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Trip report to Flims / Laax / Falera, 5-10 March 2015

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Here is a report from a trip to Flims on 5-10 March 2015 (a long weekend!)

In summary
An excellent long weekend destination. Our trip was made by near perfect snow and weather conditions so its hard to judge what its like when the weather isn't so kind. A real variety of long pistes to suit all tastes and abilities (unless you like moguls). Modern and efficient lift system. Polite efficient service everywhere and generally value for money. Cost was about £600 per person for flights/car hire/fuel/ski hire/lift pass/3*B&B hotel for 4 full days skiing as a diy.

The Group
Five chaps ageing from 35-55 with skiing abilities from intermediate to advanced intermediate.

Getting there
Ryanair from Stansted to Basel at 7:30 for a very reasonable £60 each rtn including a 15kg hold luggage. Car hire from Sixt on the Swiss side was pain free and came in at £250. A 2 hour drive along the flawless Swiss motorway network had arriving in Flims before 1pm.

Ski hire
We hired from Mountain Fantasy direct. The ski choice was good for GS style skis but a bit limited for all mountain. Service was excellent and we all opted for GS skis.

The Hotel
We booked into the Alpenhotel (Alpen...Switzerland...seriously?). Excellent hotel with really good service. Rooms were large, modern and comfortable. The hotel has a large sauna which helped the aching limbs every evening. Breakfast was a very good continental buffet - although there was no hot option.
The free ski-bus picked up and dropped off at the Post which was 100yds from the hotel and took less than 2 minutes to reach the gondola.
Flims is a curious town which grows on you the more you explore. Eating out varied from 15CHF (Central cafe) to 50CHF (Vorab Steakhouse) or the fantastic Brewery which came in at just under 50CHFper person including a good few beers! In the town and on the mountain we found prices more reasonable then we had expected.

Day 1 (Friday)
We had prebooked lift passes through the laax plus website and paid 235CHF for a 4 day pass (this is a discount of around 65CHF on the standard rate) and they were ready to collect on arrival. The weather was sunny but very windy and the Glacier & La Siala lifts were closed.
We headed on to the gondola (a queue of around 20 people at 9am in the morning) and then headed towards the pistes around Crap Masegn.
The on piste conditions were fantastic, no doubt helped by the snowfall earlier in the week, and after reading horror stories on some reviews about piste grooming in the area we were pleased to see that all pistes were groomed every day.
After a day exploring the lower runs we headed back to Flims on the picturesque Pistes 10/8/10. End of day beer in the tented bar under the chairlift.
Favourite piste - 46 - perfect for getting your rhythm.

Day 2
15min queue for first gondola but then very little in the way of queues - much busier on the slopes as the locals (from Zurich) invade. The wind had eased enough to open up all lifts and runs so we headed via a windy La Siala to the Vorab Glacier. The black run (Piste 35) to Lavadinas was in perfect condition and the bar at the bottom is a beautiful spot for refreshment. We then headed to Mutta Rodunda for a Bratwurst lunch (cooked on the outdoor barbecue) and then down the excellent Piste 65 to Laax. We returned to Flims via Pistes 18/10 with piste 10 starting to get a bit sticky at the bottom. End of day beer at the tented bar under the chairlift.
Favourite piste - 35 - Exhiliration from top to bottom in a beautiful setting.

Day 3
5 min queue for first gondola but surprisingly quiet on the mountain. Beautiful sunshine once again and without the wind at altitude. Headed for the glacier via Fuorcla and found piste 35 in perfect condition again. This increased bravery in the group and next it was on to the yellow freeride runs. Lunch of Bratwurst at Curnius and it was back to the freeride runs with some being attempted more successfully than others. Returned to Flims via Pistes 18/10 with both pistes starting to suffer in the heat. End of day beer at tented bar under the chairlift.
Favourite piste - 86 - A gentle mix of moguls and offpiste in a beautiful setting.

Day 4
The hotel allowed us to keep a room on until after skiing which made the day easier. Little wind, no cloud and very warm and it was straight on every lift with the pistes very quiet. Covered our favourite pistes with lunchtime sunbathing at Mutta Rodunda. Pistes above Plaun were keeping in good condition despite the warmth but we ended up taking the gondola back to Flims at the end of the days skiing followed by a beer in the tented bar.
Favourite piste - 40- A long and flowing red best served empty.

Journey Home
A hassle free drive to Basel and an overnight in a particularly grim F1 at Saint Louis (more hostel than hotel). Flight to Stansted arrived back on time.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Great to see this trip report as I'm off to Flims/Laax for a long weekend on the 19th.

How did the picking up of passes booked on Laax+ work? Did you just need a printout of your booking confirmation?
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
I printed out the confirmation but I just gave my name at the ticket office and they had the passes to hand - it sums up the efficiency and quality of service we found everywhere.
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