Mountaineering Shops near Torino and Zurich

One of the difficulty when in Europe is finding outdoor/mountaineering/skiing shops wherever you are. The combined problems of language, a tendency for shops to be smaller (particularly in Italy), and make less use of the Internet, either as a sales or a marketing tool (again, particularly a problem in Italy) make it hard to find what you're looking for.

The following lists may help. I know the Torino area pretty well - Zurich is a work in progress. I'll update this as I go along. Please add a comment if you have any questions.

Torino

The best places to find lists of stores are the distributor lists on the web sites of the big clothing / equipment brands. The "La Sportiva" one is pretty good, as almost everyone in Italy stocks their boots:

http://www.lasportiva.com/Italiano/Contatti/Italia/Piemonte.htm

In particular, I'd recommend:

• In Torino:
• B-Side shop (http://www.bshopzone.com) - they are part of the B-side climbing/bouldering wall complex, and actually have pre-discounted prices for most stuff on their website! Cool!
• Orizzonti Verticali (http://www.orizzontiverticali.to.it)

• Near Torino:
• Alby Sport (http://www.albysport.com) - Near Susa, easy to get to from the motorway - run by an alpine guide.
• MOUNTAIN SICKS (this is not a typo) in Riverolo - see http://www.scuolamotti.it/Varie/Negozio01.html - frequented by the CAI 'Motti' Alpine School
  
• Ski-Alp (http://www.skialp.it) in Cuorgne' - partners with the SUCAI Scialpinismo (ski-mountaineering) course

As a rule, everywhere is shut on Sundays and Mondays (at least Monday morning). However, if you're actually in the mountain valleys, particularly in high season, this may not be the case - but don't count on it - and always ask for a discount!

Zurich

Three good places in and close to Zurich (in no particular order) are:

• Ruedi Bergsport (http://www.ruedi-bergsport.ch - click on the kontakt link)
• Eiselin Sport (http://www.eiselin-sport.ch - click on the ZURICH link on the home page). They also have an on-line catalogue, but the stock levels aren't always accurate
• Bächli Bergsport (http://www.baechli-bergsport.ch - the Zurich shop details are at: http://www.baechli-bergsport.ch/de/wir/filialen/filiale_oerlikon). They also have an on-line catalogue, but the same stock problems persist

They are all shut on Sundays and Mondays. Bächli has moved since I last went there (in 2004, before I lived here) but it used to have a fantastic collection of Mammut jackets.