The Gstaad region boasts some incredible summer activities, yet the latest must-do experience is a little more unexpected…

Normally when you let your friends know that you’re going wakeboarding on the weekend, they usually would assume you’re heading down to Lac Leman or even further afield. Well, not quite.

The Gstaad region is no average place. We have a palace never owned by a king (although kings have certainly stayed there), multi-millionaires living next door to working farmers, an ATP world tour tennis championship, some of the world’s best hiking trails, and the town’s own Yacht Club (despite being over an hour away from the closest location you can sail a boat). Why would you ever think this place was ordinary?

On the top of Saanenmöser is a small lake called the Hornberg See. You’ve probably skied past it while it was frozen, but in the summer, it’s transformed into the place to be. Music, food, drinks – even a skate ramp; the Hornberg is popping off come summertime, and it’s mostly due to the main attraction – the wakeboard park.

WakeUp Gstaad was started just five years ago by a local group of six friends: Björn Schär, Hannes Marmet, Marco Reinle, Frederic Thoenen, Raphaël Wenger, and Michel Hediger, whom one day went on a wake excursion – and their world opened up. They loved it so much that they decided to bring it back to Gstaad. We snowboard here in the winter; why not board in the summer too? After a crowdfunding session, they finally had enough money to realise their dream – thereby creating Gstaad’s first wakeboarding park.

After being inspired by the Ride On Music festival at the end of the winter season, the mixture of high-intensity sports mixed with the laid-back feel of the music and hanging out in the Alps was an attractive contrast, and they’ve replicated that with WakeUp Gstaad today. Parties or events occur about once a month and include fire shows, food and drink, and of course, a DJ to dance to as you watch 360ºs and flips galore against the backdrop of the sun setting behind the mountains.

The Gstaad region has a penchant for being high and mighty – in the best way. The Swiss Open is the highest ATP Tour event in continental Europe, and we also have the highest situated toboggan run in the world at the top of Glacier 3000. Naturally, why wouldn’t we continue this trend with something extraordinary? Sitting at 1800 metres above sea level, WakeUp Gstaad is the highest wakeboarding park in Europe. There’s something incredibly special about speeding around a lake with the sun shining, the music playing and surveying the alpine horizon as far as the eye can see. You definitely don’t get that every day.

Although heavily frequented by locals, people come from far and wide for a day whizzing around Hornberg See, and it’s seen as one of the novelty attractions to tick off the bucket list come summertime.

After two years of operating, the wake park was sold to Alpinzentrum, an outdoor-activities specialist who can now count wakeboarding amongst their offerings of abseiling, river rafting, and canyoning. However, if dangling off a cliff face is not to your liking, jump on the Horneggli chairlift. The wake park is built for everyone of all levels, so even though you haven’t mastered the jumps yet – or even skimming over the water – you’ll have a supportive audience to cheer you on, expert wakeboarders to give you plenty of tips, and a beer waiting for you after you try it out. Isn’t life so good?

CLAUDIA BUTTERWORTH

 

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