Les Diablerets?

A snowHead

Despite a trawl of the extensive snowHeads archive I have been unable to find a great deal of info on this resort, apart from the fact that it might have gone bust and might have been bought by Bernie Ecclestone. I also learnt a lot about Swis vignettes Puzzled

.

Anyway, I have the possibility of spending Christmas week there (23 - 30 Dec at the Hotel Sources). I know nothing at all about this resort, so would be grateful for any advice or info anyone can offer - e.g. December snow record, charm, pistes (I'm upperish intermediate), lift system, ease of links with Villars & Gstaad, apres, mountain restaurants etc.

All advice gratefully received! Thanks.

Dave

A snowHead

Can't help you much with the hotel, apres etc, I live down the road so I don't stay there. There are no links as such with Gstaad though, no idea if there's a bus either. It's part of the pass area with Villars or Gstaad but not both, at least the glacier is although I think it's only 10chf a day to ski the other area for pass holders, it is for season passes anyway. It'll be snow sure on the glacier although that's a little flat. Will you have a car or not?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Basically Les Diablerets is three separate ski areas. The Glacier 3000 cable car (reached by bus) accesses several drag lifts on the glacier itself (useful if there is no snow elsewhere, but relatively flat and uninteresting skiing), plus there is an excellent long red run off the back of the glacier (the Combe d'Audon), but that's not usually open until February. The second area, immediately above the town, is Isenau, which has several blue and red runs, but is relatively limited. The best area for you will be Meilleret, which links into Villars - although the links between the two are poor - a very long, very slow two seater chair lift, plus a drag when coming back that is a serious bottleneck that looks 10 years overdue for replacement. There's plenty of good intermediate skiing in the Meilleret area and in Villars (although beware of misleading or non-existent piste marking in places). Les Diablerets itself is relatively attractive, with dramatic scenery (it's overshadowed by the glacier).

If you are there with a car, there are a variety of other options open - Gstaad is only 45 minutes away (there's a choice of different ski areas within the valley, of which the best is Saanenmoser), and Leysin is worth a day (only 15 minutes away). The Alpes Vaudoises ski pass also lets you ski in Les Mosses - about 15 minutes up the road towards Chateau d'Oex. There are about 10 drag lifts here, none of them less than 40 years old, but the scenery is very pretty and there's a certain charm to the place. Lastly, if you want really extensive skiing, you are only 45-50 minutes from Champery (Portes du Soleil)

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Thanks very much guys. Unfortunately no car - just a fairly standard TO package. I think I may well go for it, as I usually go to the French mega-resorts but quite fancy quaint old-fashioned Swiss-style skiing for a change (already have a trip to Val D in January booked anyway, so it won't be the end of the world if the skiing is not so great).

Dave

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

There is a bus link between Les Diablerets and Gstaad, but I don't think that it runs very often. There is also a bus link with Leysin that is a decent area for a day with a view over lake geneva from some of the ski slopes. Finally you can also take the train that arrives in diablerets down to aigle and then across to champery for portes du soleil, much more snow-sure, but that results in quite a long trip by public transport with not very good links. If you get the Alpes Vaudoises pass, its worth checking out the other resorts on offer.

The village itself is a typical Swiss village albeit a little calm, but placed in beautiful surroundings. The lifts are not very modern on the diablerets side, but they may have built a new one over the summer, not too sure, and are better in Villars. The glacier - a 15minute bus ride, is an amazing place on a powder day, but given the early dates I somehow doubt that any of the interesting skiing there would be available due to large rocks. It does give you an option though if there isn't much snow, as this could be a risk you're facing. The past seasons have been very lucky, with snow falling just before christmas, but lets hope for a better start this year... Snow-wise still I reckon you have a good chance of the link being open with villars, but the descent back to the village may have to be done by chairlift.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Just looked at the lift map for next season and they say the bus for Les Diab's to Gstaad has a timetable that's available separately. Next time I'm there I'll ask them for it. I'm sure I read something about it or saw it recently.

Help!!

Les Diablerets?

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