GstaadLife

We'd like to take the opportunitiy to wish all our readers here at GstaadLife.com a happy and restful holiday period. We'll be winding things down until the New Year, and will be back during the week of January 7 with all the latest from the Gstaad scene over Christmas (sign up for GstaadLife.com email alerts here if you want to receive the latest automatically). In the meantime our cousins at GstaadLife print will be cranking on through the holidays, with new editions in the Anzeiger and on newstands every Friday until mid-March.

In case you missed any of the action this year, below is a listing of the top articles and categories for 2007. Happy Holidays!

Top articles
1. Montblanc to unveil new diamond jewelry collection in Gstaad
2. A wind farm on the Hornberg?
3. The truth about Federer’s Gstaad cow
4. Taki: 'Life aquatic ain't what it used to be.'
5. Insights into local property trends: CF Immobilier
6. Taki: a Greek in the Temple of Venus
7. Anzeiger von Saanen expanding online operations
8. Chalet in Oberbort-Gstaad up for auction
9. Insights into regional property trends: GstaadBusiness.com
10. Gstaad welcomes Johnny Hallyday
11. The (few) things we don’t like about Gstaad
12. Bertarelli family relocates to Gstaad-Saanen
13. Taki: Goodbye Britain
14. In memory of Sir Nicholas Nuttall
15. Taki on Gstaad summers in the line of fire
16. Taki: be nice to the help
17. How the Titanic brought Le Rosey to Gstaad
18. Gstaaders feature on Bilan's list of Switzerland's richest
19. Experience the Glacier 3000 Alpine Coaster
20. Hotel Olden appoints new director

Top categories
1. Property of the week
2. Gstaad
3. News
4. Events
5. Taki
6. Property
7. Summer Sports
8. Hotels
9. Living in Gstaad
10. Nightlife
11. Weather
12. Automotive
13. Openings
14. Transafricaine Rally
15. Shopping
16. Arts
17. Portraits
18. Advertisements
19. Obituaries
20. Construction

Plans for the construction of the Saanen bypass are on track. The Gemeinde Saanen recently published its construction time plan, expecting the new road to take two and a half years to complete. Provided that the cantonal parliament does not call for a referendum, construction will begin on May 30 2008. The first section to be built will be the western roundabout on the Rougemont side of the village and the tunnel section. 2009 will see the eastern part of the tunnel completed, as well as extensive adjustment along the Saanenmöserstrasse. Interior works and landscaping will follow, preparing the road for the autumn 2010 opening. From then on, the main street through the village road will be closed to through-traffic.

Regular readers of this website will be familiar with the Gstaad Automobile Club. It was under GAC colors that Stanislas de Sadeleer, Vincent Janssens, and Hansueli Brand all crossed the Sahara desert in the Transafricaine Classic Rally from Paris to Dakar. Last night saw a GAC event closer to home, with the unveiling of the club's brand new clubhouse in Feutersoey. Located in an unassuming steel building down by the river behind the Ledi Garage, the club is the new homebase for 47 car fanatics with roots in the Gstaad-Saanenland region, who came together two years ago united in the idea that if there could be a yacht club in Gstaad, there'd better be a car club as well.

Above, Gstaad Automobile Club president Hansueli Brand (right) with one of GAC's founding members, Stanislas de Sadeleer, shortly after his insightful observation of Feutersoey's role relative to Gstaad (see headline above).

It's that time of year again, when Ferraris, Maseratis, and the men and women who admire them come together at the Gstaad Palace for the Bonhams auction, traditionally the first big event of the winter season. The UK's Classic Driver website has the best write up on the cars on offer, so we'll leave the car talk to them. The full lotlist is here.

Gstaad Saanenland Tourism is not taking any chances. It has moved quickly to stifle any momentum building for the the recent government proposals to set up a wind farm on top of Hornberg (see A wind farm on the Hornberg? and Reader's letter: Saanenland not right for wind energy). Indeed, the tourism office has declared itself fundamentally against any industrial project, no matter how green its credentials. With good reason some have said. A representative survey concluded that one of Saanenland’s major attractions is the aesthetic, untouched nature. Thus, whilst in principle the tourism office supports pro-climate projects, this particular proposal for a wind farm goes against the fundamental economic interests of the region.

In our recent GstaadLife.com informal poll of Saanenland gourmet restaurants, the Grand Hotel Bellevue's Prado restaurant managed to come in dead last (see Gault Millau 2008: the critics' critics). But head chef Richard Mebkhout has just gotten his own back. He is now at the helm of the first local establishment in years to be newly bestowed with a Michelin star, adding to the one he held at La Grande Cascade in Paris where he worked before he came to Gstaad. Actually we think you were all a little harsh in the survey, but we have a feeling your were rating the somewhat cool ambiance. The food, however, is supreme, and hotel director Michel Wichmann is understandably pleased, with this latest award a new high point for the 2003 Gault Millau hotel of the year. But who can one trust more – your neighbor or professional restaurant critic? We find ourselves scratching our heads. For his part, Mebkhout isn’t too bothered. He's striving for a second star.

Franz Rosskogler’s last winter season at the helm of Le Grand Chalet marks the end-point of an 18-year tenure. He has directed and co-owned the hotel since 1998, and his past accolades include the Palace and the Ermitage. His dedication was rewarded with high acclaim from locals, guests and hotel critics alike, and he will be sorely missed. While Le Grand Chalet (and certainly La Bagatelle's large selection of fine Austrian wine), without Rosskogler is an almost unthinkable concept, those worried about continuity can rest assured. Rosskogler will remain behind the scenes on the hotel's board, and the new co-directors, head chef Stève Willié and Maître d’hôtel Pedro Ferreira, will ensure a smooth transition and a familiar welcome for the many long-time guests.

Ok, we're going to stick our necks out. About a meter of snow down over the past 48 hours, 14 days to go...we're calling a white Christmas here in Gstaad. Actually 83% of you agree, voting for a white Christmas in the recent survey we conducted on the matter. But really, it's seriously snowy up here in Saanenland, and as we write this Tuesday evening, it's still coming down. The chatter at Charly's today was only of snow, with one cable car worker overheard saying he'd never seen so much snow this early and demonstrating a snow line that came somewhere up around his armpits. Tomorrow it should finally start to taper off, and then high pressure and sunshine will move in on Thursday and Friday. With them will come cooler temperatures, and it's those falling temps that give us the hope that this might just stick around till Yuletide. Let's see...

AnzeigervonSaanen.ch is reporting that the ATP has confirmed the annual Allianz Suisse Open tennis tournament in Gstaad will shift to a later slot in the summer calendar from 2009 onwards (see also Gstaad summer events shift dates). 2009's tournament will take place from July 25 through August 2. Hoteliers are not thrilled, because with the start of the Menuhin Festival, National Day, and the August high season, they don't need the tennis in late July/early August to fill empty beds. There is also the issue of coordinating stadium dates with the beach volleyball tournament, which shares the same infrastructure as the tennis event. But Suisse Open Gstaad AG points outs that the new dates no longer conflict with other ATP tournamanents in Bastad (Sweden) and Newport (US), meaning the Gstaad tournament should attract better players, and crowds should be plentiful around Swiss National Day.

It's been mostly raining here in Gstaad the past couple of days, but upstairs this has all been new snow. As a result of this, and the snow-making facilities between Oldensattel and the Oldenalp, the 7 kilometer-long black run off the back of the glacier is now open.