GstaadLife

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.

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!

 
Tuesday March 1 2011 around midday a group of three heliskiers was surprised by an avalanche on the Gstellihorn above Gsteig. The ski guide and one of the men were able to dig themselves out, but the third, Philippe Giesbrecht, was struck by falling debris and was buried. He was found and dug out with the help of the avalanche transeiver he was wearing, and was flown to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. GstaadLife.com offers its deepest condolences to his family and friends. The funeral will take place on Monday March 7 2011 in Saanen at 12h00.

 
For those of you who find yourself moaning about the lack of challenging skiing in Gstaad: or groaning about how our ski areas are not inter-connected. Well, pipe down and get yourself over to Lenk - yes that Lenk, down to Zweisimmen, turn right, all the way along the valley to the town, then left up to Bühlberg at the first intersection. Make sure you leave Gstaad no later than quarter past the hour, as the mountain road to Bühlberg is strictly direction up in a ten-minute window beginning at quarter to the hour (driving up to Bühlberg saves you having to slum it in the big gondola from Lenk). Park the car right next to the ski lift, snap on your skis, and from there you can enjoy endless runs, all day sunshine, some tricky blacks, wide, fast big-carvin' reds, and never the same run twice unless you want to. You can even test your skills on the men's downhill run above Adelboden (watch it because it's still icy from the race in January). Even this year, the on-piste snow quality is inexplicably good, and this despite the fact that the snow-making is limited (ok it's high, ranging from 1'600 to 2'400 meters). For eats, skip the mass market Berghaus scene at Hahnenmoos and Sillerenbühl, and ski down towards Aebi at the back end of the ski area. About a third of the way down, you'll pass by the sun-soaked Alphütte Chüebodmi (+41.79.335 27 48), where the Swiss farmer and his Japanese wife will surprise with delicious noodle dishes, open sushi, a simple green salad with a stunning miso dressing, flavorsome barbecued steaks, an engaging Syrah from Wallis, and other Swiss-Japanese specialities all prepared with a touch of gourmet that goes beyond the same-old-thing from most alpine huts in Saanenland. In a recent survey on 20Minuten.ch, the Swiss voted the Lenk-Adelboden ski area as the 5th best in the land. They're not wrong. Let us know how you get on.

Looking for some action this coming weekend? Here are some possibilities: all weekend the Curling Swiss Championships are taking place at the Sportzentrum in Gstaad (see picture below); Friday February 25 2011 sees Snow Night Gstaad at 19h30 at the Gstaad skischool area (see video of last year's event above); on Saturday February 26 2011 we have the 25 heures freeride Dominique Perret on the Wispile from 11h00 to 17h00 (due to the snow conditions it's not actually 25 hours this year, but who's counting); and Sunday February 27 2011 we can offer up the wooden sledge race in Saanenmöser at 12h30 from the middle station of the Saanersloch gondola (see picture bottom).

This year sees the 13th edition of the High Fly in Saanen Rüblidorf. Saanenlander Jamie Reichenbach (pictured above) and his team High Fly will be amongst the international competitors.

 
by Januaria Piromallo

Young students, aged 12, from the International School of JFK, have founded a new business. The Italian/German Kamalei von Meister and the Greek Kimon Papageorgiou (pictured above) have started a successful enterprise on the peak of the Wasserngrat. Named "Wax n'Win", every week when they are off school they install a table with all the professional equipment needed to wax the skis of clients before a race. Sometimes they are also up there during their lunch break. For SFr 10 they cover little scratches and make the ski ready to win the next competition. You can even buy a subscription of six and get one service for free. 

 
It's in the shade pretty much all day right now but the new base station of La Videmanette in Rougemont shines by itself. The station looks great, the small bar in the Overlap rental area is simple but nice, the new gondolas are super-quick, and with their floor to ceiling glass cabins, the ride up feels like being on a magic carpet. If you've not skied this side for a while, its time for another look. Connect over with the new chairlift from the Eggli and make a morning of it -- it's much better than the Rinderberg Ronda, which has anyway been closed most of this year.

There is a new event on the winter calender - the Diablerets 3D from February 4 to 6 2011, a unique and rather hardcore ski mountaineering competition. Here at GL.com we'll be cheering on our team, locals Richard Müller (pictured right) and Oliver Gyger, who will be participating as a team (Richard is one half of the brother partnership that owns Müller Marketing and Druck AG, publishers of this website). We wish them all the best, even if we remain alarmed by the names of the different stages of the race: La Vertical on Friday, La Diabolique on Saturday and on Sunday it is just La Normale, as in the normal craziness. Good luck!

This picture was taken on January 1 2011 by Piaf Goddard - right now only two weeks later it unfortunately looks more like a summer hiking trail.