Salecina
a unique center for educational purposes and recreation

Salecina Foundation
A Center for Vacations and Learning
P.O. box 107
Orden dent
CH-7516 Maloja
phone: 0041.81.824 32 39, fax: 0041.81.824 35 75
email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.salecina.ch

Location

Salecina is located in the famous Upper Engadin (St. Moritz) at the Maloja pass, 1,800 meters high and close to the border to Italy and the Valley of Bregaglia. The original farm building was gently renovated in 1972 and transformed into a guest house with 56 beds.

Salecina is surrounded by air, sun, meadows, and a magnificent starry sky at night. There are no neighbors to be disturbed by the celebrations and festivities of our guests.

Salecina has no automobile traffic and it enjoys a quiet and tranquil landscape – but it's not utterly remote - with regular public transport by bus or train for doing all kinds of excursions. Please inquire for a quick shuttle service to our location from and to the Post office bus station in Maloja. You may also decide to have your luggage use the shuttle from the village and take a walk yourself, over to Salecina in about 15 minutes through lovely hilly pastures or, alternavely, on a quiet road. You may also drive over to Salecina in on your car for loading and unloading. For parking your car, you will find a parking area in about 500m from the house.

Season

Salecina is a house for all seasons and opens all year round, with the exception of about three weeks in May and in November. Please inquire for special group rates and openings off-season: most likely your group can make reservations in January, from April till mid-July, and from September to December.

Salecina
a house for self-organized vacations

Up to 2,000 children and adults from many nations and cultures come to Salecina every year. There are no hired janitorial and cooking personnel in Salecina, it is the guests themselves who give each other a treat by what we call "mutal self-servicing". Everyone volunteers to their liking to take turns e.g. with cooking, laying the table, washing the dishes, cleaning, chopping wood if you like etc. Working together is also an invitation to get to know each other easily, enjoying tasty meals around large tables, having stimulating conversations in the lovely sunshine outside or next to the inside fireplace.

Having dinner together is one of the highlights of our Salecina days. A volunteer group of guests will have prepared the meal for you, respecting regional traditions and seasonal rhythms. The planning of the weekly menu is done by interested guests on Sunday evenings.

After dinner, all guests join for coordinating the next day, volunteering for the mutual self-services, maybe making appointments for a hike, exchanging views and news, whatever comes up and is to your liking, maybe you feel like retreating to the cosy library for the remaining hours of your day (books in English available).

The Salecina team is in charge of your reservations and the kiosk, and takes over the hourse's general administration tasks, e.g. the shopping for the menu. Prices are worked out in accordance with your budget, please refer to the price list.

Salecina offers half board. The price includes a morning breakfast and a hot evening meal. Free lunch depending on availability of leftovers from dinner. Groups can make arrangements for lunch. Picnic baskets can also be made. There is a self-service kitchen. Coffee and tea from natural food sources are free for our guests. The house also has a stand that sells sweets, drinks, maps, books, and much more. The taxes are included in the price.

Salecina
the spirit of community in the mountains

Salecina is a place of uncomplicated living together, of meetings and encounters in an open atmosphere. it's difficult to describe but easy to experience!

More than twenty international meetings, conferences, courses, and seminars every year have been held in Salecina for decades. Salecina facilitators are glad to help organizers plan and carry out their intentions.

Salecina's ecological performance has been recognized by the Swiss environmental group "Verein Ö+" (öko plus) since 1998. Salecina has been certified with four mountain goat symbols (from a maximum of five).

Space

One multi-purpose hall of 50 square meters; the hall can be darkened for media performances. Two leisure rooms; one with fireplace. One comfortable reading room with a comprehensive library. One quiet room, and one playroom for children.

The recreational meadow offers table tennis, a ball court, a campfire, tables and chairs, and a meadow for sunbathing.

Equipment

Video recorder (PAL) video library, DVD player, transparency projector, slide projector, flipchart, music facility for CD and cassette tape. Piano, guitar, bongos. Games.

Sleeping Accommodations

There is a separate, very quiet, dormitory for sleeping. This house can accommodate 56 people. It is divided into 11 rooms of 3 sizes: 2 for 2 person, 7 for 4 person, 2 for 12 person. We provide sheets, pillows, duves, and additional woollen blankets. Please bring your own towels.

Climate

The mountain spring in Salecina begins in May with white crocus flower meadows around the building. It is already early summer in Bregaglia the lower valley towards Italy. Hiking is possible there from April onwards. The hiking season in the Upper Engadin begins in June. High country tours may start in July. September and October present a colorful autumn in the forests of chestnut and larch trees. In the Upper Engadin, winter usually begins around mid November. There is usually snow in Salecina from the end of November until the beginning of May.

Summer and Winter Sport and Recreation around Salecina

Summer

Hiking
Fifteen minutes, one hour, or more? The choices and combinations are unlimited in Oberengadin and in Bergell. Water flows off the Lunghin Pass in Bergell in three different directions: to the Adriatic Sea, to the Black Sea, and to the North Sea. There are five different instructional/practice trails that enable all levels of hikers to find relaxation or challenges.

Climbing
Rock climbing terraces in Maloja and in Plaun da Lej give visitors a chance to get acquainted with this sport. Those ready to reach for the sky can head for the world-famous climbing areas (a stone's throw from Salecina).

Fans of the high country are delighted to find many 3,000 meter mountain peaks right in front of the door.

Winter

Crosscountry skiing
A crosscountry ski trail goes right by our house. This "Langlaufloipe" is more than 100 km long. It leads to Maloja, then heads down to Unterengadin by way of the Engadin Ski Marathon Trail and countless variations. Ask for our program.

Ski touring and snowshoe hiking
You can strap on your skis or snowshoes right at Salecina and let your imagination take over – depending on the weather, of course, as any safe outdoor sportsperson knows. We have ski touring weeks in our program.

Downhill ski and snowboard slopes
The pony lift is just a snowball's throw away. It's ideal for beginners and children. For advanced skiers we recommend the Aela Lift in Maloja, or just take the bus to the ski areas of Furtschella, Corvatsch, Corviglia, or Diavolezza/Lagalb.

Ice-skating
Maloja has frozen black lakes and a skating rink of natural ice.

Other Activities

Library. If you just want to relax, to have a quiet day, or refresh your spirit, then the library in Salecina has a comfortable reading room and many books about the area. Other libraries are in Maloja, Sils, St. Moritz, and Chiavenna.

Museums. In Maloja, people can visit the atelier of the painter Giovanni Segantini, as well as the Belvedere Tower, and the Museum in Nature with its glacier mills. The Valley of Bregaglia has the Ciäsa Granda and the Castelmur. You can visit the atelier of Alberto Giacometti in Borgonovo and also his grave in Stampa. The Nietzsche House is located in Sils Maria. St. Moritz has the Segantini Museum, the Engadin Museum, and the Milli Weber House and the Museum Alpin is in Pontresina. In Chiavenna there are the Palazzo Vertemate, and the Giardino Botanico. You can reach them all by bus.

Indoor Swimming Pools and Sauna: Sils, St. Moritz, Pontresina.
Adventure Pool: Scuol
Mineral Springs: St. Moritz