If the closest your lips have been to ice is in a G&T, it's probably time you got off your bar stool...  Ice climbing is fast growing in popularity - there's even an ice wall in London's Covent Garden! - and Grand Hotel Kronenhof, Pontresina (www.kronenhof.com) is making it easy for you to get started by offering an ice-climbing package for beginners and families this winter.

Ice climbing dates to 1908 with the invention of crampons (toothed claws that fit onto the bottom of boots), which enabled climbers to gain traction on slippery ice, essential when rock climbers reached high altitudes and had to negotiate icy sections of the mountain peaks.  Today, however, it's a sport in its own right, with adrenaline junkies spending hours (or days) with their faces flat against the side of a glacier or frozen waterfall, living with the constant fear of falling into a crevasse, getting frostbite or being hit by an avalanche...

But don't let that put you off: the ice climbing classes in Pontresina takes place on a frozen waterfall in the heart of the village, where there's no chance of any of the aforementioned dangers!  Furthermore, a plethora of tools and protective gear mean that ice climbing can be safe and is accessible to almost everyone - though it helps to have a degree of cardiovascular fitness and a good strength-to-weight ratio.

Interested?  Grand Hotel Kronenhof's ice climbing trial course package includes three nights' accommodation, sumptuous breakfast buffet and half-board menu daily in the Grand Restaurant, an ice-climbing course at the mountaineering school in Pontresina, a personal training session in the Kronenhof Spa, a 20-minute relaxing Alpine Wild Herb Bath and a 50-minute Kronenhof herbal stamp massage (to help you recover from the ice-climbing experience!), as well as unlimited access to the Kronenhof Spa and a Fit & Fun sports programme that changes daily. The hotel is offering this exclusive package on the following dates only: from 12 to 15 January 2014, from 26 to 29 January 2014 and from 16 to 19 March 2014; the cost starts from CHF1060 (approx £720) per person sharing a double room.

However, the ice-climbing course for families is being offered from 12 January to 6 February 2014 and from 5 March to 5 April 2014, for two adults and two children.  The family ice-climbing package includes 3 nights' accommodation, sumptuous breakfast buffet and half-board menu daily in the Grand Restaurant, an ice-climbing course at the mountaineering school in Pontresina for the whole family, a 20-minute hydrojet massage bath for the parents, a 25-minute sports massage for the parents, a private horse-drawn coach ride to Val Roseg for the whole family, ice skating on the hotel's ice rink and unlimited access to the Kronenhof Spa as well as a Fit & Fun sports programme that changes daily.

The family ice-climbing package, which is for four people sharing two rooms, costs from CHF3490 (approx £2370).  For more details on both packages and to book, please visit the Grand Hotel Kronenhof website www.kronenhof.com.

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NOTES FOR EDITORS

Grand Hotel Kronenhof, located in Pontresina, six miles from St. Moritz, offers the best of both worlds: the chance to enjoy the glitz of St. Moritz, while staying in a peaceful mountain village. 

Grand Hotel Kronenhof has a rich and interesting history, having first opened its doors in the first half of the 19th century as a guesthouse. However, the main part of the current building, which is a registered historical landmark, was built at the very end of the 19th century in Neo-Baroque style. The latest addition, completed in November 2007 and costing CHF 35 million (approximately £24 million), consists of 28 new guest rooms and a stunning spa complex covering more than 2000 square metres.

The spa is certainly one of the hotel's highlights and has been named "the best Alpine spa" (according to Tyler Brule writing in the FT, November 2009). Facilities include a 20m indoor infinity pool with counter-current system, a flotation pool with underwater music, a wide range of saunas and steam rooms, a luxurious private suite for couples to enjoy wraps and massages together, and - for the perfect final touch - a crackling log fire in the relaxation room.

Gourmet cuisine is also a speciality at the Grand Hotel Kronenhof. Awarded the title of GaultMillau Hotel of the Year in 2009, it has five restaurants (the formal Grand Restaurant in an elegant Neo-Baroque vaulted room, Gourmet Restaurant Kronenstübli serving international cuisine with a local flair, the traditional bowling lanes where Swiss raclette is served, the informal Le Pavillon for light lunches and the kids' restaurant Rondelle).

Finally, Grand Hotel Kronenhof is renowned for its extensive children's activities and facilities (a kids' playroom and Rondelle, a restaurant just for younger members of the family).

Recent awards for the Grand Hotel Kronenhof include Best Hotel in Switzerland 2013 according to TripAdvisor®, a TripAdvisor® Certificate of Excellence for the third year running in 2013, the HolidayCheck Award 2010-2013 (most popular hotel in Switzerland, four years in a row) and a place in a list of the top ten best holiday hotels in Switzerland compiled by renowned Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung and in a list of the top ten most welcoming luxury hotels in the country put together by Switzerland Tourism.

Previous awards include first place in the Best Of Swiss Gastro (gourmet category), GaultMillau Hotel of the Year 2008, the 'Bilanz' hoteliers of the year.

Both the Kulm Hotel St. Moritz and its sister property Grand Hotel Kronenhof are owned by the Niarchos family.

For more information, please contact:
Sue Heady
Director, Heady Communications
T: 01608 651 692
E: sue@headycommunications.com