Ski Area in Switzerland

[snoopylaups]

Dear All,

I have some problems when choosing the ski area in Switzerland. We have 4 pps, 2 of them are the beginner, which ski are is good for beginner?? St Mortiz, Murren etc??
大家可以給點意見嗎??

[Mike]

According to the Guardian (UK newspaper), the top 9 ski resort for beginners were:

Les Arcs & Tignes (France), Wengen (Switzerland), Cortina (Italy), Lech (Austria), Killington (USA), Bansko (Bulgaria), Poiana Brasov (Romania) and Soldeu (Andorra).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/nov/19/skiing.top10

Personally, I prefer either France or Switzerland. :)

[snoopylaups]

Hi Mike,

Do u have any suggestion for accomoodation for ski in/out in Wengen??

[kasin]

[quote=snoopylaups;27827]Dear All,

I have some problems when choosing the ski area in Switzerland.

Hi
R u family of 4 or 4 adults, age range?? and R u looking for maximum skiing time ie. no wasting time travelling or apine village {picturesque) usually means walking a bit or ski bus to start of uphill transport, budget or luxury
May be able to suggest a few places in Swisserland from personal experiences
kasin

[Mike]

Hi Mike,

Do u have any suggestion for accomoodation for ski in/out in Wengen??

Before I read the article that I previously quoted, I thought about Wengen as a good choice for beginners.

Wengen is a car free resort, as I remembered most of the accomodation are either hotel or chalet type. Last time I went there 20 years ago, I was staying in a chalet (run by a UK ski holiday operator) and it was about 10minutes walk to the main lift station. There are hotels closer but cannot remember the names.

[carver_hk-ski]

will u consider club med? instruction is included. :)

[eLeung]

Last time I went there 20 years ago, ...

You must be very young when you were there. :D

[snoopylaups]

Hi Kasin,

We are 4 adults and 2 of us ar the beginers. We plan 3 days for ski, but haven't determine at the area. As so may ski area in Switerland, we don't know how to select. And we mainly travel by train, so don't know which area is easy to reach.
i just checked there is 3 magor ski area at Wegen, so do u have any suggestion which sould we stay at??


[quote=snoopylaups;27827]Dear All,

I have some problems when choosing the ski area in Switzerland.

Hi
R u family of 4 or 4 adults, age range?? and R u looking for maximum skiing time ie. no wasting time travelling or apine village {picturesque) usually means walking a bit or ski bus to start of uphill transport, budget or luxury
May be able to suggest a few places in Swisserland from personal experiences
kasin

[saikee]

In my experience none of the famous Swiss resorts are particularly good for beginners. I believe most of the Swiss learner skiers go to their local resorts, which may be very small and with 3 to 5 chairlifts and generally deserted, than heading for the famous resorts where as beginners they would be unable to benefit from the large number of chairlifts and runs but still have to pay the full price for them.

For HK skiers with 50% beginners and going there only for 3 days then any resort should do theoretically because there bound to be beginner slopes in every resort except in Switzerland the easy slopes are garded blue and green runs do not exist in Switzerland or Austria.

Switzerland is the country where one can choose to stay near a tran station because taking the train will be included in the ski pass if the stations are reasonably inside the skiing area. This is to say taking a train from Koister to Davos is free but the journey from Geneva to Zermatt is counted as normal train fare.

I don't think Murren is particularly suitable for beginners but the skiers who can do black runs will find the area exciting. Places like Zermatt, St Moritz, Engelberg and Murren are more famous for their scenic beauty with some nominal facilities for the beginners, which may be adequate for 3 days and the places may become boring unless the beginners can ski red piste travelling to the remainders of the resorts.

Ski-in and ski-out accommodations are the most expensive in a resort and Switzerland happens to be the most expensive place in the Alps. By that I mean accommodation, food, shopping, ski pass or a cup of coffee. Choosing a accommodation close to a train station or along the bus route within the skiing area can be a substantial saving as all Swiss accommodations are tightly regulated.

[kasin]

[quote=snoopylaups;27827]Dear All,

choosing the ski area in Switzerland.
HI
You picked a very good resort to look at, Wengen, world famous, great scenery on the foothill of Eiger, a mountain village as close to ski in/ski out that you can get. (still a very short walk, a few minutes to the uphill transport) Good beginner's slopes very close to village so good for the novice skiier. Murren is definately unsuitable for beginner very few slopes for beginners so I would go for Wengen and stay in the village, also it is easy to get to by train (swiss train provides excellent service, and nearly everyone speaks English)
Not sounding a kill joy, I would say that 3 days independent skiing coming all the way for HK is probably Ok for an experience skier but for an absolute beginner may not be a good idea as by the time that you hire your equipments, get lift passes, sorted out your bearings, may be arranged your lessons etc. One day is gone, and one cannot really learn a lot in 2 days. I do think it is for more effective and probably get a lot more out of skiing if one do the initial learning close to home ie. Far East resorts.
BUt then it is just my thoughts please do not take offense
If you decided to go for it there are a lot of places you can stay in Wegen in the official web siteand other sites, a simple Google search will link you to them and you can take your pick . Swiss hotels and pensions(cheaper places) are good and reliable.
any other queries post them

[tccheung]

I am going to Davos in March, I am still wondering whether I should bring my ski or snowboard with me. I read the previous posts saying most lifts are surface dragging lifts, which are not user friendly to snowboarder. Any suggestion?

[saikee]

Davos, as most Swiss resorts, does have above average drag lifts in the Alps. However the larger areas, like Parsenn and Jacobshorn, are not too bad as you can avoid them most of the time.

The unlinked areas in Davos are (the numbers are the total piste length in km)

Davos Rinerhorn 38
Davos Jacobshorn 61
Davos Pischa 16
Davos Platz 23
DavosDorf Parsenn 114
Kloster Madrisa (KlosterDorf) 53

Using both the bus and the train is the best way. Davos public transport is the best in the Alps. You can get free rides even before buying the ski pass! Some of the runs are unidirectional. That means you can ski to a train station and take the train back. The ski areas are spread out evening between the two side of the valley.

Kloster is the place favoured by the Royal family, Prince Charle in oarticular. Enjoy the royal runs!

[kasin]

I am going to Davos in March, I am still wondering whether I should bring my ski or snowboard with me. I read the previous posts saying most lifts are surface dragging lifts, which are not user friendly to snowboarder. Any suggestion?

T bar are still in use in small Swiss resorts so if you are not confident in riding them on board I would bring skis only I still hate riding them after so many years.

[Mike]

T bar are still in use in small Swiss resorts so if you are not confident in riding them on board I would bring skis only I still hate riding them after so many years.

I hate sharing a T-bar with someone who is a lot taller than you or someone who doesn't know how to ride a T-bar. :mad:

[kasin]

I hate sharing a T-bar with someone who is a lot taller than you or someone who doesn't know how to ride a T-bar. :mad:

mike I felt off it so many times in the past that the last many years I insisted riding it on my own to the annoyance of many attendents and other skier (when there is a big que) got thick skins!!!!!/

[badmanhk]

I am looking for switzerland resort information as well. Any suggestion for resort nearby zurich?

[Mike]

I am looking for switzerland resort information as well. Any suggestion for resort nearby zurich?

How close to Zurich? And what are you looking for?

[saikee]

Check out Bergfex (http://www.bergfex.com/ostschweiz/)

For Zurich the areas with plenty skiing resort are Eastern Switzerland and Graubunden. The latter is a upmarket place to ski. The last time I checked 7 out of the top 20 resorts is Switzerland are in Graubunden.

Flims/Laax/Falera is always popular because it is one of the largest and most modern. Davos is favoured as the G7 venue for the last few years. Kloster is skied by the Royal families. St Moritz is in the same league as Zermatt but more exclusive.

[badmanhk]

How close to Zurich? And what are you looking for?

Mmmm... I am quite flexible and going to spent 2 weeks around Zurich at early March.

It will good to have few days ski trip at a resort within 1 or 2 hours travel from Zurich.

Any suggestion?

P.S. I have been Laax few years ago. It is a nice place, but it seems not very boarder friendly. I really hate the T-bars there....

[Mike]

It will good to have few days ski trip at a resort within 1 or 2 hours travel from Zurich.

Any suggestion?

P.S. I have been Laax few years ago. It is a nice place, but it seems not very boarder friendly. I really hate the T-bars there....

There are quite a few resorts undewr 2 hours drive from Zurich, eg. Davos, Klosters, Arosa, Jungfrau, Flims, etc. Take your pick.

As for T-bar, I'm afraid you have to live with it unless you go to Verbier.