GstaadLife

David Ferrer (ATP 5)  and also Janko Tipsarevic (ATP 10) have confirmed their participation in the Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad the summer. They will be joined by the present title holder Marcel Granollers (ATP 26), who won in 2011, Stanislas Wawrinka (ATP 27) who has committed long term to the tournament,  Mikhail Youzhny (ATP 35) and a growing list of high ranked players who have confirmed participation in Gstaad this coming season.

The present Gstaad Saanenland image film on rural tourism was honored earlier this month at the ITB in Berlin, the world's leading travel trade show, by winning in its category one of the top three places. The Golden City Gate competition provides all tourism advertisers with a platform for having their films, campaigns and other multimedia contributions appraised by international expert juries in Düsseldorf and Berlin. The destinations, hotels, carriers, agencies, music or film productions and many others taking part enjoy an opportunity for presenting their movies, print media or music clips for scrutiny.Kerstin Sonnekalb of the Gstaad Saanen tourism was there to receive, and bring home the prize from film festival director Wolfgang Huschert.

Recently work began to clean up the Simmental road between Lee and Laubegg at Zweisimmen. The road is 700 meters long and parts will be renovated or newly built. The almost 80-year old Laubegg bridge is to be new and replaced by a 100 meters long bridge. First the construction of the new bridge will be addressed. The speed limit in the construction area is 60 km/h. Traffic delays through the construction zone will be expected.The construction work will continue until autumn 2013.

Sun, snow and charity. This was the menu for a recent race ski in Launeen to collect money for ‘Innocence in danger’, an international organization which takes care of abused children.  The local event was organized by some mothers of the John F Kennedy School, like Carolyne Lo Faro, Maria Rodes and Carina Jones, The delicious buffet, was made by Tina Lee and Aimeè Salmi. While Diana d' Hendecourt was the official "paparazza" at the gates of the slalom. It was the first edition, but for the second, next year, also some local schools will be involved. 

The total amount raised by the students of the John F Kennedy School was SFr21’000.00 . Thanks to these funds some children funded by ‘Innocence in Danger’, will enjoy a summer camp in Gstaad this year for two weeks. A very good result, helping other children less fortunate, take responsibility and have some fun too!  (www.innocenceindanger.de)

Picture of Sveva and Kamalei, Sveva won the prize for best costume.

Due to the recent snowfall and excellent conditions, the Sparenmoos has been extended for winter sports enthusiasts until Easter. All cross-country skiers, sledgers, winter hikers and sunbathers can enjoy the landscape on the Sparenmoos. The MuMa Snackbar serves up local produce, hand-picked Swiss wines and homemade daily soup with lots of charm and coziness. The three different trails for all levels provide a good range, and at 1600 meters above sealevel, there is still a lot of snow.

Charly's in the 1930's.

Charly's Tea Room has not always been just a popular meeting place for locals and guests, it has always been widely known for its unique atmosphere, specialties and chocolate products.

‘My father suffered a stroke in 1958 and so I had to come back from England and help my mother in the tea room’,says René Reuteler and in 1960, the trained Confectioner with his wife, Heidi took over the business entirely.
Having grown up in Charly’s, René knew the business well. "Dancing in the winter to live music was the Charly’s then,"recalls Reuteler. ‘Locals and visitors met for apres-ski at Charly’s. Many locals and visitors will recall the dance floor’, says Reuteler. René and Heidi though had a different vision for Charly’s. ‘With more tables and without music, we made more sales in less time’, says Heidi. The Tea Room however remained faithful to its reputation as a meeting place.
‘We had a lot of regulars, who came for refreshment. Women even then met regularly to have coffee and cake’, recall the couple. ‘At least half the neighborhood met on Saturday evenings with us. Students from various international institutions, famous persons, and locals have always been treated equally at Charly’s and discretion was, and still is a matter of honour. ‘We do not tolerate autograph hunters in the tea room’, the Reuteler’s explain. When the business was sold to Stefan Romang, the Reutelers were happy with their lot and the new owner. They maintain good contact and do not interfere. ‘We are pleased with how it is running’. Says the 79 year old René Reuteler.

Stefan and Heidi Romang,René Reuteler Gottfried von Siebenthal and Heidi Reuteler. 

From 29th February 2012 larger and sharper visual images are to be found on the websites portraying webcam images from Gstaad and surrounds.The new representation is delivered in a way that is also suitable for mobile phones.

The purchase and maintenance of the new equipment is a joint project of Gstaad Saanenland Tourism, Bergbahnen Gstaad, Destination Gstaad AG and Glacier 3000 AG. Their new technology provides a much improved visual stream from the current nine webcams operating in the region. For instance the Rellerli camera now pans nearly 360 °and delivers a view of most of the area.

"The number of webcams will eventually be expanded so that guests can get a more complete picture of the current situation in our region," said Deputy Director Michel GST-Matti, whose department falls under the supervision of tourism infrastructure.The images are not only on the Gstaad web platform portals but also on many other tourist partner platforms.

The webcams are important," says GST-Marketing Manager Reto Tschannen. More and more, mainly day visitors, decide on the basis of the current images, whether they will take a trip to the region or not. "We are putting in a large effort to offer our visitors the best possible webcam service."

The groundbreaking ceremony for the public car park construction will take place on 20 March 2012, where the council will officially open the building site.  Due to the current snow still lying on the surface, first work will start in the dairy center. The public car park project, which is to be integrated into the “von Grünigen Matte” development is to be finished in autumn 2013.