Switzerland 

POINT OF VIEW
By Bob Dever

Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Roger Moore - these are names that not many of us usually associate with skiing, but their presence in Gstaad in the 1960’s and 1970’s made this Swiss village a recognizable name to many. The beautiful people still flock to Gstaad for some of the same reasons that Liz and Dick did --unquestioned beauty, multi-mountain skiing, shopping, restaurants and hotels. They even go there for tax purposes, since income taxes in Switzerland are set locally and, believe it or not, some of these taxes are negotiable. Seems like a good reason to move here.

Located about two hours from Geneva’s International Airport, or three hours from Zurich, Gstaad is usually not the first choice of Americans when they’re considering a European ski vacation. It lacks the stark grandeur of France’s vast Trois Vallees and the wide open spaces and Italian connection of its Swiss neighbor, the Matterhorn-dominated Zermatt. What it does have is a mountain look and a skiing experience that will remind you more of the American west than it will of the normally treeless Alps.

The town of Gstaad is at 1,050 meters or less than 3,500 feet of altitude. With the exception of Glacier 3000, the highest skiing is at 2,285 meters, or less than 7,500 feet. While lower than almost all of the major western American resorts, and lower than some of its Swiss and French neighbors, annual snow fall totals are high and snowmaking equipment allows this mountain to “guarantee snow from 1,000 to 3,000 meters.”

While there is still a significant amount of open terrain above the tree line, the overall lower altitude allows for more trail skiing and gives the entire area a greener look than most other major European resorts.

Divided into six separate sectors (their choice of wording) the variety here is everything you could want. Some 60 lifts, wide-open glacier skiing at the top, and tree skiing and off-piste, if you so desire. Grooming and slope maintenance are world-class and for the non-skier the traditional Swiss sledding is everywhere. Ninety-nine miles of winter hiking trails are also available.

There is very little lift access in the town of Gstaad itself, but an excellent public transportation system of both trains and buses, radiating out from the town, get you to a large variety of lifts in 10 to 15 minutes. The train and bus system is not a detriment to maximizing your skiing time or your daily vertical feet. The transportation is efficient and on runs on a published schedule, and waiting at any time during the day is minimal.

Gstaad, like Aspen, Courchevel, Cortina, St. Moritz, and the world’s other glamour resorts is also about more than skiing. It’s about the good life with five-star hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants. Don’t let that scare you, because Gstaad is also about variety and addressing the needs of all of its guests. You can get a truffle-covered French pasta here, an Egyptian meal, and you can get burgers and pizza. You can spend your life savings and you can do this place on a budget. If what you need from your skiing experiences are parkas that run to four digits, they’re here. If what you need is an inexpensive European winter vacation, Gstaad has that too. All of it is a matter of choice.

I’d be remiss in not mentioning the cost of lift tickets. In January of 2007 a six-day lift ticket covering all of the skiing in and around Gstaad, including the Col du Pillon glacier, costs 266 Swiss francs. At the exchange rate applicable that day, .78 Swiss Francs to one US dollar, your cost for getting up the mountain was less than $35 US, per day. And, your lift ticket includes the ski bus and the train to all of the various sectors.

Gstaad and its related areas are located in a part of Switzerland the locals call Saanenland. There’s a legend that goes with Saanenland and it goes something like this -- When the Almighty reached out to create Saanenland, He rested His hand against the ground. The imprint of his palm marks the sites of the villages of Saanen and Gstaad.

And all of that done just so we could go skiing. How cool is that?

POINT OF VIEW
By Bob Dever

If your reading this article you’re on the web site of The Blue Book of European Ski Resorts. You've found the “about the blue book” icon and you've checked into Switzerland and than to Gstaad. There are other articles here that will give you all the detail you need to know about this home of beautiful people and its varied skiing terrain.

This story is about a single hotel in Gstaad, its owners and operators, and about one meal in particular.

We are a group of friends who travel to Europe every year for two weeks of skiing. We run in age from the early 50s to early 80s and we’re about evenly split between those of us who still work and those who retired. There are 10 of us and, while not everybody makes it every year, we get a fairly good annual representation. Our primary connection is a suburban Philadelphia-based ski club and we've added to that core group some individuals we've picked up along the way.

We've been doing this for a number of years and in that time we’ve become geographically dispersed. While most of us still live in the Philadelphia metropolitan area we now have one retired scientist who lives in Seattle, one transplanted Californian who lives in Geneva, and one vagabond from Colorado who moves from the US, to Germany, to the Balkans, to the Middle East, to satisfy his needs, wants, and work requirements.

We arrived in Gstaad in the last week of January after spending seven nights in Zermatt. We attempt to try at least one new resort every year and Gstaad was on the list of a couple of our group. Like those of most skiers our travel budget is limited. While we can afford to have cocktails at the five-star Palace Hotel, economic considerations lead us to three or four-star hotels, where we stay and take our breakfast and dinner.

Our travel agent, and some Internet research, led us to the Hotel-Restaurant Christiania in downtown Gstaad. Across the street from the public ice skating rink, on the main thorofare, and about 100 yards from the train station, sits this multistoried, albeit small, family-run hotel that we would live in for a week.

The hotel comes with a tale of its own. Since the early 1950’s the location itself had been a dairy, a haberdasher's shop and a small guest house. It became the first bed and breakfast in Gstaad and initially had 10 guest rooms. It was rebuilt in the 70’s, growing to 40 rooms and became the smallest four-star hotel in town.

Almost 30 years ago a young Egyptian man of Lebanese origin left Cairo to study hotel-restaurant management in Switzerland. He not only learned his subject but also married the second generation of the Christiania’s owners. Today he runs the hotel dining room and reception desk and his wife is the chef, kitchen supervisor, and runs the hotel’s marketing activities.

We loved the hotel from the day we checked in. The rooms were a good size, the staff was very attentive, and, most important, the food was superb and, surprisingly, endless. The highlight for us was the evening when our, transplanted Middle Eastern dining room. Manager, asked us if we would like a typical Egyptian meal. There was no doubt about our answer.

It was a Wednesday evening and we started with torshy khodar, labnech, za’tar, baba ghanugh (that was one we at least knew of) and hommos and tahini. In English - pickled vegetables, salted yogurt and cheese balls, sesame-thyme spice, eggplant puree, chick peas and sesame sauce.

We moved onto falafel, wara einab, merguez, boereck bil sabaneck, and kibbe. Translation - fried balls of chick peas, stuffed vine leaves, lamb sausage, spinach pie, and lamb and cracked wheat.

The main course was kofta mashwiya, shish tawouk, and shish kebab. No translation needed since shish kebab is the same everywhere.

A memorable meal in a unique location and a hotel and a Swiss mountain resort worth a visit. You can check your search engine for more information about the Christiania Hotel.