Switzerland's Top Skiing Destinations
Andermatt
Andermatt is one of those ski resorts where the village, river and
tea-rooms lull you into a sense of well-being, only to have it shattered by a
mountain to test the mettle of the toughest skier both on and off-piste. The
Gemmstock is a big, steep and uncompromising slab of rock: an awe-inspiring
place to ski. The cable car half-way stage provides access to some of the
limited intermediate slopes, but there are less than a dozen lifts and these
include the satellite resorts of Hospental and Realp. For off-piste skiers,
Andermatt provides some of the best terrain in Switzerland. There are classic
off-piste itineraries, preferably skied with a guide, from the summit. The most
reliable method of reaching Andermatt is by motor-rail.
Crans Montana
Switzerland's largest ski area - perched above the Rhone Valley between
the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc - has much exhilarating, picturesque, largely
intermediate skiing on long, wide-open cruising slopes. The resort's lift system
was upgraded for the 1987 world championships, and allows skiers to cruise for
hours along 100 miles of groomed runs with few queue delays. There are three ski
areas: Les Violettes has most of the high, open slopes; the glacier at Plaine
Morte (9,840ft) has magnificent cross-country skiing and scenery (it is also
used for summer skiing and as a starting point for ski tours), and Cry d'Err-Bella
Lui and Aminona-Petit Bonvin have an assortment of slopes above and below the
tree line. The resort's one official black run is above La Toula. Crans is
newer, smarter and more expensive with the inevitable luxury boutiques. Montana
is older and more rustic.
Davos / Klosters
Davos is like a gentle giant (or perhaps something of an ugly duckling
compared with its genteel smaller cousin) that puts up with the international
notoriety of Klosters. Klosters depends on Davos for its skiing clout, though
the notorious Gotschna Wang run is in Klosters terrain, with other spectacular
runs such as Drostobel, a challenging black run which like the "Wang"
links the Davos slopes with Klosters. Davos, with its superb Parsenn area, has
by far the most significant terrain. As Europe's highest ski town it has little
of Switzerland's alpine charm, but the Parsenn-Weissfluh section - the size of
Manhattan with long runs all the way down to Kublis, 9 miles away - is the envy
of Europe. Jakobshorn and Rinerhorn have their own ski areas and provide good
intermediate slopes plus challenging runs and good off-piste, while Madrisa
offers sunny, easy skiing, and a ski touring route for excursions across the
Austrian border to Gargellen.
Flims / Laax
This is an unfamiliar part of Switzerland to most British skiers, and
deserves wider recognition. The combined ski area of Flims and Laax is greater
than the sum of its parts and is jointly marketed as the White Arena. The two
ski areas - traditional rivals - are knitted together by La Siala, but the most
popular link is at the bottom of a steep valley at Plaun. It is a sunny spot for
lunch and a good cross-over point for better skiers. Higher up at Crap Sogn Gion,
less experienced skiers will find a crossroads of blue runs. With almost 135
miles of pistes, it is a large area of mainly intermediate skiing much of it
above the tree line, where in good weather the skiing can be superb. In cold
weather the slopes are very exposed, but skiers can always escape to the long
runs through the trees lower down. On the Flims side there is tougher skiing in
a huge open bowl from the top of the Cassons cable-car (8,775ft) which in powder
is outstanding. In Laax, experts will enjoy the long black Sattel run from Vorab
(9,840ft) and two long black runs from Crap Sogn Gion, Muladera and Fatschas.
Bill Kidd is a gem for intermediates. It is only a blue, but hugely enjoyable.
And the run from Vorab to Flims is almost 10 miles long.
Grindelwald / Wengen
Magnificent scenery more than compensates for bland skiing in this
idyllic area of the Bernese Oberland that has long been a favourite with the
British.
Soon after the first world war - long before the first ski-lifts - they used the
arrival of the mountain railway to provide a ride up the mountain to aid their
madcap skiing antics. Here the spectacular trio of the Eiger, Mönch (Monk) and
Jungfrau (the maiden, guarded from the fearsome ogre by the monk as The Good
Skiing Guide puts it) plus the impressive Finsteraarhorn and Wetterhorn are so
close that they dominate the sky-line. The ski area's focal point is Kleine
Scheidegg, a plateau mid-way between Grindelwald and Wengen. The skiing is
extensive and good intermediate standard, with little to test the expert except
occasionally good powder skiing. There is some of the best helicopter skiing in
the world close by, and excellent off-piste terrain can be reached on skins via
the Aletsch Glacier.
Saas-Fee
Saas means meadow and Fee was once claimed to mean
"fairylike". Once labelled "the most abominable wild region of
Switzerland", this very remoteness now attracts visitors to the
"glacier village". In 1849 the parish priest skied on wooden boards to
Saas-Grund to care for a dying man. They were the first ski tracks in
Switzerland. Not until the road was built in 1951 - replacing travel by mule did
it become a serious ski area. The main reason for Zermatt's popularity is the
Matterhorn; Saas-Fee has the Dom, the highest mountain in Switzerland. The
resort's glaciers give it a unique appeal. The terrain is riddled with cavities:
yawning crevasses and smaller, more rounded holes where marmots live. Marmots
hibernate, but the Fee glacier never sleeps, moving relentlessly more than 8
inches a day. The resort has superimposed an extensive ski area on the marauding
ice.
St Moritz / Pontresina
St Moritz - where the British invented winter sports is an institution
that should be experienced in all its facets: a drink at the Palace, tea at the
venerable (but not so glitzy) Kulm, with its glasscabinets packed with Cresta
trophies, lunch at the Marmite restaurant (specialising in truffles and caviar)
at Corviglia - and then a hasty call to your bank manager to see whether you can
still afford a lift ticket. St Moritz is expensive, but no more so than any big
Swiss resort. The skiing is scattered among three basic areas: Corviglia
(easiest slopes, easiest to get to from the town centre); Corvatsch (bigger,
tougher better ski area, but a car or bus ride away with serious queuing at base
area); and Pontresina (magnificent scenery, but can be bleak and windswept).
Verbier
Verbier is one of the world's greatest ski resorts, and this winter the
area's one flaw the lift queues that spring partly from popularity, partly from
antiquity of one or two chief lifts - will be thinned out (though not
eradicated) by the opening of the new "junbo" gondolas. Another way to
enjoy Verbier without queues is to ski in the spring, when conditions are almost
always superb but the crowds have vanished. Even without roaming around the
area's "Four Valleys" taking in Nendaz, Veysonnaz, La Tzoumas and
Thyon (250 miles of skiing with almost 100 lifts), there is a wealth of skiing
in Verbier itself. The strong skier will relish Verbier's terrain. The variety
of challenges are almost endless: Tortin, with its tricky traverse followed by a
face steep enough to give even experts a good workout, the glorious plunging
powder fields of Col des Mouches further round from Tortin, the Gentianes bump
run, one of the toughest in the Alps, ditto Mont-Font (steeper but not as long).
Verbier is also renowned for its glorious off-piste.
Villars / Diablerets
There are many skiers living in Montreux, Lausanne and other places
along the north shore of Lake Geneva (or Lac Leman as it is known by the locals)
but apart from some small ski areas such as the Rochers de Naye and Jaman there
are no big resorts until one reaches the far eastern corner of the lake where
the Dents du Midi form such a spectacular backdrop. Bretaye (5,900ft) reached by
the Eisenbahn Railway, is the hub of the ski area, with slopes on three flanks:
Roc d'Orsay (also reached by gondola from the village), Grand Chamossaire
(6,940ft) and Petit Chamossaire (both with excellent off-piste opportunities) on
one side; Les Chaux and Crois des Chaux (6,620ft) opposite; and the Chaux de
Conches chair below Isenau, the link with Diablerets, to the north.
Zermatt
With good snow and a blue sky, Zermatt is
one of the world's most magnificent ski resorts. In bad weather, when the
Matterhorn's glories are hidden in cloud, it can also be one of the bleakest.
But the resort has so many mountain huts and restaurants that even the bad days
usually turn out good and the town itself has plenty to offer skiers returning
early from the slopes. Zermatt - particularly the Sunegga, Rothorn/ Gornergrat
area - has a lot of sunshine. However, it is nearly always cold on the Theodul
Glacier (Zermatt's summer skiing area) and the run down to Cervinia from here or
via the spectacular Klein Matterhorn cable-car for a plate of spaghetti across
the Italian border can be a chilly and windswept experience. The Matterhorn
dominates the resort and its legends, but it is only one of many important peaks
in the area. You can gaze out across the Gornergletscher on a row of dramatic
summits including Monte Rosa, the highest. It is best to ski only one of
Zermatt's three principal ski areas each day or valuable skiing time will be
lost in transit. The Good Skiing Guide sums up Zermatt's skiing: "Good for
experts, excellent for intermediates and ghastly for beginners." That is a
harsh judgment of Zermatt's nursery slopes. but certainly the stronger the
skier, the more Zermatt has to offer. There is usually an easy alternative to
the tougher runs. Skiers looking for the most difficult way down will relish
runs such as National and Triftji, whether mogulled or mantled with fresh
powder. The town is car-free, with electric carts or horsedrawn sleighs. Smart
hotels, cosy tea-rooms and nightclubs abound.
