Leysin Ski and Summer Holidays
Leysin is a sunny village in the Vaud Alps of Switzerland, in the same area as Villars, Les Diablerets, Les Mosses.
It is an international village, with over 80 nationalities resident. There are two large international business schools, a large international hotel school, two branches of American universities, plus a thriving conference/hotel network. It has a good shopping centre, cinema, two sports centres, supermarkets, banks.
It is a great place to rest and relax or to be as active as you want at just about any time of year.
Leysin also has enough skiing to please many folks, and is linked to Les Mosses. Its elevation is sufficient to allow the resort to boast a decent snow record. Leysin does have some good skiing within the confines of its own borders, and, when combined with the Alpes Vaudoises, it is most interesting. The skiing is suited to most all abilities with the slopes easily reached by a modern lift system.
The skiing in Leysin is divided mainly into two sections. Mayen and Berneuse are the most popular areas and are reachable by means of the lifts at the lower end of the village, where the ski school office is located. The Mayen section features the most challenging skiing, some on piste (the Tour d'Ai) and some off. The latter, if you know how to find it, will open up some interesting and challenging terrain for the more adventurous and skilled to explore.
There are 20 lifts serving 90km of pistes, with about 52km of cross-country skiing covered on the Leysin lift pass. There is also around 96km of snow shoe trails.
As part of the Alpes Vaudoises you can ski at Les Diablerets, Villars, Chateau-d'Oex and other nearby resorts. Leysin is also a great snowboarders' resort.The glacier at Diablerets pretty well guarantees skiable conditions.
Leysin has a good selection of sporting things to do when not skiing, with a super sports center. If the skiing is "user friendly" and the atmosphere easy going, the same "vibes" continue into the après ski scene. There is lots of diversion both in price and scene.
See the winter factfile for further details.
winter activities: skiing is the centre of activities, cross country skiing, swimming and ice-skating
summer activities: superb scenery, hiking trails, via ferrata, climbing, mountain biking
