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Swiss ski areas staying open - minister

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Health minister Alain Berset:

“according to Health Minister Alain Berset, Switzerland is on the right track in coping with the corona pandemic. "The numbers have been falling for three weeks, the measures taken by the authorities, thanks in part to the discipline of the population," he said on Thursday. Regardless of what the neighboring countries would decide: The ski destinations should open. One could not yet talk about a general relaxation of the measures.” Translation by Google.

https://www.jungfrauzeitung.ch/artikel/186432/
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
What does this mean for Avoriaz.... half the resort open (if snow arrives)
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@saintstephen, Probably followed by the situation being reversed in mid Jan as CH goes back into lockdown thanks to the invasion of skiers from all over Europe.
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Quote:
Following recent declarations from the French government, the Portes du Soleil cross-border ski area finds itself in an unprecedented situation:
In CH, the ski lifts will be open in December in the resorts of Morgins, Champéry, Val d'Illiez Les Crosets Champoussin and Torgon.
In FR, the ski lifts will remain closed.
Access to all stations will however be possible, shops will be open and restaurants will offer delicious take-away meals.
The Portes du Soleil resorts are therefore ready to welcome all mountain lovers! Our teams are commited so that you can practice outdoor activities in the best conditions.
So come and take a deep breath of fresh air in our wonderful mountains.
Thank you for your messages of encouragement in this difficult period, it's heartwarming! ❤️


Quote from PDS Facebook page
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Sounds like Bern wants money from Brussels
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Sounds like they’re pretty determined to stay open unless people flout the covid measures or cases spike up again

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/covid-19--health-minister-calls-for-discipline-ahead-of-holidays-and-ski-season/46187438

“We are autonomous and can decide ourselves whether we leave ski areas open. But we know what's at stake. The situation must not get out of hand,” said Berset.

The health minister characterised the Swiss strategy as a mix of self-discipline, personal responsibility and common sense. "We can continue to live – there is no curfew [and] no lockdown like in other countries."
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Showing determination can also be part of negotations. Austria is doing the same.
And Merkel is quite aware, she referred to this today.
Still she wants them to close. And Macron and Conte, and Rutte too...
Looks to me the outcome is clear...
Less so who is going to pay and how much
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Langerzug wrote:
Showing determination can also be part of negotations. Austria is doing the same.
And Merkel is quite aware, she referred to this today.
Still she wants them to close. And Macron and Conte, and Rutte too...
Looks to me the outcome is clear...
Less so who is going to pay and how much


The question is do they know something we don't know?

Because on the face of it - the activity of skiing appears fairly low risk - other than gondolas.

Is it something to do with large groups of people being in proximity, "a nucleus so to speak", where off the slopes for a week they are constantly crossing paths, the resorts become hotbeds (Like Ischgl) and then all these people leave after a ski week and disperse all across the country and that is the issue?

The Hollywood script pitch goes something like this: The perfect way to spread a contagion - mass exposure, the right amount of incubation time and then dispersion!


Also I was talking to a swiss doctor friend and he made a comment to me that Swiss have a mentality of being more accepting of Death, especially amongst those who are old in comparison to other EU states
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
extremerob wrote:

Also I was talking to a swiss doctor friend and he made a comment to me that Swiss have a mentality of being more accepting of Death, especially amongst those who are old in comparison to other EU states


Which explains why dignitas is located where it is
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
extremerob wrote:
Langerzug wrote:
Showing determination can also be part of negotations. Austria is doing the same.
And Merkel is quite aware, she referred to this today.
Still she wants them to close. And Macron and Conte, and Rutte too...
Looks to me the outcome is clear...
Less so who is going to pay and how much


The question is do they know something we don't know?

Because on the face of it - the activity of skiing appears fairly low risk - other than gondolas.

Is it something to do with large groups of people being in proximity, "a nucleus so to speak", where off the slopes for a week they are constantly crossing paths, the resorts become hotbeds (Like Ischgl) and then all these people leave after a ski week and disperse all across the country and that is the issue?

The Hollywood script pitch goes something like this: The perfect way to spread a contagion - mass exposure, the right amount of incubation time and then dispersion!


Also I was talking to a swiss doctor friend and he made a comment to me that Swiss have a mentality of being more accepting of Death, especially amongst those who are old in comparison to other EU states


Add in that the negative orientated commentary, here and general press, completely fails to recognize that those people being discussed as the participants in skiing would still exist somewhere else with the attendant risks of contagion that entails in their normal activities.
They dont cease to exist if they don't ski.

As you point out, skiing as an activity appears low risk especially when compared to major city volumes of activity. The swiss do seem to acknowledge this with their projections.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Sorry but this is s bit of nonsense. The Austrians are aiming to open as well after this lockdown.
Searching for explanations one might also conclude that the Swiss are very fond of money...to mention another cliché. Yet quite close to reality...
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@telford_mike, have found an option of maybe skiing new year in wengen. Tempted even though I assume it’s the 2nd busiest week of the season, after race week. Knowing you live there, what are the protocols for getting up the hill? Both train and cable car seem liable to restrictions, which may prove a total pita for such a busy week.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
dode wrote:
@telford_mike, have found an option of maybe skiing new year in wengen. Tempted even though I assume it’s the 2nd busiest week of the season, after race week. Knowing you live there, what are the protocols for getting up the hill? Both train and cable car seem liable to restrictions, which may prove a total pita for such a busy week.


No restrictions on the cable car or train, you just have to wear a mask. It's actually quite good here at the moment, I've become a regular customer at the Jungfraujoch chocolate shop because the Corona summer pass lets you go as often as you like!
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Opening in January is dependent on case numbers continuing to fall. I don‘t see the French/Italians opening the ski resorts/lifts in January if there is a post-Christmas spike. But such a spike looks not unlikely - relaxations are being relaxed everywhere before/around Christmas independent of the ski lifts and people are going to be travelling and mixing with more/different groups. So the Swiss/Austrians might be looking at it from the perspective of: cases falling in December before the holidays (peak season) => open. Cases rising in January after the holiday (low season) => close. Wait for cases to fall again and repeat for February holidays. Versus wait till January when cases are rising and delay opening yet again and maybe not even open at all for the season.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Quote:

No restrictions on the cable car or train, you just have to wear a mask. It's actually quite good here at the moment, I've become a regular customer at the Jungfraujoch chocolate shop because the Corona summer pass lets you go as often as you like!



Is there any policing at the stations? I'm just wondering how they will prevent the masses hoarding up on top of one another when it will inevitably happen in a few weeks.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Skiing is a healthy fitness activity in the open air, at a time when most people lock themselves indoors and close the windows. In that respect it's good.

But for Europeans particularly it is associated with holiday, a one-week (usually) period where people relax, ie don't follow normal behavioural rules/norms, happily break local rules, crowd into bars/clubs, drink more alcohol than usual, crush up next to each other... In that respect it's a disaster.

Added to the fact that, as mentioned, people travel in from all over Europe (and further) for a week or so then all disperse again. What an amazing super spreader event that could be (was - Ischgl).

In an ideal world, us skiing fans would get the former without the latter.
We don't live in an ideal world.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Orange200, the Ishgl event, I think, was more a singing in bars problem than a skiing problem.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Quote:

@Orange200, the Ishgl event, I think, was more a singing in bars problem than a skiing problem.


And I think part of the reason they aren't sure about opening is not that they're afraid of the slopes, but because as we've seen throughout all the lockdowns, parties are an absolute necessity for a minority of the population. Private parties in apartments and so on, I don't expect them to stop even more so when holiday brain is on and some people think "I haven't been that bad this year, I *deserve* a small party".

Anyway, I digress, otherwise it's yet another corona thread.
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Northern Europeans perhaps Brits, Scandis, Dutch, Belgians, Germans, Austrians perhaps. But not French or Italians.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
That's what I said. Holiday periods are associated with not following rules and getting together.

I don't want to deflect into Covid, the point is how to devise a system to open the resorts where people follow rules, in an atmosphere where they usually break all rules.

I also recall someone's comment to me earlier, when I said I had no interest in the bars/apres, that it is the money in the bars that often keeps the resorts open. I can go out for dinner if my table is 3m away from others, so the restaurants can still open, obviously with reduced takings, but that's the same around Europe anyway.

what would be the guidance? Come here and ski yes, eat out yes, party absolutely not - your choice?
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The minister's words definitely convey this stance, be serious about behaviour and go ahead with activities that people want to do.

That certainly comes across, how to "impose" it of course is another step for those visiting when they are not part of long term swiss society.

You'd hope that given the chance to ski in this period, then people visiting could count the positive aspects and be realistic about each of their personal behaviour. But we are often legislated in control based on the most extreme actions of those that just don't care.

Much as I don't like onerous control, the threat of immediate fine or ski pass removal for examples that insist on disruptive behaviour has the potential to generate more diligent consideration for the situation they are in.

Naive I know, but hope that they can balance the above for the countries willing to go ahead.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Yes the Swiss are the worst example as they are known as one of the most rigidly rule-following nations. The big question is how to get the Italians and Spanish to follow!!

For me, it's how to dissuade the most likely rule-breakers from even turning up in the first place, rather than how to punish them after.

Though - I think threat of withdrawing a pass might be useful, though for the rest of the week you'd end up with some people just mooching around the resort and getting drunk all day... Monetary deposit to go with ski-pass, which is forfeited if you don't behave? Happens with apartments, and even hotel rooms.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
If the Swiss stay open then the EU's piste closing plan may be slightly scuppered...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
The Verbier App has just (08:25) notified me that Téléverbier has extended the ski area that's open to include Attelas » Ruinettes as well as the current Lac de Vaux.

And the App also messaged to say the Téléverbier 'T-Resort' apartments in the Satellite of La Tzoumaz have a Black Friday offer of 10% discount on accommodation and equipment hire, and free underground parking and WiFi, and early checkin/late checkout if you book an apartment between Nov.27 and Dec.1 for stays up to 4th Dec. See https://www.t-resort.ch/?lang=en and click on 'Offers'.

So it looks like they're being pretty gung-ho on attracting visitors. I think this is probably a toe in the water to see if they can get some immediate bookings through special offers, at low risk of cancellation due to any changes in state policies. It'll obviously appeal to local Swiss but I can see people hopping-over from France and Italy to give it a go as well.
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@LaForet, how would you get from La Tzoumaz to Lac des Vaux? Unless the equipment is an eBike that deal looks a bit duff.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@Orange200,

"For me, it's how to dissuade the most likely rule-breakers from even turning up in the first place, rather than how to punish them after."

You've a point there, perhaps if they imposed a €500 refundable pre pay deposit on ski pass purchase, with knowledge of this before booking trip, then it could serve both function of disuassion and assurance that individuals could manage their personal behaviour in accordance with swiss norms.
ski holidays
 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
I suspect most Swiss resorts will limit the number of passes sold on a particular day to keep queues to a manageable level
ski holidays
 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I think there is an overall similarity to the Swiss attitude to Health and Safety.

In general it goes something like this:

"We have told you that This (whatever it is) is dangerous, so don't do it, don't be an idiot"

there is a lot of self-reliance when it comes to rule following etc, people just do, i's in their culture.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@BobInCH I assume that at a minimum, they'll run the télécabine across to pick up the navette in Verbier, but odds are, with the snow guns running from Savoleyres down to LTZ, you may be able to ski down. After all, that was the point of the CHF 23million they invested in all the new guns. They're doing the same at Prarion - you can see the line of guns each circled by a pile of snow, so I assume they'll try something similar there.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
blind_raven wrote:
Quote:

No restrictions on the cable car or train, you just have to wear a mask. It's actually quite good here at the moment, I've become a regular customer at the Jungfraujoch chocolate shop because the Corona summer pass lets you go as often as you like!



Is there any policing at the stations? I'm just wondering how they will prevent the masses hoarding up on top of one another when it will inevitably happen in a few weeks.


Nothing yet, but the season hasn’t started here. They were mighty quick to close everything down last March, so I guess they’ll do so again if the ‘protection concept' doesn’t work.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
LaForet wrote:
@BobInCH I assume that at a minimum, they'll run the télécabine across to pick up the navette in Verbier, but odds are, with the snow guns running from Savoleyres down to LTZ, you may be able to ski down. After all, that was the point of the CHF 23million they invested in all the new guns. They're doing the same at Prarion - you can see the line of guns each circled by a pile of snow, so I assume they'll try something similar there.


Aha they’re opening La Tzoumaz for skiing this weekend. Artificial top to bottom? That would be something to see!!!
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