 Poster: A snowHead
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Left Davos yesterday for St Moritz after staying 5 night there.
Snow was awesome (same for Engelberg, Flims/Lass/Falera, Livigno and St Moritz). Found the buses and trains excellent for going around the 5 unlinked areas of Pischa, Parsenn, Jokobshorn, Rinerhorn and Madrisa. For example one can take the funicula and a cable car to the Pasenn top Weissfluhgipfel at 2844m and ski to Kublis at 810m. That is one run of 17km long and 2km vertical drop. Then take the train back back to Davos Drof through 10 stations! The transport is included in the ski pass.
We ran into the CNN crew while dining in a Thai restaurant and had to compete parking space with their special vehicle. Later their news showed the special vehicle go stuck in snow and had to be towed out. They took over most of the Thai restaurant.
CNN has been reporting very cold but good snow condition. It was -14 degree C when I left.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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saikee, let us know what it's like in St Moritz would love to have a rip around there one day. Cheers
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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?
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Gsyfreerider,
First day was foggy and snowing. Wife wasn't keen so I gave in and drove around to Savognin, which is about 25 miles from St Moritz. I managed to ski half day there but the upper half of the mounatin had no visibility. Making progress from one marker post to another was the only way to survive.
Savognin is a very small skiing resort but with a lot of skiers so the main run down the valley had some bald patches showing grass! That was ridiculus for Switzerland.
Just finished my second day in St Moritz. Best day for the trip so far. We skied only Corviglia so far but the facilities are among the best and so is the terrain. The snow condition is perfect too. The main run down the Celerina had adequate snow throughout. Very few queues. In the car park we notice Swiss cars were the overheleming majority. Non-Swiss cars can be counted by the fingers of the hands.
It may be my impression the runs in St moritz seem easy everywhere. That may be because the runs were well prepared so they were very smooth. I got the impression this resort is for expensive clients and the black runs are well laid out and not demanding, or they are pretty safe to ski on. The black run No 12 has an Olympic sign with years 1928+1948 indicated. Since it was called Olympia I suppose it might have been used for the Olympic events. That run is reasonably steep at the top section but the rest is similar to the rest of the Swiss resorts.
The St Moritz town has to be seen to be believed. The main street was lined with designer shops for jewellery, fashions, mink clothes and everything that is expensive so there must be some really rich clients there. The wife and I had a dinner there and the bill was 150 CHF but the setting and the service were really special. A light lunch at the mountain top restaurant was about 50 CHF for two of us.
I am doing a 3-week trip skiing a total of 8 restorts Engelberg, Malbun (in Lichenstein), Flims/Laax/Falera, Davos/Kloster, Lenzerheide, Livigno ( in Italy), Savognin and St. Moritz. I have to say St Moritz beats them all. St Moritz, Zermatt, Lech and Ischgl belong to a special group of skiing resorts which a skier should try before putting forward a favourite.
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saikee, I've been to Lech a few times and love it and have local friends who live there. For me it is nothing to do with the 'glamour' tag of the resorts 'cos I don't have any money, but I think a lot of people go to these places and skiing isn't their priority so when it comes to powder days/bad weather or skiing off piste in general you just jump in and enjoy the goods without fighting for lines. I think that is the case with Lech, definetly found it with Iscghl. Engelberg is a different type of resort but amazing for freeriding and I would love to go back there. I have also stayed in B and B's in Lech which are better than 4 star hotels in other resorts so you don't have to break the bank when you go to these places. Be interesting to hear your verdict on the off piste and type of terrain in St Moritz if that is your thing, have a great trip!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Gsyfreerider,
With the wife tagging along I don't do much off piste. The 17km run from top of Parsenn (in Davos) to Kublis took a lot out of her because the last one-third was off piste as there was no lift back. We just skied to a train station.
St Moritz has a famous off piste area called Diavolezza with a 10km run over the glacier. I am afraid that is off my limit. The wife and I can survive on any piste as long as it is groomed and leave the off piste for others to enjoy. That is something we have to accept at the age of 60.
The whole of the mountain system in Corviglia has been smoothly groomed and so off piste is limited, although there were track marks showing some experts have skied off piste directly off the top of Piz Nair.
The third unlinked area of St Moritz is Corvatch which we intend to do tomorrow. I have drove around that area and the piste map show a better terrian for off piste. I suppose for off piste the famous place to go in Switzerland is Verbier.
My conclusion of the so-called expensive resorts are they have relatively less piste users competing for the same slope thus the piste condition is generally better. The infrastructure is better attended. Otherwise snow is snow and a piste is just a piste to me.
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This may be of interest to anyone out there: "During the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, 28th January - 1st February 2009, an unauthorised demonstration has been planned to to take place in Geneva on 1st February. For the safety of you and your clients, it is recommended that you avoid Geneva city centre and use the motorway to access Geneva Airport at all times from Friday 30th January until Monday 2nd February, inclusive. The Geneva Police thank you for your cooperation in this matter and wish you safe journies."
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| saikee wrote: |
My conclusion of the so-called expensive resorts are they have relatively less piste users competing for the same slope thus the piste condition is generally better. The infrastructure is better attended. Otherwise snow is snow and a piste is just a piste to me. |
Snow is often better in Davos than St Moritz. Does not often apply the other way round.
Ski club rep told the story of people( he did not say members) who rose late and had all the latest designer gear and skis. They went up the mountain and headed straight for lunch. After dining well, they were too tired to ski. They headed back, after phoning the hotel to ask them to send a man to carry their skis down.
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Latchigo,
My impression of Davos and St Moritz is piste users are not very enthusiastic going to the slope early. Many of them do head for the restaurant from the first lift (possibly for breakfast). These places are ideal for skiers who don't like queues.
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