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Any info on Saas fee

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McLS
Posts: 1985 - Karma: 6,454
Im looking to go to saas fee this summer (7th august to 16taugust, only available week) cos the conditions in L2a look already questionable, so not sure how lucky i'll have to be to be able to shred park in august over there.

I'd need some info though (that I've been trying to get on websites and such but it's actually a pain to find good info) from anyone who's ever been there:

-How long does it take to get to top of glacier from town (i think it's an hour but not sure)

-Until what hour of day can you ski on the glacier in summer (august) (I can't find this info anywhere which is driving me crazy)

-Is there a different pass for glacier skiing and gondola to get up? (I heard that the pass was really expensive, but the saas fee website states glacier summer skiing pass is only as expensive as l2a)

-How is the park in august, or depending on conditions (i.e. if you've ever been there when there was not as much snow, rain, just overall bad conditions, do they close a lot of features, or does the park remain completely open and the weather just sucks?)

-How is the town in terms of nightlife especially, I know shit's expensive af over there i general, any good places where prices are reasonable?

And finally anything you know about the place, if you liked it when you were there or not and why would be super useful for me and my friend to start finalising where we wanna go this summer !

thanks ns!
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May 1 2015 6:12AM
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MLJ
Posts: 1849 - Karma: 3,649
Threads for more info on the NS meetup in saas around this time.
May 1 2015 7:45AM
1 0
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JibbaTheHutt
Posts: 2132 - Karma: 1,597
-from my memory it takes just under an hour to get to the the top, its 2 gondolas and a train through the mountain on the last stint, it can get pretty hectic everybody trying to get onto the train so if you miss the first one you have to wait 10 minutes to get the next one.

-Again if my memory serves me correctly its around 1-2 when the glacier starts to close to skiers, you can still chill up there in the restaurant up the lift station but cant ski past that time.

-To my knowledge there isnt any change in price between there summer and winter prices for liftpass, however i may be wrong, i havent been in a few years.

-Saas fee is very much subject to changing conditions, both times i've gone in the summer ive missed atleast 1 day of skiing due to high winds, high temperatures, rain, or any number of things., usually when the conditions are bad the whole glacier is closed.

-A few bars and clubs stay open but are pretty expensive, cant say i know huge amounts about the nightlife because i was 17 last time i went. I think metropol bar has beer pong quite a few nights, could be mistaken on that one.

-there was talk of potentially an ns meet up, not sure if and when that'll happen. i think Twig is probably the person to talk to about saas think he has done a couple of seasons there.
May 1 2015 7:46AM
3 0
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jbmyo
Posts: 63 - Karma: 445
Hi, I've benn to both last summer.
I was Saas Fee at the end of july and the park was pretty fun.
The jumps are better than l2a, but there are less rails, and there aren't as easy and simple as les 2 alpes.
You can ski about as much as l2a, not too late, and the ride up, which is less than an hour, requires the same pass as the glacier skiing but is much more expensive than l2a.
And for the park I think it depends on the year but its not too bad i think.
May 1 2015 7:53AM
3 0
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jbmyo
Posts: 63 - Karma: 445
Hi, I've benn to both last summer.
I was Saas Fee at the end of july and the park was pretty fun.
The jumps are better than l2a, but there are less rails, and there aren't as easy and simple as les 2 alpes.
You can ski about as much as l2a, not too late, and the ride up, which is less than an hour, requires the same pass as the glacier skiing but is much more expensive than l2a.
And for the park I think it depends on the year but its not too bad i think.
May 1 2015 7:53AM
2 1
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jbmyo
Posts: 63 - Karma: 445
Hi, I've benn to both last summer.
I was Saas Fee at the end of july and the park was pretty fun.
The jumps are better than l2a, but there are less rails, and there aren't as easy and simple as les 2 alpes.
You can ski about as much as l2a, not too late, and the ride up, which is less than an hour, requires the same pass as the glacier skiing but is much more expensive than l2a.
And for the park I think it depends on the year but its not too bad i think.
May 1 2015 7:53AM
2 1
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McLS
Posts: 1985 - Karma: 6,454
-there was talk of potentially an ns meet up, not sure if and when that'll happen. i think Twig is probably the person to talk to about saas think he has done a couple of seasons there.[/quote]

Thanks for all the info! Ill defo send him a message if he doesn't see the thread then, thanks. Ideally I'd need someone who's been to L2a and saas to give me his opinion, knowing that everything from renting a place to food and activities will be cheaper, and that I've been to l2a myself and loved it.
May 1 2015 7:53AM
1 0
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Twig
Posts: 6407 - Karma: 60,033
JibbaTheHutt-there was talk of potentially an ns meet up, not sure if and when that'll happen. i think Twig is probably the person to talk to about saas think he has done a couple of seasons there.


Yeah I've spent a lot of time there, it's always been my home resort.

- If you get lucky with your timings, you can get to the top in something like 35 minutes, but you usually have to wait for the train so it takes longer. You can usually do it in 45 minutes though.

- The glacier is timetabled to close at 12 until the end of august, but in reality, the last lift tends to be more like 12:30. I think a daily lift pass is 70chf.

- The park is pretty much always on point in the summer, they have a decent sized crew of shapers (I worked shape crew last summer) and there is tons of snow. There are a good range of jump sizes but pretty much none of the rail features last summer were what I would call mellow.

If the weather is shitty, they still usually open, in high wind they'll close the jumps. But closures can happen when you get warm weather and cloudy nights because the snow bridges don't refreeze.

- It is expensive in terms of nightlife, a pint will run you around 8chf depending on where you go, but most places have happy hours where it's cheaper. Pre-drinking is super cheap though, because you can get a beer in the super market (Co-op Prix Garantie) i think 24 x 0.5cl cans is like 10 francs.

In terms of an NS meetup, I'll most likely be there mid july-mid august I'd think, perhaps until the end of august. Will take a little while before that gets organized though I'd imagine.
May 2 2015 9:46AM
1 0
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McLS
Posts: 1985 - Karma: 6,454
jbmyoHi, I've benn to both last summer.
I was Saas Fee at the end of july and the park was pretty fun.
The jumps are better than l2a, but there are less rails, and there aren't as easy and simple as les 2 alpes.
You can ski about as much as l2a, not too late, and the ride up, which is less than an hour, requires the same pass as the glacier skiing but is much more expensive than l2a.
And for the park I think it depends on the year but its not too bad i think.

So overall which one would you think is best? the prices I found for the glacier summer skiing pass was around 20€ more than L2A, I might have found the wrong one?
TwigYeah I've spent a lot of time there, it's always been my home resort.

- If you get lucky with your timings, you can get to the top in something like 35 minutes, but you usually have to wait for the train so it takes longer. You can usually do it in 45 minutes though.

- The glacier is timetabled to close at 12 until the end of august, but in reality, the last lift tends to be more like 12:30. I think a daily lift pass is 70chf.

- The park is pretty much always on point in the summer, they have a decent sized crew of shapers (I worked shape crew last summer) and there is tons of snow. There are a good range of jump sizes but pretty much none of the rail features last summer were what I would call mellow.

If the weather is shitty, they still usually open, in high wind they'll close the jumps. But closures can happen when you get warm weather and cloudy nights because the snow bridges don't refreeze.

- It is expensive in terms of nightlife, a pint will run you around 8chf depending on where you go, but most places have happy hours where it's cheaper. Pre-drinking is super cheap though, because you can get a beer in the super market (Co-op Prix Garantie) i think 24 x 0.5cl cans is like 10 francs.

In terms of an NS meetup, I'll most likely be there mid july-mid august I'd think, perhaps until the end of august. Will take a little while before that gets organized though I'd imagine.


Thanks so much for the info! In terms of snow, do they still have enough for a full park in mid august? I'll stay tuned for an ns meetup if I end up going then.
May 2 2015 10:11AM
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JibbaTheHutt
Posts: 2132 - Karma: 1,597
TwigI think a daily lift pass is 70chf.



Maybe you could give some clarification as to what exactly a saaspass is? it seems to knock a fair amount off liftpass costs but it doesn't say how you get one..
May 2 2015 11:13AM
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Hughes
Posts: 1023 - Karma: 940
does anyone know the opening dates?
May 7 2015 8:29AM
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Twig
Posts: 6407 - Karma: 60,033
JibbaTheHuttMaybe you could give some clarification as to what exactly a saaspass is? it seems to knock a fair amount off liftpass costs but it doesn't say how you get one..


It's linked to the tourist taxes, essentially it's what you get when you pay them, which you more or less have to wherever you stay these days.

Hughesdoes anyone know the opening dates?


It's due to open on the 19th July.
May 7 2015 9:17AM
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McLS
Posts: 1985 - Karma: 6,454
Thanks for the info Twig! What i really need for info is if saas fee would have a better chance of good snow conditions for august compared to l2a. Thats really the only factor im cobsidering now to choose between the 2. Anybody has any knowledge regarding this??
May 11 2015 8:08AM
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Hughes
Posts: 1023 - Karma: 940
McLSThanks for the info Twig! What i really need for info is if saas fee would have a better chance of good snow conditions for august compared to l2a. Thats really the only factor im cobsidering now to choose between the 2. Anybody has any knowledge regarding this??


In my experience the snow can be a little better in saas, but there are more down days. It really is very similar though i won't base your decision on it...
May 11 2015 2:01PM
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McLS
Posts: 1985 - Karma: 6,454
HughesIn my experience the snow can be a little better in saas, but there are more down days. It really is very similar though i won't base your decision on it...


Alright, thanks for the info, it's just that mid august is quite late and if i can prevent coming up and having half a park up because of conditions then I wanna do so. In terms of everything else i prefer L2A (maybe apart from the fact that saas has more rails which is nice). From the feedback i got so far conditions between the 2 places shouldn't be too different, in which case i'll probably head out to l2A.

any more info confirming this is super welcomed though!
May 11 2015 3:13PM
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bwripper
Posts: 27 - Karma: 11
If you're into rails, Zermatt is the place to be. They have super creative rail set-ups and change them almost daily.

I also have some first hand info that some "rail-celebs" are going to spend their summer up there!

check out Sami Ortlieb shredding the park last summer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn4rV_QIP3U
May 12 2015 4:56AM
0 0
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bwripper
Posts: 27 - Karma: 11
If you're into rails, Zermatt is the place to be. They have super creative rail set-ups and change them almost daily.

I also have some first hand info that some "rail-celebs" are going to spend their summer up there!

check out Sami Ortlieb shredding the park last summer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn4rV_QIP3U
May 12 2015 4:57AM
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dbchili
Posts: 2555 - Karma: 1,657
lol no zermatt is not that great. I've never skied their summer park, but i've seen videos, and i've ridden their winter park and it was pretty pitiful for a resort of that calibre. Add in 90chf/day for a lift ticket = no thanks

saas is good, but again expensive. 70chf for a day pass, plus even for a single room you're usually looking at min 100chf/night, it's pricey. I also found the town pretty dead when i was there last august, but then again i admittedly wasn't looking for nightlife.

I mean switzerland in general isn't great for anyone from outside right now. The franc is basically even with the euro, and if it was my money 70chf for a day pass vs 40 eur or whatever it is at L2a - that'd make my decision right there
May 12 2015 7:15AM
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bwripper
Posts: 27 - Karma: 11
Well agreed! Their winter park sucks ass...
But the park in the summer rules!
May 12 2015 8:57AM
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