Ski resorts fill up despite hard times

Keystone

An abundance of snow and sun has resulted in record numbers of people flocking to the ski slopes over Christmas and the New Year.

Resort directors are crossing their fingers for the rest of the current winter, but they expect the economic crisis to hit hard next season.

Verbier – popular with British, Russian and Scandinavian holidaymakers – reported a record start to the 2008-2009 season.

According to Eric Balet, director of Verbier’s lift company, Téléverbier, there was a 33 per cent increase in the number of skiers and boarders hitting the Four Valleys slopes over the last week of 2008.

“It’s an all-time record for a week – a turnover of SFr4 million ($3.63 million),” Balet told Swiss radio. “It’s quite exceptional and can be explained by the very good weather and snow conditions.”

The holiday period was also busy for Villars, a well-known destination for British skiers.

“January the 2nd was a crazy day with 11,500 skiers on the slopes – a resort record,” said Villars’s director, Pierre Besson.

The ski lifts have also been hectic in many resorts in German-speaking Switzerland.

“We had a great Christmas and New Year with the resort fully booked, and the ski lift company beat its record,” Daniel Luggen, director of Zermatt Tourism, told swissinfo.

Elsewhere, Gstaad, in the Bernese Oberland, last week had to install additional temporary ticket offices to deal with the winter rush for ski passes.

In southeastern Switzerland, Laax reported a 14 per cent increase on holiday bookings and St Moritz said the number of skiers and winter hikers buying lift passes had risen by ten per cent.

Safe – for now

Swiss resorts seem to have largely avoided the initial impact of the global financial crisis – for now.

“The crisis hasn’t affected us yet – touch wood. But we don’t know what the end of the season holds,” Balet said.

“The tsunami is coming from far away,” he noted, adding that while reservations looked healthy, he expected fewer Russian clients.

“Predictions are that by the summer tourism will be affected, and next winter will be worse,” said Maria Ferretti from Engelberg Tourist Office.

“We have felt the economic crisis, but not in the hotel or food sectors,” said Luggen. “Shops, in particular jewellers and pharmacies, reported a five to ten per cent drop in sales.”

Powder snow

The rest of the season will largely depend on the weather, say resort directors.

But one thing is sure, said Besson, “the snow cover is good and it’s our raw material for the second half of the season”.

According to the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos, one of the snowiest winters so far on record has left the Alps with snow depths well above average.

And with most of Switzerland experiencing extremely cold temperatures – 26.6 degrees below zero in the southeastern resort of Samedan on Saturday night – the good snow is expected to last.

However, the exceptional snow cover and cold sunny weather has its downside. Rega, Switzerland’s leading air rescue organisation, was called out 160 times for winter-sport-related accidents between December 29 and January 4.

swissinfo, Simon Bradley

Winter tourism

Marked ski pistes: 7,400km

Marked cross-country ski trails: 5,500km

Marked winter walking trails: 2,900km (largest network of winter walking trails in the Alps)

Marked snowshoe trails: 2,100km

European altitude record: 29 winter sports areas are located above 2,800m (average altitude)

Marked and prepared slope with the greatest vertical drop:
Klein Matterhorn-Zermatt: 2,300m (most in Europe)