Ice slide in Zermatt ski resort

With two of the three glaciers currently open for snow sports in Switzerland due to close after this weekend, only the year round snow sports destination of Zermatt – of only two in the world – will be open for skiing and boarding in the country as we enter June. Snowsports take place on the glacier beneath the Klein Matterhorn, which is served, in summer only, by Europe’s highest lift, a drag up to 3,899m. But two new attractions have been unveiled for visitors this summer besides the high altitude skiing and boarding.

Laidback tunes cover the mountains this spring

While several resorts in the alps and Pyrenees are offering full on rave-style music festivals at venues including Arinsal in Andorra (The Big Snow Festival), Ischgl (The Killers at the Top of the Mountain concert) and Mayrhofen (The Prodigy at Snowbombing) in Austria and Laax in Switzerland for The Brits, several resorts are offering rather more laid back musical experiences.

Among these are the Avoriaz Jazz Festival as well as the Zermatt Unplugged music festival which runs from April 12th to 16th, 2011.

This year’s event will see global stars including, Seal, Roger Hodgson the lead singer of Supertramp and David Gray on stage, each performing at one of more than 40 gigs over five days, more than half of which are free of charge for guests in resort to attend.

There are ten venues used around the resort including the main event marquee which is set up in the village centre and can accommodate 2,000.

Zermatt, one of only two resorts open year round, and operating Europe’s highest lifts on one of the continent’s largest year round glacier ski fields is also a good choice for late-season skiing and boarding. April snow showers are common meaning fresh powder is usually good even in mid-April and the altitude means it stays in good shape here when it thaws at lower elevations.

http://www.zermatt-unplugged.ch/home.html

Unplugged in Zermatt

Along side the various high-octane music festivals coming up in the alps in March and April including Arinsal’s Big Snow Festival, The Brits in Laax, Switzerland, the Killers playing the top of the mountain concert in Ischgl and Snowbombing in Mayrhofen, there are some more laid back music events planed for some of the top resorts in the Alps too.