GstaadLife

By Alison Chabloz

In spite of all the concern over global warming, it could be argued that that this phenomenon has little to do with the accumulation of greenhouse gases resulting from the combustion of Earth’s natural resources. The explanation may simply lie in climatic change. Newspapers and magazines publish articles about heatwaves, melting ice-caps and retreating glaciers, but we know that similar events have taken place throughout the entire existence of our planet, which continues to turn on its axis as the seasons come and go. Accurate climatic data based on scientific evidence has been developed only recently. Is it reasonable to suggest that the human race has the upper hand when it comes to dealing with climatic evolution and the forces of nature?  Elderly folk from Saanenland talk of snow coming in October and melting in May; perhaps some of them have forgotten the winter of 1964 when there was no snow at all. And the first years of the new century brought to the region a series of memorable winters.

Photos from the Gstaad Saanenland Calendar 2008. Click here to order the calendar.

Back in March we reported on the new system of fines being imposed in Switzerland which calculate penalties according to your income (see When might a drink cost half a million francs?). One thing we previously overlooked concerns those of you with drivers in your employ. Should your man get caught for offenses requiring jail time (eg drink driving, drugs etc.), the means-based fine will be based not in his income, but on your's. And as his employer, it's you who will get the bill. So make sure you can trust him, because a driver is like family.

After a winter of taking hit after hit in the press (tax exiles, no snow, cheese scandals, etc), on Monday evening Gstaad has a wonderful opportunity to show itself in its best light. As previously reported, Swiss TV's primary German-language channel, SF1, will be broadcasting live from the Promenade during Monday evening's prime time season-opener of its bsuech in show. Roger Seifritz, director of Gstaad Saanenland Tourism, sees it as a chance to go beyond the glitz and glam Gstaad is typically associated with, and show the real Gstaad on TV; its atmosphere, the character of the villages, and all our authentic local customs. Indeed one of those customs is the subject of a mass town challenge, which will see hundreds cooperating to make a giant traditional paper-cutting (Scherenschnitt) of a Saanen goat to be completed during the program. Throughout the evening the action will be on the Gstaadplatz (the one in front of the von Siebenthal store), with GST inviting all for an apero at 18h30 before the live broadcast begins at 19h55.

You can't see we don't go to the ends of the earth for you here at GstaadLife.com. As part of the today's summer special edition in the Anzeiger von Saanen, GstaadLife.com's Andrea von Siebenthal made the climb on the Via Ferrata up to the Rüeblihorn. For the uninitiated, the Via Ferrata is a prepared climbing path, part steep hiking trail and part climb. There are cables to hook in, and there is a full kit of safety harnesses and helmets to wear. Indeed the more urban among you will feel you've just climbed Mount Everest when you get to the top. Check out the video below for the view from the top, click here for more pictures, and pick up this Friday's GstaadLife print edition for a full account of Andrea's adventure to the summit, and the numbers you need to call to try it for yourself.

Back on November 4 2005, sister newspaper the Anzeiger von Saanen ran the headline Two more steps until realization. At the time executives from the Gemeinde and the judiciary and thrown out all the objections against proposed revisions to the project to rebuild the Grand Hotel Alpina in the Oberbort. And yet today the Alpinamatte remains a grassy meadow haunted by the silhouettes of construction markers, a wooded haven frequented more by dog owners and fly-tippers than vacationers. Well, all of this may be about to finally change. On May 22 2007 an administrative court once again threw out all the objections to the proposed (re)-building of the hotel, and Marcel Bach, coordinator of the project, hopes to begin construction as early as this autumn.

As foreigners living in Gstaad, we’ve all had the conversation at one time or other. Picture yourself with speaking with a courier service or a store from where you’ve just ordered something to be delivered. It goes something like this:

• And where would you like that delivered?
• To my chalet in Gstaad please.
• And the address?
• Chalet [enter name], 3780 Gstaad
• [Pause] Err, is there a street?
• No, just the chalet name
• How about a number?
• No, just the chalet name
• [Long pause] Okay…
• When will the package arrive?
• Should be there by the end of the week

And of course when you call a week later, you get a whole song-and-dance about how the driver was there but couldn’t locate your chalet without at least a street name or number, how he tried ever so hard (without thinking to actually call you), and how the package is now back in the depot in Geneva/Zurich from where if it’s not picked up within the next 24 hours it will be returned to sender.

They’ve been a while in the making, but last week the movers arrived to install the new residents of Chalets Max and Moritz in Gstaad. It was one of the largest chalet construction projects in recent years, dogged in the early days by unexpected difficulties in reinforcing the hills behind the structures from the vibration of passing trains, and later subject to the ire of Kirchenfeld residents as construction crews blocked the Kirchstrasse on a daily basis. But for all the trials and travails, the results are impressive, and the new buildings now stand imposingly off the Promenade boasting commanding views over the village down towards the glacier, not to mention a birds-eye view of all the action on court #2 when the Allianz Suisse Open kicks off in a couple of weeks.

Busking is the practice of doing live musical performances in public places to entertain people, usually to solicit donations and tips. Well, they don’t ask for money when they busk on the Promenade in Gstaad, but the impromptu musical performances are no less entertaining...

Raiffeisenbank is continuing its march into the region with the opening of its new branch in Gstaad on the Bahnhofplatz (there are now a mere five banking brands within a few hundred meters of each other). This Saturday’s opening event will mark a couple of firsts in Gstaad, as not only is Raiffeisenbank the first foreign bank to open a branch office in Gstaad (Raiffeisenbank Zentralbank is originally Austrian), but bankers will be seen working on the weekend. Already present in Feutersoey, Rougemont and Château d’Oex, Raiffeisenbank is likely to put pressure on local incumbent Saanen Bank.

By Dr Artur P Schmidt 

Business commentator Dr Artur P Schmidt of Saanen comments on the recent acquittal of Swissair executives who had been charged with criminal wrongdoing surrounding the collapse of the national airline back in 2001 (see Was Swissair more than just an airline?).

Considering the fact that truth can only ever be identified on a relative as opposed to absolute scale, it is clear that absolute truth itself cannot exist; only relative certainties. Irrational failure must always have an irrational reason for it to exist. So how is it that judges can act so irrationally not to sentence the Swissair executives who have certainly shown not only incompetence but even worse criminal behaviour? The answer lies in the Swiss education system itself. When the judges are themselves students of the same school of shareholder value-driven education as has been taught for decades at the University of St Gallen, how can the system have any other view on the offences than the view of total innocence?