To really make the most of the Alps, head up after the snow melts

Timothy Barber

I’VE been skiing just once, when I was 11. My chief memories are of floundering in a snowdrift as my Austrian instructor sped off cursing my inability to stay upright, and the fact that by the end of the week I still hadn’t even mastered the snowplough. It really wasn’t for me.

Since then, the Alps have remained firmly off my travel radar. To the committed non-skier, talk of glamorous destinations like Courchevel and Zermatt, discussions over the best “après” activities and grumblings about the cost of lift passes hold minimal fascination. The irony, of course, is that the winter side of Alpine tourism is just one – albeit very valuable – part of the story. The other, summery part, is more colourful, more varied in what it offers, arguably more beautiful and certainly more affordable. And with resorts piling investment into their summer offerings as the recession bites into ski revenues, the notion of them shutting up shop for the down-season is less and less a reality.

This summer, the venue for art and cultural highlights: St. Moritz, Switzerland

The St. Moritz Art Masters - SAM - which will take place from August 29 - September 7, 2008, is the premiere of a glamorous art and music event in the Engadine-based noble resort that is set to become an annual institution for connoisseurs from all over the world. This exclusive art platform that includes contemporary art and international classic highlights will turn St. Moritz this summer for 10 days into an art and cultural mecca. Approximately 50 works by international contemporary artists will be presented within the framework of a "Walk of Art" at very unusual places in and around St. Moritz; they will also be displayed in sales exhibitions. In cooperation with local galleries and international artists, works by, among others, Gerhard Richter, Alighiero Boetti, Piero Manzoni, Lucio Fontana, Andy Warhol, Eric Fischl, Otto Piene, Tony Cragg and Frank Stella will be exhibited. Furthermore parts of the private art collections of Cartier, Daimler and Julius Bär will be presented.

The European Hotel Managers Association gave ample proof of its vitality at the General Meeting recently held in St. Moritz, chaired by its president Johanna Fragano, General Manager of the Hotel Quirinale in Rome. The conference was organized by a committee led by Hans Wiedemann in two hotels, the Badrutt’s Palace and the Kulm Hotel St. Moritz. It was a “green” three days, during which the hotels ran entirely on alternative energy. It was a demonstration of how sustainable tourism is a priority of the EHMA, not only because of its intrinsic importance but also because of the ever-increasing number of “green customers”, customers who prefer companies which respect the environment.

Summer in St. Moritz with several ways to save at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel. This summer take advantage of the multiple packages the luxury hotel in the Alps has to offer. Enjoy a two night package with the “Alpine Summer Feeling” which includes two night accommodation for up to two people in a Superior room, with complimentary breakfast and one set meal at “Chesa Veglia” and a Palace Restaurant, as well as free tickets on all mountain railways, cable cars and public transportation. The room also comes with a complimentary mini-bar, daily newspaper, movie channels and internet access. Rates start at 640 CHF for single occupancy.

... Badrutt's Palace Hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland, is reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 tons per year thanks to an innovative heat pump system. The ecologically sensitive heat pump is a cooperative effort between Badrutt's Palace Hotel and Zurich's "EWZ" power station. Water from Lake St. Moritz serves as the heat source for the hotel's heat pump system as well as that of a neighboring school, but the heat pump has no negative effect on the lake's flora and fauna. With the new energy-efficient heat pump, Badrutt's Palace Hotel saves 400,000 liters of heating oil per season -- a reduction of 80% annually over the previous heating system....