European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 21, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ski Alsace continued from Page 6 equipment to keep the slopes covered in White when nature fails to do the same. There is ample Cross country terrain some 100 Kilometres of prepared track in varying degrees of difficulty plus tracks for Cross country touring. A one Day ski pass at be Bonhomme is 57 francs about $6.75. Some of the slopes Are illuminated or night skiing from 5 to 10 . On tuesday wednesday Friday and saturday. An evening ski pass costs 51 francs about $6.50. There arc no overnight accommodations at the ski area itself. In Markstein skiers have been Schissing the slopes at Markstein since 1935, yet the resort has been a popular summer Retreat since the 1920s. At an Elevation of 1,240 feet it is one of the higher Vonges i sorts perched above the Roc line in a Moon like landscape of White. There Are several big hotels on the Mountain top with the ski slopes just out the front door. Ten lifts service the slopes. The Markstein Cross country Center has 50 Kilometres of trails. Skiers must pay a Small fee under $1 to use the prepared tracks. For added adventure Snow shoes can be rented. Reasonable package arrangements for downhill and Cross country skiing As Well As Snow shoeing Are available. A combination Cross country and downhill package including lodging All meals lessons and several evenings of entertainment ranges in Price from 1,303 to 2,294 francs about $165 to $290depending on Type of accommodation chosen. For More information on be Bonhomme and be Markstein As Well As other ski centers in the Vicinity Contact mme. Gentilhomme tourism Rural 3 place do la care 68000 Colmar France Tel. 89 239951. La Bresse is the highest 1,366 meters and most developed of the Winter sports resorts in this part of France. Its 37 Kilometres of downhill slopes Are serviced by 26 lifts including three chair lifts. One of the latter is a quadruple chair capable of transporting 2,300 skiers per hour. A one Day ski pass at la Bresse costs 68 francs about $8.75 a week s pass is 420 francs about $55.  Bresse is in the big time league with Cross country facilities too. Is extensive network of prepared tracks covers some 150 Kilometres Well marked for different Levels Green for beginners Blue for intermediates and red for advanced. For the uninitiated advanced Cross country trails require plenty of stamina As Well As a Mastery of technique. The Uphill and downhills Are very Steep definitely not for the casual sunday skier. Overnight accommodations arc in the town of la Bresse about 10 minutes from the slopes. A variety of reasonable package plans is available starting As Low As $95 per week. For More information Contact l office do tourism 21 Quai Des Iraneus 88250 la Bresse France Tel. 29 254129. Cer Ardmer is a year round resort on the shores of a Mountain Lake by the same name. About two Kilometres outside of town Aie downhill slopes of All categories with 13 ski lifts. The Cross country Center is about the same distance from town in another direction. Its 50 Kilometre network of trails meander through the Woods up and Down a Mountain Side. Cer Ardmer also has an ice skating rink indoor swimming Pool Casino As Well As a variety of hotels restaurants and several streets of shops. A ski week package Cross country or downhill including lodging All meals ski fees and lessons starts at 1,615 francs about $200. A double room with Bath in the hotel Reserve located just across the Street from the Lake costs about $35. The hotel has an excellent restaurant with a gourmet dinner everything from foie gras to an assortment of spectacular desserts for under $20. For More information on cer Ardmer Contact office de tourism bite Postale 5, 88401 cer Ardmer France. There Are Many other ski resorts in these mountains. Contact the French government travel office 47 Westen Strasse 6000 Frankfurt main Germany Tel. 069-740551, for a Complete listing. Cross country and downhill skiing Are available in Fiance s Alsace. I clubs continued from Page 7 agencies offer we Don t look bad at All. I think we re offering the same Price for the same accommodations. Of course you can get real cheap trips but those Are overnight coaches said Meissen. We Don t do overnight  the Cost for a ski trip can Range from less than 100 Marks about $35 for one Day trips within Germany to $200 and More. Prices depend on where the trip go its length and accommodations. Many clubs schedule trips in four Star hotels. The costs generally include breakfast and dinner. Lift passes which generally run $10 to $20 a Day Are extra. Meissen said there Are other advantages to Small ski clubs. The Large ones Are really some kind of business he said. The advantages of a Small club Are that it s not difficult to get a coach full and they All know each other. It s a Friendly  but the smaller clubs can get pushed around. The Darmstadt club has sued a hotel for cancelling a reservation because the hotel was offered a better Deal Meissen said. Unfortunately our conclusion has to be that you Don t have any possibilities for recourse he said. The hotel that cancelled offered Darmstadt an alternative but that alternative was for a two Day trip rather than the originally scheduled three Days. We looked around ourselves and found something else but that was More expensive he said. The Case went to court. In the end we actually lost Money because of Legal costs he said. And it Cost a lot of  an Savidge president of the graft Wohr Vilseck ski club lets a German travel Agency help out when she runs Short of people for trips. Her club scheduled a trip to Schnal Stal Italy but fewer than 20 people signed up. The travel agent combined the Grafe Wohr and Bamberg clubs onto one bus and the trip went As scheduled. As most ski club members know there Are ski towns there Are shopping towns and there Are party towns. Every trip like every club has its skiers and its interlopers. I put skiers in two categories said Ryan from Patch. One is the. Ticket punchers who go so they can say yes i skied in Europe the others go for the  Holbrook agreed. The Nurnberg club is going to Liechtenstein. The skiing won t be great but i m going. Let s face it How Many people have skied Liechtenstein an informal Survey showed most hard Core skiers prefer the less commercial places such As the Jungfrau Region in Switzerland South of Interlaken for pure skiing. Kleine Scheidegg was the place in the Jungfrau most often mentioned. Other favourites were lax Flims Switzerland three valleys France and Ober gurgle Austria. For shopping Saint Moritz Switzerland was hands Down Winner. It s Good skiing and it s also where All the High rollers go said Frank Gulla Patch ski club business manager. Zermatt and Davos Switzerland Chamonix France and kit Buehl Austria were also mentioned As shopper s delights. For the partners Verbier Switzerland kit Buehl and Sel am see Austria and Zermatt Switzerland were the big winners. T Ryan Hopes people Aren t intimidated from joining ski clubs because they think they can t keep up with the professional skiers. You hear people talking about skiing and it s lust like Fisherman talking. They Veall been on the Black most difficult runs and they ski 210s Long skies for advanced skiers. But a lot of it s talk. Once you see them on the slope that s the great equalizer he said. 8 stripes Magazine november 21,1945 m