Looks like more fun than skiing!
Cheers
Does anyone know somwhere reasonably close to Geneva (skiing areas i would imagine ) that rents these things out?
I was under the impression that snowmobiles were not allowed in Switzerland, but I could be wrong.
I may be totally wrong, but aren't snowmobiles more or less banned for private leaisure use, along with Jetskis etc? I've seen them used for "official" piste-related matters, but nothing else in the 13 years we've been here.
http://www.hb-as.ch/e/skidoo1_e.shtml
I came across this ....so maybe I am wrong. My expectation is that it is extremely limited by law. And most trails in Ch, I would expect don't allow snowmobiles.
Now that you mention it, I have not seen any either.
Your link looks good...
There are the track-mobiles that run on four tracks (like a tank).
Maybe someone knows the official answer?
if banned in Switz, im quite happy to trek all the way to france for a go...
These are commonplace where I grew up in the Great Lakes, but I have never seen them used for sport in Switzerland. According to this they are illegal for personal use in the mountains, although they are used to transport goods to hotels and such (link is in German):
http://alpen.sac-cas.ch/html_d/archi...2004_03_11.pdf
That's the federal law, but permits can be granted through cantonal law, according to SAC. Although going by the number of petitions and anti-snowmobile links I came across googling "Motorschlittenfahren," I am guessing the cantons have been very restrictive in issuing snowmobile permits for personal use.
I think part of this is environmental and part safety. The Swiss alps are very different to the Mountain ranges of America and other countries. They are very close together and in general snowmobilers would be quite close to other mountain users. In a ski resort this would cause havoc for skiers and snowboarders. There are very few snowcovered roads that they can be used on and use in the back country in Switzerland would be lethal.
http://www.avalanche.org/av-reports/index.html
Even in North America, it seems Snowmobiles are lethal in backcountry.
Yip, I saw that. Bearing in mind that the snowpack here is considered to be generaly less stable then many places where the mountain range is closer to the coast I wouldn't like to risk it.
Having said that, they are used by the ski patrol in many resorts. I've seen them in Hoch-ybrig, Lenzerheide, Elm, Zermatt, Saas-Fee to name a few.
It's certainly a great time.
If you can find a place, let me know. I'd be happy to join you.
There are some folks here, nearby Neuchâtel who have Snow mobiles. They own a chalet higher up and as their chalets can't be accessed during the winter by car, they leave them somewhere in the forest. They usually drive up as far as they can by car, leave the car there, hopp on their snow mobile, pack all their food and what have you on to it and drive up to the chalet.
Drove once one myself in Canada, that was fantastic
I got to ride one on a Ski holiday a few years ago in Italy.
It was at night in a group and we went up the pistes and across some additional tracks following each other just by the lights of the snow mobile in front. When we reached the top, we went into the restaurant had a quick drink. Then off back over a few more tracks and a couple of scary bridges, not much room either side. Then back down to the town.
I really great activity, I loved it. The wife however sitting on the back of the snow mobile screamed most of the way telling me to slow down. Thing is if I slowed down I would lose sight of the lights of the person in front and get lost. Although we did have instructors at the front and behind making sure no one had any accidents or got lost.
I would like to try it again some day. It's lots of fun.