North face of the Eiger, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland

The North Face of the Eiger was the last of the six great European North Faces to be climbed. Eiger literally means ‘ogre’ and Eigernordwand is its German name for the North Face. The mountain has a fearsome reputation due to rockfalls, claiming the lives of at least sixty four climbers since 1935. It has also been given the name Mordwand or murderous wall, playing with the German Nordwall.
A railway from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch ascends mainly through a tunnels through the Eiger. There is a station at the 2,866 metres elevation within the mountain.
This area including the highest summits and glaciers of the Bernese Alps, was added ti the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 2001.
My photo was taken from the pistes of the Jungfrau Ski Area as I was making my way to Grindelwand on my snowboard in 2011.

The last of my Top Ten Winter Sports Tips will look at Safety. It may not be as sexy as saving money or the environment, but nevertheless it is important.  It is a controversial subject following the untimely death of the actress Natasha Richardson earlier in 2009. However, safety is little more than common sense. Don’t read these tips as a must do list. They are advice, you are free to disagree, or ignore them, but if you do and get injured, then please don’t go claiming off your insurance and pushing up my Winter Sports Premiums!

1. If you are a learner skier or snowboarder, then get lessons. Learn the FIS Code. You can get lessons at home on a dry ski slope or indoor ski slope. That way you will learn in your own language and be ready for action at the resort.

   

2. Get fit before you go. This will reduce your risk of accident by strengthening your muscles, You will also not tired so quickly on the pistes.

3. Use correctly fitting skis and snowboards. Lots of accidents occur because people borrow equipment from friends. Skis and snowboards and boots need to be matched to the user.

4. Wear the right clothing and and other safety gear depending upon your activity. The most obvious requirement is clothing suitable for the predicted weather conditions. Helmets, wrist protectors, impact shorts and back protectors can save some nasty injuries.

5. Read up on the weather forecast and follow the advice at the resort regarding avalanche risk.

6. If you intend riding off piste, then get trained in avalanche awareness and the use of transceivers, probes and shovels to locate buried riders. Take a trained guide with you.

7. Don’t forget sunscreen for your face. The thinner atmosphere and reflections off the snow mean that it is very easy to get sunburn to exposed skin.

8. Take plenty of water / drinks and high energy food / snacks with you, when you go riding.

9. Try to ride with friends so that you can look out for each other. Put the number of the Piste Rescue into your mobile phone along with the number of who they should contact “In Case of Emergency ” (store as ICE).

10. Make sure you have adequate insurance. If you are the wrong side of the marker poles, you may not be covered. A helicopter rescue can cost 20,000 Euros, so check beforehand and carry a copy of the cover with you.

There are a lot more points that I could add, but above all have fun!

Winter sports vacations can be expensive, so I thought I’d post ten of my favourite money saving tips.

Winter Sports

1. Book in advance, you can often get a good discount. If staying more than 3 weeks in a ski area it can sometimes work out cheaper to buy a season pass with a substantial pre season discount.

2. If you don’t want to book in advance, then why not leave it until the last minute and get some late booking offers.
   Snowtrex ^, Holiday homes Interhome^ and others sell off their unsold accommodation with up to 30% discount in the last 2 weeks. Be flexible and if you are wanting to travel at school holidays don’t even bother trying this method.

3. Book your transport well in advance. You will get the cheapest rail, bus, ferry and air fares.

4. Do a big shop away from the resort at a supermarket or better still a Farmers market. The price of food and goods at Winter Resorts has a massive mark up.

5. Take sandwiches and a stainless steel flask for food / drink while out on the piste. You can even save time by eating on the long gondola (telecabin) rides. That way you save by not eating in expensive restaurants in the resort and have more time to ride.
6. Look at buying second hand skis or snowboards on ebay, SCUK or the SkiClub web sites. It will be cheaper than hiring at the resort.

7. You can buy last season’s Ski Snowboard clothes cheaply at TK Maxx (between September and December) or sometimes ebay.

8. Have a look at Annual Travel Insurance including Winter Sports, it can often work out cheaper. However whichever insurance you plan on buying, check the small print to ensure it covers the activities you intend carrying out.

9. In many French resorts the Supermarket chain Sherpa has a number of schemes to help you save money. Firstly they will buy back unused, undamaged boxed, tinned food at the end of your week. Secondly they offer free hire of fondu and raclette equipment, all they need is a deposit.

10. If you are travelling by car, you will find that snow chains are cheaper at the large supermarkets near the Alps than back home.

Coming next. 10 ways to spend a more sustainable Winter Sports break.

^This site might receive a small commission if you book using the highlighted links. To book via non affiliated links you can use these links: Snowtrex, Interhome

Both myself and my sons are passionate snowboarders. Unfortunately I have spent most of my life in a country with very little snow. There have been one or two ‘powder days’ in North Wales but if I want to shred some real snow then I would have to travel a long way to the Alps or even further. In the UK a network of dry ski slopes was established. However they are not a good substitute for real snow as the friction is too great, and most are not very forgiving to fall over on.
That is why there is a demand for the indoor ski slopes that have been constructed all over the world. Here in Belgium, there are three in operation, with more over the border in the Netherlands and Northern Germany. To keep these indoor slopes cold, make artificial snow and to light the pistes uses a considerable amount of electricity. I would be very interested to know how much electricity per customer / 10 metres of slope. If anyone has the answer please let me know. I’m sure there is plenty of scope for using the extracted heat in an industrial process or even district heating – although this would probably be of little use in the Summer. How about using it for heating a swimming pool or water park?
Today I visited Snow Valley at Peer, here in Belgium. I couldn’t help noticing that they were proudly displaying a certificate on the wall by the booking desk that explained that all of the power used at Snow Valley is purchased from renewable sources such as wind power. How many more energy intensive recreational facilities use only renewable energy?