Snow! Snow! Snow! Ski resorts open early this year

Great news for winter sport enthusiasts. This week's snow fall enables most major ski resorts in Switzerland to open their ski lifts early. In the Bernese Oberland, Elsigenalp (Frutigen) start their season today. Don't ask me, why I have decided to go to work this morning, I don't know and mistakes happen :-)

Berner Zeitung (local newspaper) annouce that tomorrow, Saturday, November 17, 2007, 55 lifts and 145 kilometers will be open in the Bernese Alps, among them are Meiringen-Hasliberg, Grindelwald, Wengen-Kleine Scheidegg, Mürren, Grimmialp, Lenk, Jaunpass and Gstaad-Saanen. But check the local snow/lift reports before you choice a resort, most of them still operate only during the weekend and/or with a limited number of lifts.

Seasonal couch potatoe?

First Friday in November - decisions on where to spend the weekends get harder and harder for most mountain railways and cable cars now are closed due to their pre-season revisions. Nights get uncomfortably cold, not exactly the perfect season to go camping unless you are pinguin. The river rafting season has past. Yet, for another few weeks marmots and ibex still laugh at you if you enter their habitat on snowshoes. So how do outdoor enthusiasts spend their weekends? Come on! There are seasonal advantages as well. Most hiking trails are now deserted and fall foilage can still be viewed in some corners. So why not climb a mountain and enjoy the snow covered peaks emerging from a dense sea of fog? There are plenty of smaller peaks in the Bernese Oberland that are well worth a hike or a mountain bike tour around this time of the year. Simply contact the nearest tourist information to let you save from a dull day in town!