year for the third Monday in April. Brass bands march around town, filling the air with music, members of workers’ guilds put on costumes worn by their forebears, and horses are paraded through town as part of the Sechselaaeuten.
The crowd cheers when the effigy, a giant bonfire with a little man on top, is lit, but a few minutes later it roars with pleasure when the flames set off fireworks that are part of the bonfire – winter leaves Zurich with a bang.
Update 12:35 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has criticized the impact on wildlife of construction projects for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. The cumulative impact, in particular, of several projects around the Black Sea resort are not being addressed, says Unep in a new report that was requested by the Russian government. The report follows a late January visit to the site by a Unep team.
It is not too late for the Games to serve as an environmental showcase, however, says Unep, which praises the Russian Railway, Ministry of Natural Resources and the 2014 Sochi Games organizers for being open to discussions.
The opening ceremony will take place at Vancouver's BC Place (photo: Vanoc/Conav)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Figure skater Stéphane Lambiel will carry the flag for Switzerland during the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. The ceremony starts at 18:00 Friday 12 February (03:00 Saturday, Swiss time). The 25-year-old from Saxon, canton Valais, won the silver medal at the 2006 Torino Games and he was twice World Champion, in 2005 and 2006.
Links to other sites: Swiss Olympic, Stéphane Lambiel (Fre), Vancouver 2010 official Games site
Update 21:20 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The proverbial sweet tooth could soon be replaced by sweet wheels in Switzerland, the kind that roll along sugar-covered highways. Authorities in canton Bern have confirmed that they have been using a liquid sugar-based product instead of salt on the A6 autoroute between Rubigen and Spiez, in a two-year test programme that is going well, canton Bern roads supervisor Martin Roesti told GenevaLunch.
The product being used is made by a British company, Safecote, and is manufactured in Italy. Parts of the US, Canada, Norway and Iceland use the liquid sugar on their roads. Switzerland is testing it, says Roesti, because at lower temperatures it is more effective than salt chloride. It is also less aggressive and doesn’t lead to potholes the way salt does.
Latest on Jura and Swiss ski conditions, weather forecast, avalanche courses, winter vineyards walk
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Let it snow, let it snow! City dwellers might have had enough of the white stuff in the past week, with the airport closed and cantons scrambling to find enough salt for their slippery streets. But on the slopes, it’s been good news, especially in the Jura resorts close to Geneva. Swiss resorts report that the holidays were good, with enough snow to keep most visitors happy. The Christmas-New Year’s period was one of the five best in the past 15 years.
Title: Bobsleigh world cup
Location: St Moritz
Link out: Click here
Description: Bob, Skeleton and many other races.
Start Date: 2009-01-11
End Date: 2009-01-17
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – It is hard to find a dry spot in Switzerland Wednesday 30 December, with the country soaked to the bones by a warm front from the southwest that has raised temperatures 7-10 C above normal for this time of the year. Aargau in the north has been worst hit, with 32.7 litres of rain per square metre in two hours.
Switzerland, December 2009
Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday, from the staff and contributors at GenevaLunch, to all our faithful readers.
Thanks to you, our traffic has grown fourfold in 12 months, and we are now the best-read source of news online in the Lake Geneva region in Switzerland.
Ed. note: we will be reducing our regular news coverage for the next two weeks, but running several features to keep you happy.
Snow falling, blowing at night, 1,100 metres in Valais, Switzerland
Blowing snow, Valais, Switzerland 21 December 2009
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Winter arrived in Switzerland 21 December with a screech of cold air accompanied by howling winds and snow in many areas. By Tuesday noon temperatures had risen, but the country remains blanketed in white.
Switzerland suffered fewer accidents and other weather-related problems Sunday and Monday, compared to many areas in Europe, partly thanks to the warm foehn in mountainous regions. Strong winds whipped up but also melted some of the snow. The highest winds were recorded at the Diablerets glacier, 145.4kph, reports TSR.
Forecast from the national weather service, MeteoSwiss: clouds and snow alternating for the next few days, throughout the Jura, Lake Geneva and Swiss Alps region. The snow line will rise and fall between 400 and 1,500, with snow down to the plain at times in Valais. Temperature highs, 4-9C on the plain, 2-4C in Valais, with +1C at 2,000m. Colder as the week wears on, but some Alpine valleys will be warmed by foehn winds, which will be strong at times this week.
Wintry sunrise, Rhone valley, canton Valais, Saturday 7 November 2009
Val d'anniviers, Valais, fresh snow 7 November 2009
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Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – There is one day every year when you know that winter has arrived: it can’t be defined clearly by a drop in the temperature or all the leaves suddenly disappearing or even by snow arriving, but it is tangible. Saturday 7 November, winter settled in, in the Swiss Alps.
Swis Jura, winter 2009, with heavy snow (photo: Shirley Curran)
Jura, Switzerland (24 heures, Fre)- Extreme weather over the course of winter caused 600-1,000 trees to fall along the base of the Jura mountains. Local loggers and forest services are closing off the dangerous areas and evacuating fallen trees to ensure that train lines are not at risk.
The Vaud forest service compares the damage to that of Lothar, the 1999 storm that swept across central Europe.
