The joys of sliding sports
Sliding sports are more than just skiing! The Vaudois winter resorts have fully understood this by organising fun and sensational winter activities such as “snowtubing”. To glide along at your own pace and with the family, the region also offers many ice rinks.
Bringing together all the generations, sledding is still one of the must-do winter activities, for which each one has their own techniques to arrive first and to avoid falling. Initially a family leisure activity, sledding has become a real adventure on runs that are constantly being improved. The longest run (7 km) is situated in Les Diablerets in the Vaudois Alps. But the resorts of Château-d'Oex, Saint-Cergue, Sainte-Croix/Les Rasses and Vallée de Joux have also installed such structures.
Inspired by the sled and especially the bobsleigh, the “snowtubing” runs offer descents on inner tubes. In Switzerland, the most famous place to practice this fun leisure activity is the Tobogganing Park in Leysin. In the neighbouring resort of Les Mosses, two tracks allow smaller children to soar down on inner tubes. Another atypical and unique activity in the Vaudois Alps is “fatbiking”, which is offered in Villars. This activity consists in using a bike with especially large tires on snowed-under mountain biking routes.
Focusing more on a picturesque and romantic aspect than on adrenaline, ice skating has not lost its appeal. When all the conditions are met and Joux Lake freezes over entirely, many a skater enjoys this vast natural ice rink. For the rest of the season, indoor and outdoor rinks in Saint-Cergue, Sainte-Croix/Les Rasses, Château-d’Oex, Villars and Leysin welcome children and adults.