Saas-Fee Mountain Cleaning Day

By Raúl Revuelta

Today is cleaning day in the Pearl of the Alps!!!

Saturday 30 June 2012 will be Saas-Fee’s third Mountain Cleaning Day. This special event aims to raise participants’ motivation and awareness about looking after the environment. During the colder months of the year, our slopes attract thousands of winter sport fans and, inevitably, their litter. Both previous events saw participants collect over a tonne of waste from the Saas-Fee slopes. Their sacks were filled with cigarette butts, tickets, plastic bottles, babies’ dummies, snowboards and countless other items – showing just how necessary Mountain Cleaning Day is for keeping our environment spic and span.

 

Celebrity involvement

The organisers of Mountain Cleaning Day have moved away from the conventional community action projects that Saas-Fee has seen over the years to instead present an event with a difference and attract as many participants as possible. Participants are divided into various groups, each led by a famous person. A couple of big names have already stepped up. Once again, snowboarder Gian Simmen, who won Olympic gold in the halfpipe event in Nagano, will prove he’s not above grabbing a bin bag and helping out. He’ll be joined by rising freestyle star Elias Ambühl, who achieved international fame with his victory at the legendary freestyle.ch races and his third place ranking in the Big Air event at the Winter X-Games in Aspen. Other celebrities will be announced soon.

Chill & Grill

The main aim of Mountain Cleaning Day, supported by the Summit Foundation, may be to leave the Saas-Fee slopes spic and span, but the organisers spare no effort in rewarding the volunteers for their help. Once the cleaning is finished, they put on a big barbecue in the Wolfsgrube and all participants receive a Roxy/Quiksilver gift.

Zermatt and Saas-Fee Win Top Recognition for their Environmentally Friendly Transport Systems

By Raúl Revuelta

Fourteen destinations were evaluated by the VCS (Swiss Motor Club): Adelboden, Arosa, Crans-Montana, Davos Platz, Engelberg, Grindelwald, Lenzerheide, Leukerbad, Saas-Fee, Scuol, St. Moritz, Verbier, Wengen and Zermatt. This new "mobile & ecological" rating by the VCS is intended to assist consumers with decision making on winter holidays. The survey was supported amongst others by the STV (Swiss Tourism Association) and the Federal Office for Spatial Development ARE.
 

Zermatt takes 1st place. In second place was Saas-Fee, also car-free, followed by St. Moritz. The Transport and Environment Association gave the highest ratings to Zermatt and Saas-Fee for their excellent rail and bus connections. The two winter hotspots in canton Valais were also recognised for their efforts in promoting public transport.

"For car-free Zermatt, this award is confirmation that our decades of effort and commitment for a sustainable destination are being rewarded", says Zermatt Tourismus Director Daniel Luggen. He is aware that tourism is effectively a balancing act between comfort, growth and improvement of offers on the one hand and sustainability on the other: "We will continue to be committed to sustainability. We’re staying on the ball!".

The Transport and Environment Association also praised other resorts, such as Davos and Grindelwald where local bus rides are free.

Another resort that received special praise was the Lower Engadine resort of Scuol, where "Holidays Without Your Car" packages - that include free access to public transport, separate transport of luggage and electric bicycles for hire - are available.

Among the criteria evaluated were travelling time to the destination, signage, local buses, frequency of public transport and luggage transport possibilities.