“We’re still lucky”
The Bosshard family pays 9,000 francs for a ski holiday – and now there’s no snow!
The Bosshard family of seven dig deep into their pockets for their ski holidays. The holiday budget this year is CHF 9,000. And now the lack of snow is putting a damper on her expensive vacation bills!
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The Bosshard family is on ski vacation. From left to right: mother Veronika (42), Nicola (15), Thereza (7), father Bruno Bosshard (51), Michal (12), Ondrej (9) and Marek (16).
Samuel WalderRingier journalism student
If you want to ski over Christmas or New Year, book months in advance. Without knowing whether there will be enough snow. So did the Bosshards. The family of seven around Bruno (51) and Veronika Bosshard (42) from Pfäffikon ZH is in Davos GR for ten days. Blick did the math: the family from the Zurich Oberland ski holidays cost 9,000 francs!
«Everything has to work»: This is how the Bosshard family prepares for their skiing holidays(02:20)
In mid-December, the idyll was still perfect: Snow-covered mountains and forests marked the Graubünden village of Davos. Two weeks later, there is almost nothing left of it. Thanks to artificial snowmaking, the slopes can still be used, but the surroundings are brown and green. The snow conditions are precarious throughout Switzerland, and various ski areas have had to completely close their slopes.
“We mainly ski on the Jakobshorn. It’s still snowing there,” says Bruno Bosshard. But a look at the opposite side shows a brown mountain landscape. “Here and there there are spots on the Jakobshorn that are brown. You just have to drive a curve.” A valley run is closed, the rest of the slopes are open.
“We are lucky”
Of course, the Bosshard family would be happy about more snow. But under the current circumstances you can still ski, and that’s the main thing. “The ski resort is making great efforts with artificial snowmaking so that the slopes can continue to be used,” says Bruno Bosshard.
“We are lucky.” The Jakobshorn is on the north side, and therefore some areas are frozen, but passable. “The snow on the southern slope has melted away.” If they had booked holidays on the southern slope, skiing would certainly be neglected and a replacement program would have to be found.
The ski area is satisfied
Those responsible in Davos oppose this. “Thanks to the artificial snow, all five mountains can be skied,” says Martina Walsoe, spokeswoman for the Davos Klosters ski area. “We are satisfied with the ski operations over the holidays.”
Compared to the previous year, the ski area even speaks of ten percent more guests. Bruno Bosshard says: “On December 28th and January 1st there were a lot of people on the slopes. The restaurants were full too.” On the remaining days, however, the slopes were almost empty. “It became empty after the holidays and we can enjoy the holidays despite the moderately good conditions,” says Bosshard.