St. Moritz best intermediate skiing
Sep 27th, 2016, 12:44 AM
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St. Moritz Dorf is a small town, overbuilt with ugly apartment houses and hotels, lots of car traffic - but in beautiful setting on a hillside above the lake. The Corviglia funicular takes you right up into the Corviglia - Piz Nair skiing area. This is excellent for intermediate skiing. Most runs are marked red (intermediate for European standards), some are blue (for beginners), a few are black (for experts). It's almost exclusively chair lifts in this area.
The other part of St. Moritz, named "Bad" (meaning spa), is located down in the valley, consists of even uglier apartment blocks and some hotels. From there a cable car takes you up to Signal and right into the above mentioned skiing area. Buses link both St. Moritz Dorf and St. Moritz Bad.
The nice village Celerina, located in the valley about 3 miles from St. Moritz Dorf, also has excellent access to the same skiing area - by gondola, and an intermediate run goes back down to Celerina, too. Recommended for a stay.
Another large skiing area is Piz Corvatsch - Furtschellas, which is slightly more challenging but also with enough runs for intermediates - just not for beginners. It is not as sunny as Corviglia - Piz Nair, though. You can get there by cable car from Silvaplana-Surlej (apartments and a few hotels), another one from Sils. Please note that the (beautiful!) villages Silvaplana and Sils each are about 1-2 miles from the respective cable cars, but local buses run frequently, free with ski pass. (Just like public transportation is free in the whole Upper Engadine valley with ski pass.) Actually, I like this skiing area best, it is less busy, the ambience overall is more sportive than Corviglia (where it's glitzy and fancy in the huts/restaurants) and especially Sils is a charming village with excellent hotels. You'll encounter some skilifts here, though, not always the comfortable chair lifts and cable cars.
The smaller skiing areas Zuoz and Diavolezza/Lagalb are also option, but it takes a train or bus ride to get there. Zuoz has a rather small skiing area, two chair lifts and two skilifts, the runs are a bit more challenging.
Diavolezza/Lagalb offer the most spectacular panoramic views IMO, long intermediate runs, each one black run and Diavolezza even a ski tour across the glacier later in the season. Good for a day.
Pontresina is another charming village, but it has no skiing area worth mentioning. You always take the bus or train to one of the other areas. If you don't mind the bus ride, then it's a very good option to stay.
The other part of St. Moritz, named "Bad" (meaning spa), is located down in the valley, consists of even uglier apartment blocks and some hotels. From there a cable car takes you up to Signal and right into the above mentioned skiing area. Buses link both St. Moritz Dorf and St. Moritz Bad.
The nice village Celerina, located in the valley about 3 miles from St. Moritz Dorf, also has excellent access to the same skiing area - by gondola, and an intermediate run goes back down to Celerina, too. Recommended for a stay.
Another large skiing area is Piz Corvatsch - Furtschellas, which is slightly more challenging but also with enough runs for intermediates - just not for beginners. It is not as sunny as Corviglia - Piz Nair, though. You can get there by cable car from Silvaplana-Surlej (apartments and a few hotels), another one from Sils. Please note that the (beautiful!) villages Silvaplana and Sils each are about 1-2 miles from the respective cable cars, but local buses run frequently, free with ski pass. (Just like public transportation is free in the whole Upper Engadine valley with ski pass.) Actually, I like this skiing area best, it is less busy, the ambience overall is more sportive than Corviglia (where it's glitzy and fancy in the huts/restaurants) and especially Sils is a charming village with excellent hotels. You'll encounter some skilifts here, though, not always the comfortable chair lifts and cable cars.
The smaller skiing areas Zuoz and Diavolezza/Lagalb are also option, but it takes a train or bus ride to get there. Zuoz has a rather small skiing area, two chair lifts and two skilifts, the runs are a bit more challenging.
Diavolezza/Lagalb offer the most spectacular panoramic views IMO, long intermediate runs, each one black run and Diavolezza even a ski tour across the glacier later in the season. Good for a day.
Pontresina is another charming village, but it has no skiing area worth mentioning. You always take the bus or train to one of the other areas. If you don't mind the bus ride, then it's a very good option to stay.
Oct 17th, 2016, 06:20 AM
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Would like to ask for your advice and input on picking one Swiss and one non Swiss ski area to go to in late Jan or early Feb. and the logistics to minimize travel between the two. There will be one definite skier and one intermediate "maybe" skier who likes to go to the spa and shop. Also, what are your opinions on Courchevel, Chamonix and Zermatt with the above in mind? Am open to suggestions of other combinations, too. Thank you in advance.
Oct 17th, 2016, 09:21 AM
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See my reply to your other thread, too, please.
In case you'd go for St. Moritz, you could combine it with Livigno in Italy - also a very good resort, offers duty free shopping, btw, but not much in regards to spa - you'd have to pick a hotel with spa then.
Zermatt is a very good option. But it's remotely located, the transfer to the French resorts would take quite some time. And I'm not a fan of those French resorts. Les 3 Vallees (Courchevel and others) are at too high elevation for my taste, some even above timberline. Not exactly many cosy, romantic huts there (but that seems not to be your focus, I know). Very 'artificial' villages also.
Chamonix is simply at too low elevation, not snow reliable, and the skiing there isn't comparable to the others in question.
In case you'd go for St. Moritz, you could combine it with Livigno in Italy - also a very good resort, offers duty free shopping, btw, but not much in regards to spa - you'd have to pick a hotel with spa then.
Zermatt is a very good option. But it's remotely located, the transfer to the French resorts would take quite some time. And I'm not a fan of those French resorts. Les 3 Vallees (Courchevel and others) are at too high elevation for my taste, some even above timberline. Not exactly many cosy, romantic huts there (but that seems not to be your focus, I know). Very 'artificial' villages also.
Chamonix is simply at too low elevation, not snow reliable, and the skiing there isn't comparable to the others in question.
Oct 17th, 2016, 12:13 PM
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It's quite difficult to combine with a resort in a different country. They are too far away (Somewhere in the Dolomites/Italy or Austria would be great.) So, why not staying in Switzerland? Money doesn't seem to be an issue, it seems ;-)
Switzerland has a French speaking part also, the lower Valais and the Alpes Vaudoises e.g. - Verbier in the lower Valais (skiing: Les 4 Vallees) would be an option.
Frankly, not many resorts offer good shopping and spa AND large skiing areas for intermediates/experts. How many days do you plan to ski in these resorts anyway? I could name quite a few for 2 or 3 days (Leukerbad, with excellent spas for example), but the list for one week or longer is quite short ...
Switzerland has a French speaking part also, the lower Valais and the Alpes Vaudoises e.g. - Verbier in the lower Valais (skiing: Les 4 Vallees) would be an option.
Frankly, not many resorts offer good shopping and spa AND large skiing areas for intermediates/experts. How many days do you plan to ski in these resorts anyway? I could name quite a few for 2 or 3 days (Leukerbad, with excellent spas for example), but the list for one week or longer is quite short ...
Oct 17th, 2016, 03:14 PM
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Possibly 3 or 4 nights in each place. Thank you again for your help. Thinking Zermatt might be a good choice for a stop for us. What is your opinion of Gstaad? Can you get there from Zermatt by train?
Oct 18th, 2016, 12:12 AM
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Yes, you can easily get to Gstaad from Zermatt by train. 3 changes, 3-4 hours. It would be a nice change of scenery as the mountains around Gstaad are more gentle, lower, more wooded. It comes with less snow reliability, though. And it's better for beginners to intermediates, not experts. Please note that the skiing area Gstaad is split into several areas - access to the largest one is from neighbouring village Schönried.
With only 3 or 4 nights in each place you probably wouldn't get bored. Nor the shopper, either.
With only 3 or 4 nights in each place you probably wouldn't get bored. Nor the shopper, either.
Oct 18th, 2016, 11:54 PM
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It's a picturesque (old) town, with fancy hotels, restaurants, shopping. Skiing is very good - from beginners to experts, but note the relatively low elevation (800 m - 2000 m) so the snow conditions might not be best. The weather is unpredictable ...
Transfer from Zermatt is the problem. And endless trip. 9-10 hours, 3-4 changes
Transfer from Zermatt is the problem. And endless trip. 9-10 hours, 3-4 changes
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