Hello! Glad to see your post! I just came here to look for a nearest skiing places.

Can you advice smth near Lausanne? And most important - what is the best way to rent a ski?

Thanks!

Hi,

If you want to go either downhill or cross country skiing in the Villars area then Richard Sports in Chesières, just before Villars, is the friendliest place for ski hire of both types. Other ski shops do not know much about corss country skiing but Denis, the owner of Richard Sports is a XC skier. Let me know if you need lessons. It's freezing here minus 15 in Villars!

Hi, Thanks a lot for the answer! I think we will try to go cross country skiing on this Sunday, but I am afraid that the shop is not available without a car. It is bit far from a train station. Is there anything closer?

And we are from Russia, so we don't need lessons, but we would be glad to have a company. :)

Hi Lyudmila,

To rent xc skis in Lausanne try Aubert Sport

http://www.aubertsport.ch/magasin/index.php?cat=mag

The closest areas via train are La Givrine (In the Jura up from Nyon) and Les Mosses (Train and bus).  Les Mosses has some more technical trails aswell as those for beginners.  Also better for skating. Its one of my favourite places for Cross country skiing. 

Col du Marchairuz/Mollendruz in the Jura are also very nice, but difficult to get to via public transport.

Enjoy, it is perfect weather for cross country this weekend.

Hi! Thanks  a lot for the advises! Looking forward to the weekend! :)

You get the train to Aigle, then bus for Villars but get off at Richard
Sports. When you have your gear there is a shuttle bus up to Villars where
you have to walk to Col de la Croix for the nearest  cross country ski
piste or take the train to "Le Golf" stop on the way up to Bretaye.

Zimmo is right when he says that a train to Givrine is the easiest (train to Nyon then change to Givrine - no ski hire place though.

Have a good day,

Hilary

Hello,

I am visiting Vaud next week and are looking for yoga classes.  Are you still practising and in the area?

Many thanks in advanace,

Jo

Hello Hilary,

I tried Ski de fond ones and it was fun. But I would still prefer a proper introduction with a teacher. Do you have any recommendation?

Thank you

Ilka

Hi Hilary -

Great to see your post!  I'm new to Vaud (just moved in to Montreux) and already looking for good places for Nordic skiing.  Open to any recommendations, esp if they in love more challenging terrain.  

And Ilka - I coached xc ski racing for 8 years... Would be happy to help you learn more about the sport, which will give me an excuse to spend that much more time on snow!

Cheers,

Andy

Hi Andy,

I would love to learn to XC Ski...I have never been.  Looking for rentals and lessons, but would need a step by step instruction for both. Do you need special clothes?  Can I wear my snowboarding gear or just my themal athletics wear? Although I lived in Munich for 10 years before moving here to get my masters, I only snowboarded, but looking for a snow sport which is easier on my joints now.  I am originally from Florida, and snow is still a bit alien to me.  I would be grateful for your insights.  Thank you in advance!

Kristen

Hi Kristen,

That's fantastic that you're interested in xc!  Just about one of the best things you can do with yourself on snow...:)  I'm happy to follow up with you with more detail, but here are the basic answers to your questions:

Do you need special clothes?  Depends on what you're trying to do.  Think of it this way:  You don't need any special clothes to go out for a walk, but if you decide to run a 10k, you're not going to want to do that in your jeans and street sneakers.  Same idea here.  if you're just out for a comfortable "touring" ski, and it's nice out, then pretty much any athletic clothing you would wear to run in similar temperatures - like your thermal athletics wear - will work fine.  Like any sport, you can spend $$$ on advanced clothing and gear without even knowing what you're buying it for and whether you really need it.  Oh, and DON'T wear your snowboarding gear if you're looking for cardio exercise - you'll probably quickly overheat.

Definitely rent before you invest in skis, so you can get a sense of what you want.  You'll want to decide if you want to do skate skiing or classical skiing.  I won't waste a lot of time talking about the virtues of each - you can google them and watch a zillion videos anyway.  Basically, skate skiing is faster but generally requires a bit of a higher level of energy input.

Lessons are definitely helpful.  Lots of people quit because they don't learn and thus either think its boring or, more often, too hard (i.e., not as easy as letting gravity do most of the work, as in Alpine).

Happy to chat with you more about this and answer specifics.  If you live anywhere near Lausanne/Vevey/Montreux, I'm likely going out to ski some this weekend and happy to do a freebie intro lesson.  You'll just need to source the gear - skis, boots and poles - and let me know when you want to ski.

Hope this helps.  Welcome to the world of xc!

For your amusement, here is the sort at its extreme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4N9XMAOE3s

Cheers,

Andy

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the info!  I live in downtown Lausanne and would love to join you for an intro lesson. Maybe next weekend (6 or 7 Feb) for a half day? Is there enough snow right now? I would only need a recommendation on where to rent equipment?  In terms of style, I think at my current fitness level (medium fit), I would like to start with classical to get technique and endurance built up before trying something faster like skating.  Hope to connect with you soon.

All the best,

Kristen

Hi Kristen,

Sorry - just seeing this now as I've been away for a few days.  I will definitely ski this weekend, so would be happy to spend some time getting you started.  Villars-Gryon appears to have decent snow conditions and is relatively close.  Let me know if you'd still like to go - there is a shop there that will rent equipment.  If you're more adventureous, we can go to the Obergoms area (upper Valais) - beautiful and fantastic snow conditions, but much further to get there.  Saturday looks like the ideal day.

I typically take the train, and would be happy to meet on the train, but let me know if you'll be driving.

Best,

Andy

Hi Hilary - Lovely to see your post - I've been looking around for x-country and yoga for ages and would love to get in touch / more information / find like minded people to join. I'm moving to Geneva mid March, could you recommend anything / place for the easter weekend?  Am going to be solo, and am a moderately fit 50+ female! Thanks! Jo