Land of Euro - Switzerland and France

Europe is Beautiful and so are its mountains. I've been fortunate enough to be able to visit Switzerland for the Burton European Open in January, but I have never been there for summer riding. It's hard to say what it is all about, as I am used to hearing about the North American and New Zealand spots, but I do know that Switzerland and France are the spots to go when you want to do some summer boarding in Europe.Two places in Switzerland you should know: Saas-Fee opens its glacier July 4th for summer and fall riding, which is known to be the place most teams and pros go for late summer/fall training and Zermatt is open all year round. Both places have a park and halfpipe as well as open runs for those of you who are not into park.

Saas Fee Halfpipe

Saas Fee kicker

Nike 6.0 at Saas Fee

More European glaciers are in France: Les Deux Alps, Tinges, and Val D'isere, where many summer camps are offered and water flows like wine. Les Deux Alps has 2 halfpipes and a terrain park which are easily accessed by a cable car. Tinges has been the host of Winter European X-Games for the past two years and offers beginner parks but no halfpipe. Val D'isere is the easiest glacier to get to with a bus running to the bottom of the glacier lift. All of these glaciers are a great place to spend your summer snowboard vacation or maybe ever training for that matter.

Duex Alps

Duex Alps terrain park

This is kind of embarrassing but here's a video from my first trip to Switzerland for Burton European Open in January 2009:


This info found at WorldSnowboardGuide.com