Description
Ski Range 1,800m – 3,600m
Traffic-free resort, with guaranteed snow and Swiss charm - a winning combination!
Saas Fee is known as The Pearl of the Alps, rates as one of the finest jewels in Switzerland’s crown, and is unquestionably one of the prettiest villages in our programme.
Few resorts enjoy a more spectacular location than this, surrounded by thirteen towering 4,000m peaks, in a delightful valley culminating in the huge glacial snow-bowl of the ski area itself. Completely snowsure, the slopes drop over a whole vertical mile from just above the spectacular revolving restaurant at Mittelallalin down to the picture-perfect village, making for some sensationally long cruising runs.
Child Care
NURSERY, SNOW CLUB, COCOA CLUB - All Esprit Classic Child Care is based in Chalet Hotel Annahof, and we also run a free Baby-listening/Child-patrol Service in the evenings from 7.30-11pm.
Five mornings a week, children in Esprit Sprite classes and Spritelet Snow Clubbers are collected from the hotel’s meeting point by our staff (and/or the ski school instructors) and taken to the appropriate slopes for their lessons or to the hotel’s Snow Club for morning fun.
At the end of the morning lesson or Snow Club, children joining Supervised Lunch, afternoon Snow Club or with afternoon Sprite sessions will be collected and returned to the Annahof for lunch.
The Snow Club is based in the Annahof with outings for their specific snow fun activities. All children in afternoon Sprites or Spritelets will be taken to and collected from their session by our staff and will join the Snow Club children for the remainder of the afternoon, before being high tea.
We ask that Nursery children are delivered to their designated Nursery by their parents. Nursery lunch will be held in the Annahof. Nursery children must be collected by their parents at 5pm and accompanied at high tea, whilst all other children will be supervised by our staff through high tea until 6pm.
Cocoa Club runs in the Snow Club room from 7.30pm until 10pm on six nights a week and is available to all children aged 6-12 years. Parents are asked to deliver and collect their children. Parents can put their children to bed and enjoy a further hour of relaxation, making the most of our baby-listening/child-patrol service, which runs till 11pm.
The Skiing
FAMILIES *****
Saas Fee is just about the perfect resort for families in several ways. The traffic-free village centre is a huge bonus of course, and the location of our Chalet Hotel at the foot of the slopes and close to the main lifts means that minimal walking is required. Added to this are the many attractions for families to enjoy together beyond the skiing itself, such as the revolving restaurant and ice-grotto, and tobogganing - always a major hit with Sprite-age children!
BEGINNERS *****
Beginners are well catered for, with an ideal area at village level, only approximately 3 minutes walk from our Chalet Hotel, for which an excellent value beginners lift-pass is available. Plentiful blue runs higher up offer further scope for faster learners to progress.
INTERMEDIATES ****
Intermediates will revel in the high quality snow for which Saas Fee is renowned, coupled with the wonderfully efficient Swiss grooming of the generously wide open slopes. Long, cruisy blues alternate with occasionally bumpy reds for more of a challenge, and there are plenty of stop-off points, including the restaurant at the Alpin Express mid-station, and the unforgettable revolving restaurant at Mittelallalin. Should you fancy still more variety, the Saas Valley Area pass adds close neighbours Saas Grund and Saas Almagell ski areas, plus the free ski-bus for the short ride to reach them.
ADVANCED ***
Experienced skiers will enjoy the three unpisted ski-routes, marked yellow on the ski-map, and there are a further seven testing black runs to enjoy. There are also fantastically exciting ski-touring routes to explore with a local guide, making the most of the inspirational high altitude glacier scenery.
POWDER POTENTIAL *****
With Saas Fees height, you will find plenty of soft powder after each new fall, and in addition to the three marked unpisted trails, there are some wonderfully fun runs through the trees on the Plattjen slopes.
SNOWBOARDING ****
Snowboarders have a half-pipe and fun-park to add to the area’s natural challenges, and can get around the whole area easily on the boarder-friendly combination of gondolas, cable-cars and the funicular railway.
Our Esprit Ski Escort will be available for at least 2 days of the week to ski with you and introduce you to the area.
Extra Information
APRÈS SKI
Activities after skiing include anything from a sauna or a relaxing swim in the resort’s leisure centre, to the livelier adventures listed under ‘Activities’ (see right). The traffic-free village centre simply oozes Swiss charm and character, and invites you to take a leisurely stroll to soak up the atmosphere and sample its plentiful choice of bars and cafés. Your Chalet Hotel staff have one night off each week, when you will be spoiled for choice with the superb range of restaurants in the village, offering everything from pizzas to Swiss gourmet food or Thai speciality cuisine.
ACTIVITIES
* Leisure Centre with indoor swimming-pool, sauna, steam-bath, massage, tennis & badminton * Superb toboggan run from Hannig cable-car * Curling * Ice-skating * Snow-shoe treks * Husky-sledding * Ice-climbing
OTHER AMENITIES
* The largest Ice Pavilion in the world * The world’s highest revolving restaurant * Wine-tasting evenings * Excellent selection of banks, shops, cafés, bars and restaurants * Village museum and Bakery Museum where children can try their hand at baking bread! * Occasional concerts
Snow Report
Snow reports will be available from mid-November 2010