Useful Alpine Links

Hotel Schoenblick, Saas Grund
www.ferienhaus-schoenblick.ch

Everything Switzerland, from 'A Map Of Switzerland' to 'Zermatt Switzerland'

The Swiss Tourist Office, general information & events

Swiss railways, book tickets & check prices & times

A 'Swiss Card' allows you a return train ticket from a border crossing - Geneva Airport for example - to your resort. As well as this it gives you half price on all railways, buses, and mountain railways & lifts in Switzerland. The Pass lasts for a month, and can booked online valid for 6 months. The cost is £84 per person. So for example this pays for a return rail ticket from Geneva Airport to Visp, the nearest railway station to Saas Grund, then half price on all the mountain lifts for the rest of your holiday. This just about makes it cheaper for a 5 day stay, but definitely worth it for any longer.

A 'Half Fare' card does what it says on the tin - provides half fare on all trains, buses, boats & mountain lifts for one month, at a cost of £44. More details on both these offers can be found on the website below.

Healthcare

Switzerland: As a result of an agreement with the EU, which came into force on 1 June 2002, the E111 arrangements also cover Switzerland.

Healthcare arrangements for UK visitors in Switzerland. A Card (EHIC) must be produced whenever any treatment or service is requested. You will normally have to pay the full costs and claim a refund afterwards. You will have to pay a fixed charge for each 30-day period of treatment. This is known as the ‘excess charge’ or ‘franchise’ and is not refunded. You can normally claim back 90% of the treatment costs exceeding the excess charge. It is recommended that all visitors take out adequate private travel insurance. More details can be found at (below), then navigate through 'Policy and Advice' & 'Getting Treatment inside the EAA' to the page covering Switzerland
www.dh.gov.uk

Please ensure you have one of the new European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC)!

From www.dh.gov.uk/travellers

All E111forms will cease to be valid throughout the EEA and Switzerland after 31 December 2005, when the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) will replace them.

Maps of Switzerland
www.swisstopo.ch The Federal Office of Topography, an interesting site.
www.cordee.co.uk Full range of Swiss maps.

Alpine clubs, associations & huts
www.sac-cas.ch the Swiss Alpine Club, details on huts etc.
www.clubalpin.com the French Alpine Club.
www.uiaa.ch very comprehensive & informative site, with lots of information & links to other climbing & Alpine sites all over the world. In English, so very usefull!

Training for the Matterhorn!
www.skyeguide.co.uk the best training in the UK for the sort of terrain found on the Matterhorn Hornli Ridge, is to be found on the Cuillin of Skye.