GstaadLife

These balloons didn't mind the wind but unfortunately it was impossible for their big brothers to fly most of the past week due to heavy wind and snowfall. Even the night glow event had to be cancelled. A shame really but the first weekend brought a new record of visitors and even though kids were not permitted to go up in the balloons, they had a lot of fun letting all the little balloons fly (see picture above ) and collecting candy dropped from a remote control balloon (see picture below).

January 20 2010: Flavio Marazzi and Enrico de Maria, members of the Gstaad Yacht Club, won the silver medal at the recent Star World Championship in Rio de Janeiro.

The hot air balloon festival of Château-d'Oex has started and until next weekend you will be able to see many, many balloons adorning our mountain skylines. Indeed if the wind blows right you might end up with a few in your back garden, as we did on Saturday afternoon. For the full program click here but make sure not to miss the special shaped balloons display always around lunchtime, and the evening night-glow event on Friday January 29 at 18:58 (don't ask us why it is not at 19:00...) After the jump a few more pics, one of them showing the value of a good satnav system: balloon support teams who didn't quite know how to reach the fields where their balloons were touching down.... quite amusing...

by Taki Theodoracopulos

Gstaad. I went to a wonderful party, three days of a non-stop feast, although not at the Palace, the mere hoi polloi were excluded, in theory at least.

There wasn’t a sign of Kate or a Mick, they must have forgotten the date, actually they were not invited, but Topper (whom no one could say is a pleb—well bred is his motto, or is it well fed?) was there, as was Freddy, and Minnie, and Lolly and Bunny and George, I couldn’t have liked it more.

Sorry, Sir Noel, but I write this rather hung over, the Muse having silently slipped away in the snow around six-thirty this morning on my way home. 430 swells flew over the Atlantic for his childhood sweetheart, for a romantic but spectacular wedding in the snow-covered village of Gstaad, where the groom’s parents have a chalet.

The cable car up to La Videmanette is still not running following the January 16 accident. The Bundes boffins who investigate accidents involving railways and shipping ordered further checks and no decision on the re-opening will be made before this coming Wednesday January 27. We shall keep you updated but one thing is for sure - the ride up to La Videmanette is going to be very very safe in the future.

The Wispile runs are going to be closed for the coming weekend due to a private wedding. Just kidding: actually it's the 25 h freeride Dominique Perret Gstaad race. The gondola will still be running so you can get up to the restaurant, use the winter walking trails up there, or take a sled run down to Gsteig.

Picture: Dr. Klaus-Uwe Gerhardt / pixelio.de).