Pure mountain air, glistening snow, the great outdoors… Winter offers a glistening array of activities for fans of sport and nature.

Rosy cheeks, beaming smiles, a wonderful sense of achievement… That's what instructors at ski schools and learning parks love to see on the faces of children and novices at the end of their classes. Impatient to share this powdery, sunny world, beginners are joined by perfectionists wanting to ratchet up their skills in downhill or cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snow-biking and even snow-kiting.

More accomplished fans of fun and sheer exhilaration cannot wait to arrive in Gstaad. For them, it is the perfect destination for a winter getaway with 200 km of wide and perfectly groomed slopes at altitudes from 1,000 to 3,000 metres. They loosen up and give it their all on glacier slopes, the steep and legendary Tiger Run, in spacious ski arenas or the Eggli-La Videmanette area, depending on their level and affinities.

Aficionados adore floodlit night skiing on the Rinderberg, and set their pulses racing after being dropped from an Alpinzentrum helicopter in the middle of nowhere to whoosh back down to the valley. Groups of friends have a ball on ski safaris, curling sessions or igloo building adventures, all proposed by Alpinzentrum Gstaad. One of Switzerland's three biggest providers of outdoor activities, this company that began as a mountain-climbing school is an expert on the subjects of personal challenges, expanding horizons, the uplifting magic of mountains, ice and snow.

Fans of fun and sheer exhilaration cannot wait to arrive in Gstaad.