GstaadLife

Tuesday October 31 2006

Ledi Garage

Feutersoey, Switzerland

They're off! Stan de Sadeleer and Hansueli Brand departed this morning for Paris for the start of the Transafricaine Classic Rally later this week. There was a slight air of nervousness at the Ledi Garage this morning as the team loaded the car and made their final checks, but as the moment for departure neared smiles were in evidence as months of preparations reached fruition. Driving their actual rally vehicle, today will see the Gstaad Automobile Club duo on a leisurely drive up to Paris, paying close attention to the car to make sure everything is running ok. Tomorrow at 13h15 they have their technical control for the race, and with 75 participants, technical controls will take all of tomorrow and the morning of the next day. The rally begins at 15h00 on Thursday November 2 with an easy run down to the military proving ground in Olivet, where the action will begin at 09h00 on Friday November 3.

Click here for pictures from the apéro/presentation of the car in Gstaad.

Click here for background information on the team and the rally.

Check back with us here at GstaadLife.com for regular updates from the drivers throughout the rally with photos and video.

Le tout Gstaad was out in force for the apéro put on by the Gstaad Automobile Club and Gstaad-Saanenland Tourismus Saturday afternoon (October 28). The event saw the presentation of 1994 Land Rover Discovery Series 1 that will be driven by Stan de Sadeleer and Hansueli Brand from Paris to Dakar in the Transafricaine Classic Rally beginning this coming Wednesday November 1. Chalet owners and local residents alike mingled on the Promenade sipping wine and nibbling Hobelkäse as they marveled at the bright orange SUV that will be home to de Sadeleer and Brand as they voyage 9,200 km through France, Spain and the Sahara desert to Dakar Senegal

Click here for background story.

Above, Stan de Sadeleer (left) and Hansueli Brand at the presentation of their Transafricaine Rally car in the Promenade. Below, de Sadeleer and Brands' 1994 Land Rover Discovery Series 1 which they will be driving from Paris to Dakar between November 1 to 19.

Click here for more pictures.

Click here for more pictures.

Beginning Wednesday November 1, you can follow the race online right here at GstaadLife.com. The site will be updated daily with exclusive photos, video, and live race data. Plus de Sadeleer and Brand will be in contact with us throughout the race by satellite phone and we'll bring you their daily commentary right here. Bookmark www.gstaadlife.com in your Favorites!

Beginning on Wednesday November 1, a Gstaad Automobile Club team will be racing in the 1st Transafricaine Rally from Paris to Dakar. Driving for GAC will be Stanislas de Sadeleer and Hansueli Brand, who many of you may know from the Ledi Land Rover dealership in Feutersoey. The race will see the intrepid duo wind their way through France and Spain, transporting their Land Rover by ferry to Tangier Morocco, before setting off into the wilds of the Sahara desert for their scheduled arrival in Dakar Senegal on November 19. De Sadeleer is no stranger to the desert, having completed the modern Dakar Rally in a Toyota in 2002, and Brand is an accomplished rally driver having won numerous competitions around Europe. But this race will be different...

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Left: Stanislas de Sadeleer (left) and Hansueli Brand. Watch the video below for a taste of what they can expect. The 10-minute film follows 1982 Paris-Dakar race winners through the African sections, and clearly shows that de Sadeleer and Brand will be embarking on an exciting but dangerous expedition.

Overlap, the new combined sporting goods and gas retailer at the Tamoil between Gstaad and Saanen, will be opening its doors this weekend. As a special opening offer, owners Hans and Beatrice Frautschi are offering 5 cents off all gas today (Friday October 27) and tomorrow. While they also promise a few surprises, just the concept of having gas and sporting goods in the same venue is surprise enough. Are there really synergies? We like the drive-in-drive-out concept of kitting up for a day’s skiing…one only need see the roadblock in the Palace driveway on winter mornings to appreciate how short a distance some people are prepared to carry their skis.

The Kunsthaus in Zurich is currently running an exhibition entitled “In the Alps”. The The show features more than 300 works from artists, scientists, and explorers, and aims to show how our majestic mountains have inspired people down through the ages. Stretching 1,200 km from France to Slovenia, the exhibition’s remit falls goes far beyond Switzerland, and the works presented seeks to take you beyond the usual alpine clichés, with a look at life and living in the Alps, the effects of tourism in the region, and modern trends such as wellness. We haven’t had a chance to get up to Zurich to check it out yet, but we’ll bring you the highlights when we do. The show runs until January 2 2007, and Swissinfo has the full background here. 

What must be one of the fanciest footbridges in Saanenland is now open again. The bridge over the River Saane at Oey (at the Rougemont end of the Saanen airfield runway) has been under construction for some time now, but this weekend will see its official opening ceremony on Saturday October 28 at 12h00. The bridge is a result of some concerted letter-writing and signature collecting, which forced the re-construction of the old bridge following its demolishment last year after years of neglect. If you're walking between Saanen and Rougemont (one of the more pleasurable routes when the cable cars are closed) it's an important artery, and the south side also features one of the area's nicest grill areas. Drinks and snacks will be served, so check it out.

The Rialto restaurant and cafe is now closed and will re-open on Tuesday November 7.

There are just a few more days to enjoy the brilliance of crisp October days in Saanenland, with the last remaining cable cars on the Wispile wrapping up their operations for the autumn season on Sunday October 29. Many will open up again for the winter in early December, a tad sooner than usual given the new snow-making facilities, with Saanenmoeser welcoming guests on December 2, Wasserngrat, Rinderberg, Horneggli, Eggli, and Videmanette opening on December 9, St Stephan on December 16, and sun-soaked Rellerli and Wispile waiting till December 22 (we can't tell you about Wasserngrat because none of their websites have been updated since the end of last season; come on people). The Glacier will remain open throughout November and December without a break. Annual ski passes are now on sale.

With the sky as crystal clear as it's been over the past couple of days, it's hard to believe that there are air quality concerns here in Gstaad. But this past summer of 2006 saw over 300 hours when the levels of ozone exceeded accepted norms, and this despite the supposedly air-cleansing rains of August. This year's 198 instances of ozone excess repeat the less than stellar air quality measures of recent years, and are prompting the authorities to seek ways to reduce emissions by approximately half. Although we're by no means choking on the smog, let's hope they do more than form commitees, and that when they make proposals, we'll actually listen.

The future of the Gstaad open tennis tournament took another step closer to being assured last Friday, with an overwhelming vote in favor of the deal the Gemeinde reached with Swiss Tennis back in September. There remains the final ok from the ATP, which is expected following its meeting in Shanghai next month, but it now looks all but certain that Gstaad will retain its 91-year tradition of open tennis, the only outdoor pro tournament in Switzerland. Given the drama of the past months, the Gemeinde meeting last Friday at the Landhaus in Saanen was almost an anticlimax; no fireworks, no Adlai Stevenson-like presentation...just consensus all around in the stalwart tradition of Swiss direct democracy.