 Poster: A snowHead
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Adelboden 27th January - 3rd February 2007
Conditions Snowed the week before. Good cover but hard pack. Pebbles and bare patchs started to appear as the week progressed.
Why Adelboden ? It is a Swiss resort that offers Fly Rail. It boasts 185km of piste. It has good hotels but it is not too expensive.
I am a huge fan of Swiss Fly Rail holidays. Adelboden is one of a small number of resorts that offers this. It means I can check the luggage in at Heathrow and it turns up outside my hotel door. On the return leg, I left the case at reception and they came back with my flight seats already arranged …and good seats they were too. Transfer day, instead of being a pain, is an opportunity to sightsee in Berne, or Zurich, or indeed anywhere else on route.
Adelboden is traditional with good facilities. Prices are reasonable. It had a horse and sleigh in operation. There were plenty of people using toboggans and plenty of cross country skiers and ramblers too. On Monday night, the firemen were out on foot in the High Street, practicing their ladder drills. This gave variety and the place seemed a genuine town as opposed to a ski station. Scenery in the Bernese Oberland is always pleasant.
There was a no evidence of yobbish behaviour.
Downsides
The fragmentation, inconvenience and the buses.
There is only one area - Tschenten - you can get to directly from town on foot.
Several areas require you to take the lift down because there is no piste down.
Several areas are not connected to the rest of the skiing except by bus.
Unter den Birg is not connected to the rest of the skiing.
To access Lenk you need to take the lift down into the valley and then catch a bus. My bus stopped at Lenk rail station and I had to wait for another bus to get to the lift. On the way back the bus went all the way to lift.
The connection between Sillerenbuhl and Hahnenmoos was fine in that direction. To return you needed to take a couple of lifts. You could also catch a bus, but that did not take you all the way back to Adelboden. It dropped you at Berglager - a stop of the Sillerenbuhl gondola.
On the last day I finished at Aebi. I could have taken a run to Gilbach but I was not sure what was at the other end. It could have been a bus with long waits involved.
I could not get to Elsigbach by public transport. You need to get the Frutigen bus then get off at Achseten and catch another bus. I was told the links were not very good. I asked at the bus station and my hotel and got the same story on both occasions. Elsigenalp is shown on the piste map but not on the electronic maps by the lift stations. I do not know if this is significant. I also do not know if Elsigenalp is included in the 185 km of piste which Adelboden claims.
Adelboden is no ski safari resort. Badhofgastein gets poor reviews for its buses but I found them fine compared to Adelboden’s. I could easily do all five sectors in Bad Gastein (with just one bus for Bad Hofgastein and Bad Gastein themselves). Adelboden’s buses were just not as good. Tschenten is clearly distinct from the main area. You have to take the lift down from it, walk the high street and get another lift down to connect to the main area. Lenk requires a lift down, a bus, and then a lift up. Unter den Birg is a bus ride. Unter den Birg requires a lift down to the valley. Elsigenalp would appear to require a taxi while I was there.
Points of interest
Not much traffic went through the village at night. I walked the main street to the other end of town past the Huldi hotel and sat watching the piste bashers for five or ten minutes one evening about half past nine. Not a single car went past.
The skiing at Unter den Birg. The little hand tow on the first lift was not unusual. However the long tow connecting all the lifts across the floor of the bowl was something I have never come across before. It looks like a poma but it had no base plate and seemingly no spring mechanism. So the plactic covered pole either dragged the ground or caused you to have your arms above your head as you were pulled along. I am not sure how children coped with this though. I never thought to watch for that.
There were considerable queues for the Sillerenbuhl in the mornings. In the evening, there were also queues for the short lift from the Sillerenbuhl base up to Dorf. Though the lift was modern it seemed inadequate for the purpose. It was a linked stand up lift taking about 22 people per trip. A continuous gondola would have shifted people more efficiently.
I did note that Adelboden has introduced ‘single’ lines at the Hahnenmoos and other lifts but not many people made use of them, preferring to stick in their groups.
There seemed to be plenty of scope for beginners and small children to learn.
The skiing would suit intermediates more than experts. Blacks were not very black.
There are not many Brits who go to Adelboden.
Individual facilities
Beausite hotel. Nicely positioned at one end of the main street, close to - but not opposite, the bus station and main post office. It gave ease of access without traffic noise/nuisance. It was a clean and well-run hotel. Rooms were good and food was fine. It had a good wine list too. It ran a hotel bus to the Sillerenbuhl lift and back. I never bothered to use it as the bus station was not far.
The restaurant at the top of Tschenten Alps. This is easily accessed by non-skiers. It is undoubtedly the best of the mountain restaurants. I had Berner Teller with potatoes and saurkraut for 22 Swiss francs. This dish was enormous - good quality gammon, good quality beef, some streaky pork and a local sausage. The following day I had Saltimboca with parmesan risotto and a tomato salad and bread for 20 Swiss francs. These were excellent meals. I wish I could get as good a lunch in Holborn for that money. The restaurant had a fine sun terrace with panoramic views. You can watch the parapente enthusiasts gliding around .
In other mountain places I found food was often limited to snacks or sausages. I did check the restaurant at Aebi but that was disappointing in comparison to the one at Tschenten. Adelboden claims a high concentration of mountain restaurants.
Typical prices were 5.50 to 6 Swiss francs for a 50cl beer. Soup was about 7 or 9 Swiss francs. Interesting desserts like plum tart were 6 Swiss francs.
I used two Sports shops Hari and Oester to buy socks and poles. Both were very helpful.
Prices were cheaper than Snow & Rock or Ellis Brigham.
Apart from the hotels themselves the three main drinking establishments were :-
Alpenrose pub. This had a huge section full of pool tables and was popular with a younger crowd. Pool tables often spell trouble in the UK, but there was no sign of disorder in the place.
Arte catered to a wine bar crowd.
Time Out was the main pub up by the church and Tschenten lift.
There was a disco at the Bernerhof hotel with a doorman who actually greeted passers-by ( rather than a menacing and obstructive bruiser like you might find in the UK).
There was one of those continental tea rooms that sell fancy cakes in Adelboden. This was extremely popular - especially with older visitors.
Thanks to all the Snowheads who provided answers on Adelboden last year. That also includes a former Snowhead who is a Swiss resident. He knew his stuff on anything to do with that country.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Is Tschenten suitable for beginners? Also do you have any information on the ski school.
Thanks
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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?
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trevor, There is a blue on Tschenten but it is not the main area for absolute beginners. There seem to be a few one-off lifts for absolute beginners dotted about the resort away from the crowds. Beginners could then move on to blues elsewhere.The main Sillerenbuhl/Hahnenmoos has plenty and Unter den Birg has some uncrowded ones.
I did not use the ski school. There is an official ski school in blue and yellow and another one in red. I read good reports on the one in red but I have no personal experience of either. I do not know what the English tuition facilities are like. There were not many native English-speakers around on the mountain.
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FAQ