| Reviews: 15 |
| UK - Scotland |
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  4 of 5 03/01/2004 @ 19:13 |
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| Revision #1 (Last edited: 03/02/2004 @ 16:32) |
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| Price Paid |
| 130 quid for lift pass for 6 days for entire Gstaad area (includes train pass) |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Travelled there independantly - flew to geneva, train to Montreaux, train to Chateaux D'oex |
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| Times Visited |
| 2-5 Times |
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| Review Detail |
Chateau D, is a small town about 3 hours via train from Geneva. It is just one ski area in the Gstaad region, which includes about 11 towns, each with its owm set of lifts.
The ski area in Chateau D is called Le Braye, and is a realitively small area, serviced by only a cable car, two chairs, and a few drags. The area is not linked to any of the other ski areas in this region, which puts it at a slight disadvantage, as it is nice to be able to get the train to one area, and then ski over to another.
The boarding here is ok, but it is a little lower than most of the other areas included in the pass. It's worth a day or two exploration, but for the best skiiing in the Gstaad region, head to Saanenmoser, or Zweisimmen.
Sannenmoser is the biggest of the areas around here, so has most terrain, but the disadvantage of this is that everybody heads there, so some of the lifts can have quite bad queues.
Zweisimmen, on the other hand is much less crowded, so is a good place to head for some off piste untrakced powder, as it takes longer for the snow to get ridden out here. I had a brillaint day here messing around in the powder, and it was really quiet too.
Chateau D, doesn't have much in the way of night life, although there are a few bars and atleast one nightclub. Most of the night life goes on in Gstaad, as it is bigger, however, it is an explensive place so you probaly don't want to drink too much there unless you have plenty of bling. (see review on Gstaad for more info).
Overall, the entire Gstaad skiing area is a really nice place to spend a week, and the individuallity of each little skiing villlage, each with beautiful wooden chalets is very picturesque and it makes a refreshing change to the super huge ugly ski areas. The total ski area accessable by your pass is big enough to keep you entertined for a few weeks.
I had a great time boarding here, and would recomend it if you don't mind having to travel a little to get to the ski area you want to ride. |
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| Strengths |
Beautiful Village
The Gstaad region has some great boarding areas with
lots of nice off piste/powder cos the swiss don't seem to venture from the groomed runs very much. You can still get fresh tracks several days after a dump if you head to the queitter ski areas |
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| Weaknesses |
Chateau D. is not linked to the other areas, so you have to get a train.
Small ski area
Overall, quite expensive for lift pass and food |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Whistler, Val Thorens, Val D'isere, Les Arcs, Pas de la Casa, Innsbruck....... |
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