GstaadLife

Jörg Perreten from Lauenen. Those of you present for the GstaadAlive! talent shows on the Promenade over the past couple of years will be familiar. For the rest of you, best just click to watch the video of his performance on the Germany's 'Das Supertalent' show yourself. In the show, which aired this past Friday evening on RTL, he told of his rough childhood, the divorce of his parents, how he was taken away from his Brazilian mother, put into the care of foster parents where he felt like a slave. He also described his escape into the punk scene, alcohol and drug abuse, violence, and his attempted suicide... and how he sees appearing on the show and his talent for music as a chance to get off the street and start anew. We can only wish him the very best for the next round which airs on Saturday September 24 2011 at 20:15 on RTL.

The time has come for actors Isabelle von Siebenthal and Hans Schenker to reopen the Hotel Wildhorn in Lauenen. This is one to be excited about, even if Web2.0 hasn't quite made it to Lauenen yet... 

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!

We have to admit that we had not heard of them before, but this seems to be a big faux pas in Switzerland - the actors Isabelle von Siebenthal and Hans Schenker are national celebrities as a result of Swiss soap Lüthi und Blanc which ran on SF1 every week, 288 episodes in total. We found quite an amusing video in Swiss German (above) and post it with the hope that they will be as good hosts as they are actors.

 
In Sunday's nationwide vote regarding new measures for tighter gun control, 20 of 26 cantons and 56.3% of voters rejected the proposal to no longer allow current and former military personnel to keep their weapons at home.  The table above shows how gun-mad Saanenland is, with over 77% of local residents in favor the keeping of weapons at home. Interestingly Geneva was one of the few cantons which voted in favor of the plan. There are an estimated 2 to 3 million guns in Switzerland (nobody knows exactly how many because there is no national registry of fire arms), and soldiers have been allowed to keep their weapons at home since World War II. This vote ensures that this militia tradition will continue, and will probably also mean Switzerland will maintain its place at the top of another less desirable ranking: the number one country in Europe for gun-related suicide.

Many of our regular Gstaad guests know and appreciate the welcoming hotelier and restauranteur Thomas Addor from the Wildhorn in Lauenen. As of the New Year, Addor is stepping back from the Wildhorn so he has more time to devote to private pursuits. So no more friendly Addor smile at the Wildhorn... but you can buy an insurance from him. We wish him all the best in his new profession.

The time has come and the snow is here in abundance. Here are the opening dates for the skilifts in and around Gstaad-Saanenland:

1.12.10 Saanerslochgrat-Hornberg-Horneggli
11.12.10 Gstaad-Wasserngrat
11.12.10 Château-d‘Oex-La Braye
18.12.10 Zweisimmen-Rinderberg
18.12.10 St. Stephan-Parwengesattel
18.12.10 Gstaad-Eggli
18.12.10 Lauenen
22.12.10 Schönried-Rellerli
22.12.10 Gstaad-Wispile (Skilift Rütti from 18.12.10)
22.12.10 Gsteig
23.12.10 Rougemont-La Videmanette (could change)

Check the maps and webcams before you go as these things are subject to change in the early-season.

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.

From January 1 2011 Lauenen will also have new street names and numbers.