World Snowboard Guide Insurance

Saas Fee, Switzerland

Introduction

Saas-Fee has been a resort well known to snowboarders for many years. They have been building half-pipes, parks and other obstacles since way back and before many others areas had even heard of snowboarding. With its high altitude glacier, Saas-Fee also provides a mountain where you can ride fast and hard in the summer months, indeed for some, this is the only time worth visiting. Winter or summer, this is still a cool place that stages numerous competitions in both seasons and snowboard manufactures do a lot of product testing. Saas Fee is a resort with two faces. In summer the small glacier area has a snowboard park which boasts three half pipes, a boardercross course, and various hits. However, in winter the snowboard park shuts down and the resort focuses itself on family skiers. They do maintain a half-pipe, but that's the nearest you'll get to specialist snowboard terrain. Most of the mountain is geared to skiers and possibly hard-booters. There's a variety of red and black runs, as well as nursery slopes and top to bottom blue runs, but nothing to really test you (although the runs off the Hinterallalin - when open - are supposed to be more challenging). Pisting is somewhat haphazard away from the main stations at the mid point and top glacier, so expect moguls on red and black runs

Zoes view

British Olympic Boarder-X

There is a boardercross course and half pipe here all year round. Good snow conditions and facilities in the summer although it does have a lot of ski teams training so the lifts are quite busy especially on the weekends. Starts getting very cold around the start of December through the winter.

Popcorn bar is good fun or for something more relaxed the living room upstairs is also good.

Resort Statistics

Resort Type:  Alpine
Winter: Nov to April
Summer: None

Lifts

Total Lifts: 22
Cable cars: 7
Chair lifts: 2
Drag lifts: 13
Other lifts: 1 Cable Railway
Max people per hour: 23,490
Board Leashes required: No

Mountain

Total pistes/trails: 40
Total ride area: 100km
Longest run: 9km

Top lift: 3600m
Vertical drop: 1800m
First lift: 1800m

Piste suitability

Green runs: 50%
Red runs: 25%
Black runs: 25%

Lift Passes

Lift Passes:  1/2 day 52 CHF
1 day pass 63 CHF
5 day pass 273 CHF
Lift times:8.30am to 4.30pm

Snowfall

Average annual snowfall: 2.7m
Artificial snowmaking coverage: 5%

Facilities

Night Riding: :  Thursdays 8 to 10pm in Saas-Balen
Tuesdays 7 to 9:45pm in Furggstalden
Snowboard Schools: Several options. www.skischule-saas-fee.ch runs group lessons for 53 CHF per day and private for 60 CHF per hour

Heliboarding: :  Yes
Snowmobiles: Not available

Further information

www.saas-fee.ch/
Email:to@saas-fee.ch

Online:32 register/login

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