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

This year will bring us the 32nd edition of the glacier downhill races here in Saas Fee, on the 4th and 5th April. Participants from all over Europe arrive in Saas Fee to compete in various disciplines over the two days.  The event itself is regarded as the worlds highest downhill glacier races. The race starts at Mittelallalin which lies at 3500 meters and finishes in Saas Fee at 1800 meters, with some of the participants completing the course in around 2 minutes 40 seconds!  Program Friday 4th April Couples Race - Both participants starting at the same time Club and Team Allalin Races Club and Team Fun Races - fancy dress is welcome and no racing gear allowed! Satrurday 5th April  Individual Event Women and Men Click here to read more info  With the Dom (4545m) mountain as the backdrop it truly makes this race very unique With Saas Fee lying at 1800m and able to ski at 3500m on the glacier it is an ideal resort for...

            With the introduction of Skiers Halfpipe and the Slopestyle events at the winter Olympics this month, and their ensuing popularity, many have started to realise that skiing and snowboarding is about a lot more than just getting down the hill. Hungry for a bit more of the action but already missed this years’ winter X Games? Worry not, let me introduce you to the even more exciting event, The Freeride World Tour.                                     Starting back in 1996 with Verbier Extreme, which was only for snowboarders until 2004 when freeskiers were allowed to enter. Over the years it has expanded to include events from all over the world, such as Russian Adventure in Sochi, Big Mountain in Fieberbrunn and Nissan Freeride in Tignes and St.Moritz. Then in 2013 the Freeride World Tour merged with The Freeskiing World Tour and The North F...

OTP’s Top 10 things to do in Switzerland in 2014! 1. Go Hiking/Mountain Biking Switzerland has more than 48 300 km marked trails, and the nature that is right at the heart of it is second to none! The air is fresh, and you often find yourself alone with nature. Hiking in Switzerland is easy and varies in difficulty and altitude. Most of the time there are restaurants and hotels along the way. Hikers can choose between camping in a hut, or staying over in a hotel. If hiking is not for you then just going for walks in Switzerland is a beautiful experience, at all times of the year. Even in wintertime, for those who aren’t so keen on skiing there are beautiful walks you can take up at the ski fields. For those who fancy viewing these incredible sights at speed can make the most of our mountain biking holidays. If it’s your first time riding in the Alps then we offer a huge range of trails to build up your confidence and skills in this very different environment to British...

Saas-Fee Glacierbike Downhill - 8th March 2014 Have you ever thought about cycling down a ski piste as quickly as you can? Well that's exactly what they do here in Saas Fee. The annual Glacierbike downhill race is due to commence on the 8th March 2014 for the 11th time.  This adrenalin pumping event is an incredible event for spectators and the competitors themselves. Road and dirt downhill racing can be fast enough, but on ice and snow reaching scary speeds really makes this event for the adrenalin junkies to enjoy!  Competitiors start all together at the start line at 3,500 meters a.s.l on the Mittelallalin and ride down to the village based at 1,800 m. Providing an exciting ride not only having to deal with the steep track covered in snow and ice, but avoiding the other competitors also. A big challenge for even the most experienced mountain bikers!  See the video above for an on board view of what the race is like for the competitors.  Click h...

          Even before leaving the train station at Bern , its perfect blend of history and contemporary culture is startlingly obvious. With the preserved remains of the old Christoffelturm, the tower that formed part of the wall marking the Westernmost point of the city for most of the 14 th Century, being used as the perfect setting for The Rock Garden , a train station restaurant like no other. Passing through a glass frontage, which keeps out the hubbub of passing commuters before entering under a rock archway, with it’s neon under-lighting and walls adorned with decorations that you would expect to see in the Hard Rock Café, wide range of cocktails and a rather superior menu, all set among the 700 year old stone.             One of the great things about Bern for a first time visitor, and part of the reason for its listing as a UNESCO world heritage site, is the well laid o...

Swatch Skiers Cup - 4-10 January 2014 Zermatt was once again proud to host the Swatch Skiers Cup in our beautiful town. The 2 continents battle it out for freeskiing supremacy, with America yearning for vengeance after last years defeat. Both captains Julien Regnier for Team Europe and JP Auclair for Team Americas have made their picks for the head-to-head matchups for the Big Mountain competition in Zermatt. Athletes will get two runs each, with a cumulative winner being decided from each heat. The competition got off to a fierce start with the Backcountry Slopestyle heat. Team America came out on top of the first day, winning 9 rounds to match Europe's 7. Despite the imperfect weather forecast, it was a beautiful, mostly sunny day in Zermatt, with a blanket of untouched snow covering the course. The first round was full of historic matchups with Nicolas Vuignier (SUI) taking down Sage Cattabriga-Alosa (USA), and Richard Permin (FRA) defeating Dane Tudor (USA) to no...

In the next two weeks Saas Fee will once again become home to the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup 2014, one of the oldest and liveliest stops on the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup circuit. From the 18th to 25th Jan u ary 2014, the Saas Valley will become a Mecca for all ice climbing fans from across the globe. An action packed programme of sporting events and legendary ice climbing parties in the multi-storey car park.  After 15 years of hosting this prestigious event, Saas Fee really knows how to put on a show. Two weekends of events in the Saas Valley around ice and snow. The car free alpine village has a very unique competition wall for the event, built inside a circular car park at the edge of the village set against a backdrop of the towering Swiss Alps.  The unique location for the speed and lead climb  competition Competition organisers build a lounge area on the ground floor of the 10 storey high parking garage called The Cave, home to the after-party, which g...