GstaadLife

This year the Ascension “Auffahrt” holiday is marked by a local celebrity’s climb into the skies--the Schönried-Rellerli gondola.  Today the gondola begins daily summer service through October 27.  It will also conveniently run until 9 pm on Fridays and Saturdays between July 5 and August 11.

Residents and tourists alike are warmly invited to attend the inaugural festivities, which include the live folk band Thunerbuebe and delicious grilled fare at the Berghaus Rellerli.  Reservations are recommended, and can be made via rest.rellerli@gstaad.ch or 033 748 8722.

From the Berghaus, a world of beautiful trails opens up for both beginning and experienced fans of hiking and mountain biking.  Jaun Pass, Abländschen and Save Moss are just several of the destinations reachable from the gondola’s end point.  Families will enjoy the 620-meter long summer toboggan run, as well as fat-tire scooters to zip about the valley.  On June 1, Children’s Day, youngsters ages 8 to 16 ride free (those 7 and under always ride free with an accompanying adult) Both activities are dependant upon weather conditions; please visit www.gstaad.ch to confirm current offerings. 

 

A new chapter has opened not only with the JFK international school but also with its previous managers - the Lovell's. Well, Bill, Sandy, Bryce and Vicktoria Lovell started their own company - Lovell Camps which offer boys and girls from around the globe both summer and winter holidays. They told us that these camps combine sport, language, and outdoor and cultural excursions. More after the jump.

 
Wednesday, June 1 2011 on Hornberg - brrrr.

The Institut Le Rosey has been in search of a new area for its Gstaad campus for a while now, and believes it has found it in the form of Schönried Erli (above the village of Schönried on the Rellerli side). Pictured above is a mock-up of how the campus is expected to look, a project which will be a joint effort of architects Benz Hauswirth GmbH, Jaggi & Partner AG and Chaletbau Matti AG. They have conceived a campus that looks like a mini-village with numerous buildings in the local chalet style set around a village square. The village itself will include living quarters for about 450 students and 100 teachers as well as the classrooms, cafeteria, sports facilities, and a parking garage for about 75 cars. The only discussion point amongst locals is the Hubelstrasse which is simply too narrow at parts for the kind of traffic expected. More as we have it.

 

 
The winter season is now basically over - just the Glacier hangs on as even Saanenmöser had to close before its scheduled date. But already we have the sight of the first spring gondolas running up the mountains for the summer season. Eggli - yes Eggli! is open between April 21 and June 26, Thursday thru Sunday between 9h00 and 16h30. The restaurant will also be open so you can once again enjoy Oberson's cuisine in summer. Gstaad Mountain Rides is also planning to open Eggli in the autumn from October 13 to November 13. The other mountain which is opening for the summer season is the Rellerli (did they even have a winter season?). Between April 23 until May 25 they'll keep a light schedule from Saturday thru Wednesday between 9h00 and 16h30. From May 25 on, the gondola will run daily until October 12.

 

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!

From Monday March 14 thru Friday April 15 the main water pipes are going to be cleaned in Schönried, Halten, Unterbort, Saanen and Oey. This can cause water pressure changes, a temporary chloride smell, and shitty-looking water. The commune of Saanen assures us that the chlorine levels are in no way dangerous and that in case of brownish water you should just let it run until it gets clear again.

 
On March 20 2011 the Ermitage Golf Hotel in Schönried closes its doors for a complete renovation. The main building will be pulled down to be replaced by two completely new buildings on the site now occupied by the existing structure and the beach volleyball court. The militantly-naked wellness area will be enlarged and modernized. The top floors of the new buildings will feature 8 apartments and the new hotel will have 95 rooms instead of the current 78. So what, we hear you say, another Gstaad-Saanenland renovation. But the amazing thing about this one is that all of the above will be done for a reopening date planned for December 21 of this(!) year 2011.

 

More than 100 years ago the viaduct of Gstaad was built - then with wooden scaffolding. Right now it is once again bedecked in scaffolding, this time for a renovation of its 114 meter-long, 30 meter-high steel span. It was a hot topic for quite a while - whether to renovate or build completely anew - but a petition by local residents and the federal office for building and permissions finally ended the discussion in favor of renovation.

In 1898, when the railway from Montreux to Zweisimmen was initiated it was actually not planned to run the line through Gstaad - it was supposed to go from Saanen straight up to Schönried. Can you imagine Gstaad without its railway? Seems impossible now but at that time the 5km detour was considered surplus to requirements. Well, after lots of back and forth and SFr 100'000 of intervention, the detour to Gstaad was made possible and in 1903-4 the viaduct was built. It is going to be a while though until it can shine again without scaffolding. After Easter they'll even be a two-week period where no service at all will be possible and passengers will have to avail themselves of a bus service. Well, good things take a while, hopefully it will look fantastic, and with its new "silent bridge" technology, Gstaad Viaduct will no doubt have the good folks of Neueret sleeping blissfully through the first run down to Montreux. Now if they could just be a little creative with the Christmas decoration: below, the town viaduct in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

 

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.