New to Geneva and bored ? Join the International Ski Club !
New to Geneva and bored ? Join the International Ski Club !
After some time spent in Geneva, I am used to hear the same old tune, going like "there is nothing to do around here...", "I am so bored". Well, I am committed to give you some tips so you don't spend your weekends alone: for example, what about joining the International Ski Club de Genève ? and you don't have to be a skier for that. This is where I started to socialize when I first arrived. Let me tell you how.
Ski Club: skiing & snowshoeing, but also hiking, rafting, via ferrata
The International Ski Club is a nice place to start because it is a solid group of people, with core members, and hundreds of others coming and going. And in my view that is the best kind of group to broaden your social circle. The core members make and maintain a warm atmosphere, while the new joiners bring new blood and their own energy. Many members work for international organizations, but not all of them. Usually, people interacts around why they came to Geneva, and there is always something to discuss.
The Ski Club International Geneva (SCIG) offers two main activities according to the seasons. There is a downhill ski in winter, and hikes during the summer. However, parallel activities take place alongside the most popular ones: snowshoeing, cross country skiing and ski touring in winter; and via ferrata, rafting, kayaking and caving during the summer.
So there has to be something you can do. If you cannot find an activity of your liking, join their gym classes or the happy hours they sometimes organize. If you cannot make it even then, then your problem of getting bored is all on you.
SCIG Geneva: how much it costs ?
Here I am going to give information about the activities I did.
For skiing, there is great flexibility in the Ski Club International Genève, because you basically pay based on a "menu":
-bus from Place des Nations to the ski resort (30 CHF)
-ski classes in group (40 CHF for 4 hours)
-ski pass or "forfait de ski" (from ~25 CHF to ~45 CHF depending on the ski resort)
Globally it is about 100 CHF for one day of skiing, if you take the classes. Some people travel on their own and take the class, others just want the bus, etc. And the club goes to a different resort ("station de ski") every weekend. There are ski outings from early January to end of March.
For hikes, it depends but most of the time, you will pay for carpooling fees and a small fee. All goes to the club.
For activities like rafting, of course there is, in addition to the carpooling, money to be paid to the company organizing the outing.
Ski Club International de Genève: how to register ?
Basically you can do everything online now.
Registering as a member: 50 CHF for annual membership - you pay member price and register for crowded ski outings in priority
You want to go skiing somewhere ? you can also register online, from Monday to Thursday before the following Sat/Sun outing, and print your proof of payment. The SCIG used to take registrations at the Varembe swimming pool on Thursday evenings, but that was not convenient for all, especially for international civil servants who travel often.
Now you know everything, try before saying you get bored in Geneva ;-)
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