Life on the Piste - The Swiss Traveller's Guide.

The Matterhorn gets lit up! To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first successful ascent of the Matterhorn on 14th July 1865 by Edward Whymper, the Matterhorn is now lit up at nights - and looks amazing! Six years later, on 22 July 1871, Englishwoman Lucy Walker became the first woman to climb the Matterhorn – wearing a long flannel skirt as was appropriate for a Victorian lady. Her ascent was seen as a jewel in the crown of female mountaineering. Next year Zermatt will celebrate the epic pinnacle dubbed 'the mountain of mountains' and the alpine tradition of climbing it with events, experiences, festivities and special offers. The main player on this stage besides the Matterhorn is the Hörnli Hut - a mountain hut located at the foot of the north-eastern ridge of the Matterhorn, 3,260 metres above sea level, which will reopen in July 2015, and many other events are planned as part of the celebrations. You can ski in Zermatt every day of the year and there...

Your team! We are very proud to present your team who will be looking after you when you come on holiday with us this winter. GRINDELWALD: Will Bishop From Ampthill in Bedfordshire and with a BA in Business & Marketing, Will is the Resort Manager for OTP in Grindelwald and the Jungfrau region. 23 years old and with a strong skiing background and a definite 'people-person', Will is a top guy to ensure your holiday is the best!   NENDAZ, Les 4 Vallées: Tom Darlison     From Birstall in Leicestershire and with a BSc in Sports Therapy, Tom is the Resort Manager for Nendaz and the 4 Vallées region. 23 years old and a keen footballer, Tom is going to be an excellent person to show you the region and make sure your holiday runs smoothly.        SAAS-FEE: Tom Senior    From Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire, many of you will know Tom - OTP Senior Resort Manager and back again to charm you in Saas-Fee. Now a qua...

OTP Swiss Holidays & SwissPasses.com are exhibiting at the Manchester Ski Show from 24th to 26th October 2014 at Event City - our stand number is D22  Ski Show 2013 We would be delighted if you could come and visit us and discuss your holiday requirements (skiing, MTB, Road Biking, Christmas Markets) and we will be selling Swiss Travel System tickets too. We have a free Prize Draw on the stand with a 2-person apartment for a week in Switzerland as the prize - including cross-Channel or Transfers!  We even have 2 for 1 Transfer Tickets on sale at the show to make your Swiss holiday even better value!  Looking forward to seeing you there! Information: for directions to Event City, just click on http://www.eventcity.co.uk/ At www.otp.co.uk we offer 30 ski destinations in Switzerland along with MTB Holidays, Road Biking Holidays, Christmas Markets, Golf Safaris and City Breaks. www.swisspasses.com is a leading supplier of Swiss Travel System passes an...

Les 4 Vallées ski area is back! Just announced that one of the largest ski areas in the world, Les 4 Vallées, is secured at least for the next 18 years, following agreements between the lift companies of NENDAZ, VERBIER, VEYSONNAZ and THYON.  Once again from this winter your full area ski pass will cover over 400kms of pistes and 100 lifts to 3330m in altitude with NENDAZ's glacier, MONT-FORT.  OTP is the longest established Tour Operator in Nendaz Les 4 Vallées and offer a range of holidays thoughout the area at www.otp.uk The piste map can be viewed at http://bit.ly/1lPMuNo Come and join us skiing in the huge 4 Vallées area, with easy access from all Swiss airports!

Saas Fee is due to welcome its first hostel, wellnessHostel 4000. Due to open on the 5th September this year with 168 beds and at the entrance of the village next to the Postauto bus stop. The unique architectural design and direct access to the new spa and gym facilities in the Aqua Allalin leisure centre are certainly going to make this a fantastic place to stay!  wellnessHostel 4000 Being the very first hostel in the glacier village of Saas Fee, the idea had to be innovative and break new ground in the village. The hostel combines the typical laid back atmosphere and low prices of a your hostel with the modern requirements of a wellness centre and fitness facilities. With a great mix of contemporary architecture, easy going hospitality,  sustainability as a way of life and high quality aspirations make up an offering whose informal style unites guests from all over the world. restaurant 4000  – fresh and regional Laid...

Now is the time that everyone is looking at planning their trip to Switzerland for this coming Autumn and winter (hopefully with OTP!) Below we have listed various UK airports and the airlines that fly to Switzerland, to make it a little easier for you to plan your trip.   British Airways ( www.ba.com ) London City London Gatwick London Heathrow   easyJet ( www.easyjet.com ) Belfast Birmingham Bournemouth Bristol Edinburgh Glasgow Leeds/Bradford Liverpool London Gatwick Luton Manchester Newcastle Southend Stansted Flybe ( www.flybe.com ) Southampton Jet2 ( www.jet2.com ) Belfast East Midlands Edinburgh Manchester   Skywork Airlines ( www.flyskywork.com ) Southend SWISS ( www.swiss.com ) Birmingham London City London Gatwick London Heathrow Manchester Remember that SWISS include 23kgs of luggage allowance PLUS a ski / snowboard bag PLUS a boot bag so sometimes it is worthwhile looking at the national...

As the more pleasant weather approaches we’re given the opportunity to take a look away from the covered cities and the mountains with their gradually receding snowlines, and one of my favourite fairer weather attractions has to be the Rhine falls at Schaffhausen. Lying in one of the Northern most parts of the country, an hours train ride from Zurich, the falls are located on the High Rheine between Germany and Lake Constance and are believed to have been formed in the last ice age, approximately 14,000 to 17,000 years ago. One of the most intriguing aspects is the formation of the falls themselves, during the Wurm Glaciation, the Rhein was pushed to a channel far south of its existing course, and the previous courses of the river, now filled with gravel, can still be seen. As well as being accessible from Zurich by train, if you have the time for it, there is the fantastic river cruise along the Rhein you can take afterwards, either the full 5 hours to Kreuzlingen on the sho...