Pre-Christmas in Switzerland
 

For family reasons I have an opportunity to get four days skiing
before Christmas (20-23) anywhere within easy reach by train of both a
big airport (Geneva/Zurich/Basel) AND Basel city.

Train timetables seem to suggest in order of distance Engelberg,
Wengen, Crans Montana or St Anton. Where are we most likely to have
decent snow that early and be able to find a hotel that doesn't insist
on a Christmas booking?

Or is there anywhere possible on a daily commute from Basel that will
have snow?

Pre-Christmas in Switzerland
 

On 15 Jul 2003 07:23:00 -0700, (Frances Hinden)
wrote:

For family reasons I have an opportunity to get four days skiing
before Christmas (20-23) anywhere within easy reach by train of both a
big airport (Geneva/Zurich/Basel) AND Basel city.

Train timetables seem to suggest in order of distance Engelberg,
Wengen, Crans Montana or St Anton.

I'd probably not include Crans (4+ hours away) and certainly not St.
Anton (a whole country away - it's in Austria). I would add Andermatt,
Grindelwald (OK it's connected to Wengen), possibly Adelboden.

If you _are_ prepared to be 4+ hours away, then you should definitely
consider Saas Fee and Zermatt, both of which are very high and stand a
much better chance of getting decent snow.

Where are we most likely to have
decent snow that early and be able to find a hotel that doesn't insist
on a Christmas booking?

Swiss hotels are much less rigid than French about Saturday-Saturday
bookings, so if you book reasonably in advance I wouldn't expect you'd
have too much of a problem.

Or is there anywhere possible on a daily commute from Basel that will
have snow?

We regularly ski single days, from Basel, at most of the stations in
my first paragraph, but it can make for a tiring day if you've got
work in the morning :-}

I think if I was in your situation, without a car, I'd probably choose
to stay in Zermatt or Saas Fee - both high and snowsure, with
excellent skiing(although SF's not quite as chalenging as Zermatt),
both pretty, lively towns and both fairly well connected by rail.


--
Ace in Alsace - bruce dot rogers at roche dot com
Ski Club of Great Britain http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

Pre-Christmas in Switzerland
 

On 15 Jul 2003 07:23:00 -0700, (Frances Hinden)
wrote:

For family reasons I have an opportunity to get four days skiing
before Christmas (20-23) anywhere within easy reach by train of both a
big airport (Geneva/Zurich/Basel) AND Basel city.

Train timetables seem to suggest in order of distance Engelberg,
Wengen, Crans Montana or St Anton. Where are we most likely to have
decent snow that early and be able to find a hotel that doesn't insist
on a Christmas booking?

Or is there anywhere possible on a daily commute from Basel that will
have snow?

Last year there was quite a lot of snow in Davos and Lenzerheide
(presumably Laax too) from December onwards ... but that was one of
the best years in quite a while. It's really a bit of pot luck
nowadays whether or not you're going to get good snow at that time.
Given how incredibly warm it's been this summer I can only hope that
we get a sharp turnaround for the winter months. This sort of
super-heatwave really puts the fear of 'global warming' into you.

Basel isn't really that well located for Skiing I'm afraid. If you
could base yourself in Zuerich you'd have a good choice of resorts
ranging from 1-3 hours commute (add an hour if going from Basel).
I'm certain you could find somewhere skiable.

So long as you book early, I can't see problems with hotels.

Gav