GstaadLife

 
The sports center in Gstaad with the indoor swimming pool will be closed from Monday May 2 2011 until Sunday May 22 2011 for repairs and cleaning. The tennis courts and the mini golf will remain open, though only from Monday to Friday. The restaurant will be open from Monday to Friday from 9h00 till 14h00, and on the weekends only by request for at least 15 people on. Hmmm, so that limits weekend activity choices because what is the playground without the minigolf, a drink, and an ice-cream?

Here are the cable car closing dates for the 2010/11 winter season in Gstaad-Saanenland:

Glacier 3000 Pillon, May 8
Glacier 3000 Reusch, already closed March 20 except for weekends in April
Rinderberg, April 3
Saanerslochgrat/Hornberg, April 25
Horneggli, April 25
Rellerli, closed back on February 27 (was it actually open this was season?)
Wispile Gondelbahn, already closed on March 6 
Eggli-Videmanette, March 27

closed La Braye
closed Skilift Lauenen
closed Skilift Gsteig
closed Lengebrand / Parwengesattel
closed Wispile Rütti and Zückerli
closed Wasserngrat

We hope you enjoyed your season and if empty slopes are your thing, now is the time!

 
UPDATE Friday June 11: this is a proper pain: allow an extra 10 minutes for journeys from Gstaad/Saanen to Ober Gstaad, Oberbort, Wispile, Bissen, Gsteig and Lauenen.

The Gstaad bypass will be completely closed from June 10 to 13. This means that the street from the Migros roundabout to the Würsten roundabout will also be completely closed. You'll still be able to get from one side of town to the other one though - via Gschwendstrasse one way and via the train station in the other direction.

Here are the closing dates for the ski lifts in and around Gstaad: 
21.3. Gstaad–Wasserngrat
21.3. Gsteig
28.3. Château-d‘Oex–La Braye
05.4. St Stephan–Parwengesattel
05.4. Zweisimmen–Rinderberg
05.4. Gstaad–Eggli–Saanen–Rougemont
11.4. Saanenmöser–Saanerslochgrat
11.4. Saanenmöser–Hornberg
11.4. Schönried–Horneggli
11.4. Reusch–Glacier 3000
02.5. Col du Pillon–Glacier 3000

Already closed:
Schönried–Rellerli
Gstaad–Wispile
Lauenen

So not too much time left. It's been an odd year weather-wise but the ski conditions throughout have been surprisingly good. Kudos to the piste prep crews who seem to have surpassed themselves this season.  So get out there over the next couple weeks and enjoy some seriously good (if rather warm -- 17 degrees in Gstaad today) spring skiing conditions.

The picture above shows the poles behind the Sporthotel Rütti - which soon will be no more. So if you still want to enjoy a good pizza for a reasonable prize you make your moves, because the hotel and restaurant will close on March 15. Apparently a new hotel is planned with 30 beds, restaurant, wellness, apartments, and an underground parking lot. Behind everything is the Chesery AG Gstaad but Mario Moratti was not quite ready to discuss the details when interviewed by our sister publication the Anzeiger von Saanen.

The grocery shop in Schönried (see picture) will close down by the end of June 2010. Simple old economic reasons are forcing this, the fourth generation of grocers, Ursula and Hans van den Elshout-Gyger, to take this step.

The post office in Lauenen will now definitely close by summer 2010. If a partner can be found then there will at least be a postal agency - meaning another shop which will act like a post office. If not then a home service will be put in place.

by Diana Oehrli

A letter entitled “Locals Goodbye” that was published in our German language sister publication, Anzeiger von Saanen, has been the talk of the town since it appeared more than one month ago. Signed by over 80 local youth, the letter expresses outrage and sadness over the selling of local real estate to well-to-do guests. Furthermore, it decries the transformation of Saanenland’s villages – namely Gstaad and Saanen with their authentic mountain flavor – into ghost towns that are becoming dominated by ‘unnecessary’ luxury boutiques. On May 11, Der Bund, the regional newspaper in the canton of Berne, picked up the story and printed an article entitled “Gucci statt Gemüse” (“Gucci instead of vegetables”). The article says that Gstaad has the highest quota of billionaires in the world. “And the rich have their special needs: nearly 30 boutiques with fashion from sophisticated houses like Gucci or Prada, line Gstaad’s main street that carries the lordly name ‘Promenade.’” At its May meeting, the commune’s council, addressing the open letter, appealed urgently to landowners to put their financial interests aside and to consider the existent needs of local young people and century-old traditions, when considering future real estate transactions. The letter “Locals Goodbye?!” reads: “Yet again, a business locale on the Gstaad Promenade has been sold to an affluent Gstaad guest.