Hello there! It’s a pleasure to connect with you.
From at Bespoke Snowsports, I’m looking out at the Alpin Express, watching the first hopefuls head up the mountain. Even now, the energy in Saas-Fee is unmistakable. It’s the energy of ambition.
I’m one of the coaches here at Bespoke Snowsports. For years, I’ve had the privilege of working with every kind of skier—from wide-eyed children taking their first-ever turns to elite athletes chasing their final hundredth of a second. But my true passion? It’s race training.
You’ve found this article because you’re not just looking to ski; you’re looking to win. You’re searching for training for ski races in Saas-Fee, and you’ve come to the right place.
You already know that ski racing is a sport of micro-details. It’s a game of inches, angles, and obsessive precision. What separates a good ski racer from a great one? It’s not just talent. It’s obsession. It’s resilience. And it is, undoubtedly, where and how you train.
Welcome to Saas-Fee, the “Pearl of the Alps.” This isn’t just a postcard-perfect village; it’s a high-performance laboratory for ski racers, and it’s my home.
And welcome to Bespoke Snowsports. We’re not your average ski school. We don’t do long lines or one-size-fits-all lessons. We are elite performance partners. We live here, we breathe this mountain air, and we have a single, focused mission: to build faster, smarter, and stronger ski racers.
This article is your key guide to training for ski races in Saas-Fee. I’m going to reveal why the world’s best choose this place as their training base, how you can (and should) train all year round, and what our fully personalized approach can bring to your sporting career.
Strap in. Your next season starts right now.
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Why Saas-Fee? The unrivaled advantage of the “pearl of the alps”
I’m often asked why Saas-Fee is so special. Why do national teams from Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and the USA flock here every single autumn? Why do World Cup legends make this their pre-season home?
It’s not just the stunning scenery—though being surrounded by thirteen 4,000-meter peaks certainly doesn’t hurt your motivation. The answer lies in a unique combination of geography, infrastructure, and atmosphere that you simply cannot find anywhere else.
The Allalin Glacier: Your 365-day training ground
This is our ultimate ace. The Allalin Glacier, soaring to over 3,500 meters (11,500 feet), is the heart of our operations. While other racers are lifting weights in a gym or running on grass, you are on snow.
This is what we mean by unique conditions of the season.
- Summer (July–September): When the rest of Europe’s resorts are closed, our glacier is in prime condition. The snow refreezes hard overnight, giving you several hours of perfect, responsive “hero snow” every single morning. This is when we do our most important work—high-volume drills, technical fundamentals, and building a solid base without the pressure of race season.
- Autumn (October–December): This is the electric pre-season. The glacier is in peak form. The air is crisp, the snow is hard and grippy, and the training lanes are world-class. This is when you test your new equipment, run full-length gate courses, and get your speed and intensity dialed in.
The glacier is serviced by a network of high-speed T-bar lifts, meaning you get almost zero rest time. It’s lap after lap, run after run. This high-volume, high-altitude environment builds not only your technique but also your physical endurance. You’re training your cardiovascular system just by being here.
Train alongside giants: the World Cup atmosphere
You want to know what it’s really like to train here in October?
You’ll be in the lift line next to Marco Odermatt. You’ll be inspecting a Slalom course on a lane right next to Mikaela Shiffrin. You will see, with your own eyes, the intensity, focus, and professionalism of the world’s best.
This isn’t an exaggeration; it’s a daily reality.
At Bespoke Snowsports, we don’t just put you near them. We put you on the same schedule. You’re waking up at the same time, uploading on the same lift, and training on the same quality of snow.
That podium atmosphere is infectious. It’s an unspoken standard of excellence. You can’t help but absorb it. You will push yourself harder. You will see what “professional” truly means. It’s a level of motivation and social proof that no other training camp in the world can offer.
The “athlete’s bubble”: a car-free village built for focus
When you arrive in Saas-Fee, you leave your car behind. The village is entirely car-free, and this creates what I call the “athlete’s bubble.”
This isn’t just a charming gimmick for tourists. For an athlete in training, it is a profound advantage.
- Focus: There are no loud streets, no traffic, no major distractions. The village is quiet, safe, and built for one purpose: mountain life.
- Health: The air quality is pristine. Your lungs will thank you, especially during your dryland conditioning sessions.
- Lifestyle: Everything is walkable. You walk to the lifts. You walk to the gym. You walk to the supermarket. It’s an active-recovery lifestyle that keeps your body moving and your mind clear.
This “campus” feel allows you to completely immerse yourself in your training. You eat, sleep, and breathe ski racing. This total focus is a critical component of success, and Saas-Fee’s unique environment provides it naturally.
The Bespoke Snowsports difference: training aimed at you

Now, let’s talk about us. You’ll see other camps and schools here. Many of them are excellent. But they often have a standard, fixed-week program. You’re one of 8, 10, or 12 athletes in a group, all running the same drills.
That is not the Bespoke Snowsports way. Our name is our promise.
We don’t believe in a “one-size-fits-all” approach because we’ve never met two racers who are exactly alike. Your strengths, your weaknesses, your goals, and your way of learning are unique. Your training plan should be, too.
This is our first and most important unique selling point: Our training is aimed at you, the individual athlete.
We’re not a “Conveyor Belt” camp
When you join us, the first thing we do is sit down and talk. Where are you in your career? What are your FIS point goals? What did your video from last season look like? What’s your biggest mental block?
From there, we build your program.
Maybe you need three straight days of GS drills focusing only on your transition. Done. Perhaps you need to run Slalom stubbies for two hours and then move to full gates. We’ll set it up. Maybe you need to skip gates entirely and work on all-mountain carving dynamics. We’ll take you there.
We specialize in private coaching and micro-groups (no more than 4-5 athletes of a similar level). This ensures you get constant, specific, and actionable feedback from your coach. You are not a number; you are our project.
Meet the coaches: a hand-picked team of elite mentors
This brings me to our second USP: our experienced coaches.
I am incredibly proud of the team we’ve built. We don’t hire seasonal instructors; we build careers with professional coaches.
Our team is composed of:
- Ex-racers: Men and women who have been in the start gate themselves. They know the feeling, the fear, and the tactics.
- National-level examiners: Coaches who train other instructors. Their technical understanding of skiing is second to none.
- Career performance specialists: Mentors who have dedicated their lives to the science of ski racing.
A Bespoke coach is not just a gate-setter. They are your video analyst, your tactical mentor, and your on-hill ski technician, all rolled into one. They understand biomechanics, equipment setup, and mental strategy. They are here to build a long-term relationship with you, to understand your skiing on a deep level, and to guide your entire development.
A holistic program: the 360° athlete
You don’t get faster just by skiing gates. The best racers are complete athletes. A huge part of our bespoke philosophy is building a holistic program that supports your on-snow efforts.
This is what we integrate into your personal training plan:
- Advanced video analysis: we record every day. But we don’t just watch it; we analyze it. We make side-by-side comparisons (with you or with a professional), drawing lines and pointing out the exact frame where a movement needs to be changed. You will receive immediate feedback on the track and an in-depth analysis session in the afternoon.
- Racer-specific physical conditioning: Your training doesn’t stop when the lifts close. Saas-Fee is a natural gym. We guide your dryland training, whether it’s agility drills on the sports pitch, balance work on the slackline, power sessions in the gym, or recovery hikes on the stunning mountain trails.
- Equipment & ski tuning clinics: On the glacier, your edges are your life. A racer is only as good as their equipment prep. Our coaches are tuning experts. We provide daily clinics, teaching you how to prep your skis for the specific, aggressive snow of the glacier. We’ll check your boot setup, your binding delta, and your edge bevels to make sure your gear is helping, not hurting.
- Mental fortitude & strategy: The race is won or lost in the 30 seconds before you kick out of the start gate. How do you handle pressure? How do you visualize a course? How do you adapt when conditions change? We integrate this mental preparation into our coaching, giving you the tools to build confidence, focus, and a winning mindset.
Your year-round training calendar in Saas-Fee
Success in this sport is not about a single “magic” training camp. It’s about a smart, consistent, year-round plan. This is how you can use Saas-Fee and Bespoke Snowsports as your performance base throughout the entire year, targeting the “year-round options” you’re looking for.
Summer (July–September): the foundation phase
- The focus: Technique, fundamentals, and high-volume mileage.
- The conditions: This is the glacier’s “secret season.” The mountain is quiet. You ski from 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM on perfectly groomed, hard-frozen snow. The afternoons are warm and sunny, perfect for dryland training.
- What we do: This is where we deconstruct your skiing. We run endless drills for GS and Slalom. We work on balance, stance, and angulation. We use stubby gates, brushes, and specialized drills to burn in new, correct movement patterns. There is zero pressure. It’s just you, your coach, and the snow. This is where you get the real advantage for the winter.
Autumn (October–December): the preparation phase
- The focus: Race simulation, intensity, and equipment testing.
- The conditions: This is pre-season prime time. The air is cold, the snow is hard and winter-like, and the energy is electric. The World Cup teams are everywhere, and the glacier is a buzzing hive of high-performance activity.
- What we do: Now we apply the technique from the summer. We set full-length, challenging GS and Slalom courses. We use timing. We simulate race-day scenarios. We test your new skis, boots, and plates to find the perfect setup. We focus on tactical line choice. Our goal is to get you faster, more consistent, and more confident than everyone else before your first race. You will leave Saas-Fee in December fully prepared to win.
Winter (January–April): the competition phase
- The focus: Maintenance, refinement, and tactical execution.
- The conditions: While the world’s attention shifts to the main ski resorts, Saas-Fee’s high-altitude domain (and the glacier) remains pristine and often less crowded. It’s the perfect, quiet base between your races.
- What we do: We call this “pit-stop” training. You’ve been racing. Maybe you’re struggling with a specific section of a GS course, or your Slalom timing is off. You fly to Saas-Fee and come to us for a 2-3 day intensive block. We don’t need to rebuild you; we just need to fix the problem. We’ll analyze your race video, set a specific course to target the issue, and get you dialed in. We are your home base for in-season refinement.
Spring (April – June): the development phase
- The focus: Free skiing, fundamentals, and innovation.
- The conditions: amazing spring “corn” snow, long sunny days, and a relaxed atmosphere. The glacier is still fully open, and you often have it all to yourself.
- What we do: This is the post-season analysis. We sit down and look at your results and videos from the entire season. What worked? What didn’t? We then build your plan for the upcoming summer. On-snow, this is a time for fun and creativity. We’ll work on all-mountain skiing, fundamental drills in soft snow, and even try some new techniques. It’s about building a solid foundation and, most importantly, rediscovering the pure joy of skiing that makes all the hard work worth it.
Who we train: Bespoke programs for every ambitious athlete
At Bespoke Snowsports, we are aimed at athletes of all ages. Our methodology is flexible and scales perfectly, whether you’re a young hopeful or a seasoned veteran.
U14 & U16: Building the Champion of tomorrow
- Our tone: for this group, we are mentors first. We create an environment that is inspiring, supportive, and, above all, safe.
- Our focus: this age is the most critical for technical development. We focus on building a rock-solid, all-mountain foundation. We don’t just create gate-runners; we create complete skiers.
- For parents: We know this is a huge commitment. Our communication is constant. We prioritize a healthy relationship with the sport, focusing on long-term athletic development, injury prevention, and building a positive, resilient mindset. Your child will learn the discipline of a professional in a positive and nurturing environment.
FIS athletes: finding your next 100th of a second
- Our objective: We are your professional colleagues. We are direct, technical, and results-oriented.
- Our focus: At the FIS level, everyone is a great skier. The difference is in the micro-details. We are your second set of eyes, relentlessly hunting for that extra hundredth of a second.
- Our method: The work is highly analytical. We deep-dive into video, break down tactical line choice, and optimize energy management from top to bottom. Our coaches have been there. We speak your language. We know the pressure of the FIS circuit. We will be your trusted, objective partner in the complex hunt for points.
Masters racers: your competitive edge is here
- Our objective: We are efficient, respectful, and health-focused.
- Our focus: You are passionate about the sport, but you also have a life and a career. You don’t have time to waste on inefficient training.
- Our method: We offer flexible, hyper-intensive training blocks. Come for a long weekend or a full week. We’ll get straight to work. We focus on efficiency of movement (to conserve energy), smart tactics (to out-think your competition), and injury prevention. We’ll get your equipment, technique, and mindset dialled in so you can stand in the start gate with total confidence.
A typical training day on the glacier
You want to know what you’re signing up for? This is what a high-intensity training day with Bespoke Snowsports looks like.
6:00 AM: Wake Up, Hydration & Nutrition
7:00 AM: Team Meeting & Dynamic Warm-up (at the Bespoke office or lift base)
7:45 AM: Upload on the Alpin Express & Metro Alpin
8:15 AM: Arrive on the glacier. Course inspection & free-ski warm-up laps
8:45 AM – 12:30 PM: Intensive Gate Training. This is 100% focus. We’ll run Slalom or GS, with constant feedback from your coach at the top, middle, and bottom of the course. On-hill video is used for immediate correction.
1:00 PM: Lunch (either on the mountain or back in the village) & Download
3:00 PM: Physical Conditioning Session. This could be agility ladders, balance exercises, a recovery trail run, or a session at the local gym.
4:30 PM: In-Depth Video Analysis. We sit down as a team, put the day’s footage on the big screen, and break down every single run.
6:00 PM: Ski Tuning & Equipment Prep. You’ll be in the ski room with your coach, learning to file your edges and wax your skis for tomorrow’s conditions.
7:30 PM: Team Dinner & Rest.
It’s a long, demanding, and incredibly rewarding day. You will do this day after day, building strength, skill, and confidence.
Your next season starts today
The podium is within your reach. But it’s not a dream. It’s a goal, and goals require a plan.
That plan requires the right environment, the right coaches, and the right kind of dedication.
Saas-Fee provides the most dominant training environment in the world—a high-altitude glacier with guaranteed snow, 365 days a year.
Bespoke Snowsports provides the rest.
We offer truly year-round ski race training options. We have the experienced coaches with elite, real-world backgrounds. And we have a philosophy aimed at you, the athlete, with a personal, flexible, and holistic program designed to unlock your unique potential.
Stop training like everyone else. Stop waiting for winter. The path to your personal best, to that next level, runs right through Saas-Fee.
Your next season starts now. Are you ready to commit?
Contact us at Bespoke Snowsports today. Let’s have a conversation. Let’s build your personal training plan and discover what you’re truly capable of.
On behalf of the whole Bespoke Snowsports team, I can’t wait to see you on the glacier.
