The good people of Andermatt are very excited. Or at least 96% of them are, according to official statistics. Probably with good reason too. Things are going to be changing. Irreversibly. Forever!
This charming yet docile Swiss village has a population of about 1,300 people and has an interesting if chequered sound-bite history. Forget its mercenary inhabitants of yore, or its fleeting spa town status in the early 1800s, or even the fact that Queen Victoria and hubby Prince Albert used to stay here; Elvis, apparently, learnt to ski here! Uh-huh-huh. Whether he was any good or not, no-one seems to know or even care, but someone’s friend’s grandparent (or something) once heard him sing a few songs at the piano. If this wasn’t exciting enough, Sean Connery also stayed here for three weeks whilst shooting Goldfinger and the on screen petrol station where he fills up his Aston Martin remains on the outskirts of the village, looking almost exactly like it did back in the 1960s.
It was after the Second World War that the village’s fortunes dipped when the Swiss Army located there. Technically this was a good thing since it meant a regular influx of people and it thus kept the economy on a high for a good few decades. But as the Swiss government started to perceive their army as increasingly vestigial, so the army, and the economy, slowly vanished. By the turn of the last decade only about 120 military personnel remained. Not surprisingly, by this time, the place had garnered a reputation as an army base rather than a romantic or sporting getaway so tourism was non-existent and the sleepy village of Andermatt became almost comatose.
It was in 2005 that a delegation from the VBS (the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport) met up with cantonal Government of Uri, the area in which Andermatt is located. Parliament member Josef Dittli felt the area could be developed for tourism. He spoke to one of his mates, Raimond Kunz (former Swiss Ambassador in Cairo and then director of VBS) who invited one of his mates, Samih Sawiris, to advise them on such possibilities. The latter has a sterling reputation as the mastermind behind Orascom Developments, a firm which creates living communities and transforms ordinary settings into self styled ‘exquisite locations’. And guess what? Sawiris loved the place so much that he decided to develop it himself. And so that’s what’s happening; pimp your ski resort!
Six years later, which seems incredibly quick for this kind of ambitious development, building is in full swing as Orascom hopes to transform this location into the go-to resort for anyone with as much sense as money. The latter is an important note for the developers as they don’t see the soon-to-be-finished in 2013 destination as competition to the ‘Chic-y Mick-y’ Gotta-Be-Bling mentality of St Moritz or the slightly more old school elegance of Zermatt; this is intended for the discerning European jet-setter who might have a family or might be single but who wants easy access to the rest of Europe. The resort is a pleasant and actually very dramatic drive from Zurich airport, is two hours from Milan and (apparently) 5 hours from Monaco (maybe with Mr Bond at the wheel).
The centre piece for the development is an imposing hotel from the world renowned luxury chain, Chedi. The building is half built at the time of writing and has a couple of showroom suites which look so luxurious, in fact, that one wonders if guests will actually want to go skiing at all; full of dark wood, animal skins, comfortable sofas and king size beds with several marshmallow type pillows, there’s something very manly, in a good, strong reassuring way, about the rooms. The hotel will feature two gourmet Asian restaurants, a wine and smoking library, a long après-ski bar, an outdoor swimming pool, everything in the pampering department, and, wait for it…ski butlers! Butlers who are dedicated to looking after your skis and who will be on service to give the shattered ski enthusiast a foot massage at the end of the day!
Where this development differs from most hotels is that it also has condominiums and penthouse suites for sale, all of which will come with the above manly design (bespoke if so desired) and cost quite a manly sum. Selling prices start at CHF1.8m and rise to about CHF13m for the 5,000sq foot piece de resistance, the largest room of which is big enough to fit a tennis court in it. There’s one train station in Andermatt and one main road, and on the opposite side of these is another even more ambitious development, pretty much another village in fact, also developed and masterminded by Orascom. As well as a Radisson Blu hotel, a bunch of other apartments and villas are being constructed by 12 different architects from all around the world. Again, not surprisingly, pockets need to be deep: sized from 4,000sq foot upwards, prices start at CHF 10m. Sustainability is a key issue here as is environmental blending, and so the whole of this new development will stand on top of a car park so that any kind of ugly tarmac or camber will be hidden from potentially sore eyes, and the space where less concerned developers could have plonked a car park is now being turned into an 18 hole golf course designed by Kurt Rossknecht.
In the same way as the above is being shaped by a world expert, so the ski area is also being expanded with the help of local boy turned world downhill ski champion, Bernhard Russi, who already has one ski run named after him in the resort. At the moment the mountains offer about 80 kilometres of trails which hopefully will turn into 130 kilometres with the addition of seven new lifts and the replacement of 10. One of the key issues here will be to provide a link between Andermatt and its neighbouring Sedrun, currently only serviced by train.
The terrain vacillates from beginners to expert territory. On the days I skied, visibility was at a minimum due to excessive snowflakes and low clouds. We found a couple of good black runs and a bunch of pleasant reds. Although there seems to be an abundance of off piste runs, sadly we didn’t manage to explore these but for the adventurous skiers, especially in the Gemsstock area, there seems to be enough to keep interest piqued for a good few days. For the beginners and the family skiers, Natschen is the place to go.
For the skiing, I wore gear provided by Perfect Moment, a line which launched in the UK at the end of last year, created by free-ride pioneer and movie maker extraordinaire, Thierry Donard. I wore a reversible Pack Captain which can be either shiny black or post box red depending on how you feel in the morning. 
It is 100% duck down and water proof. Incredibly light and easy to fold away, I wondered if it would really protect from the Alpine cold but with just a couple of insubstantial t-shirts underneath, it did the job perfectly. Cool enough to work as an après ski item, flexible enough to allow your body to move on the slopes, this offers the best of both worlds. I matched these with black cargo pants (ski trousers) which are 100% nylon and water resistant. Lacking any braces, they tend to lag a little at times during energetic skiing, but apart from that they do the trick well enough, and for extra fun and amusement they have leg ventilation zips on each inner thigh for that kilt like effect, should you so desire it.
In order to get to and from the main cable car, you have to stroll through the village of Andermatt itself; a quaint place, part traditional chocolate box and part architectural melange of different and varied styles. As much as for the luxury developments, the ski area and its geographical accessibility, one imagines those interested in buying property here will be swayed by this quaint idiosyncratic place which still feels like it hasn’t changed dramatically in the last half a century, with a bunch of restaurants providing traditional but incredibly fresh food and a smattering of bars to keep your thirst quenched. Although the village has three nightclubs, overall it has a very quiet feel to it – perfect for the serious skier, the romancer, or the family man with a spare few million Swiss Francs in his pocket!
