ChrisC
Well-known member
The drive over the Juliar Pass was slow and treacherous from Laax-Flims. There were squalls on and off the entire way, but I did glimpses of the spectacular terrain in the moonlight. The only disappointment came as I descended into St. Moritz, the snow turned into more of a sleet. Guess the snow levels spiked a bit to probably 300 ft above town. This was surprising since St. Moritz at 6000 ft is very high and deep within the Alps. (Laax at 3500 ft got a lot of rain that night and sent the avalanche risk soaring).
The next morning - the debate was whether to go to Corvasch or Diavolezza. Checking reports it looked like Corvatsch received more snow - about 12" - so the choice was made for me. I stayed in St. Moritz Bad at the Laudinella ($130/night for single) - quite reasonable for St Moritz. They had an amazing breakfast spread. And with the discount lift ticket program for St. Moritz - it's some of the cheapest major resort skiing in the Alps. When I actually bought a 3-day pass for roughly $150 USD, I had to remark to the receptionist that you cannot even get a 1/2 day ticket at most US large resorts for that amount.
Ski Day
I was blown away by the mountain and scenery - definitely one of Switzerland's best. Always considered St. Moritz was going to be a bit mediocre ski-wise due to its high end reputation, but that's not the case. Tony and James's reports convinced me of this.
Top Tram Powder. I did not take photos until after a few runs. Competition was low.
There were certain off piste areas I was interested in:
West Face or Northwest Couloir
I waited at the entrance and luckily some Swiss skiers let me tag along for my first run. I then went back to ski again.
Access from top tram:
Rocky Entrance
North Face
Did not ski. You need a guide and to rappel about 20 ft off the summit in order to reach it. I saw some skiers doing this, but I could not figure out what was going on until reading about the it later. Hard core. Home of the Freeride Competition.
It was such a beautiful day I took a break at a the attractive but basic hut/refugio Fuorcla Surlej. Beer and strudel. Temps were quite nice by now.
Time to ski back into St. Moritz:
The next morning - the debate was whether to go to Corvasch or Diavolezza. Checking reports it looked like Corvatsch received more snow - about 12" - so the choice was made for me. I stayed in St. Moritz Bad at the Laudinella ($130/night for single) - quite reasonable for St Moritz. They had an amazing breakfast spread. And with the discount lift ticket program for St. Moritz - it's some of the cheapest major resort skiing in the Alps. When I actually bought a 3-day pass for roughly $150 USD, I had to remark to the receptionist that you cannot even get a 1/2 day ticket at most US large resorts for that amount.
Ski Day
I was blown away by the mountain and scenery - definitely one of Switzerland's best. Always considered St. Moritz was going to be a bit mediocre ski-wise due to its high end reputation, but that's not the case. Tony and James's reports convinced me of this.
Top Tram Powder. I did not take photos until after a few runs. Competition was low.
There were certain off piste areas I was interested in:
West Face or Northwest Couloir
I waited at the entrance and luckily some Swiss skiers let me tag along for my first run. I then went back to ski again.
Access from top tram:
Rocky Entrance
North Face
Did not ski. You need a guide and to rappel about 20 ft off the summit in order to reach it. I saw some skiers doing this, but I could not figure out what was going on until reading about the it later. Hard core. Home of the Freeride Competition.
It was such a beautiful day I took a break at a the attractive but basic hut/refugio Fuorcla Surlej. Beer and strudel. Temps were quite nice by now.
Time to ski back into St. Moritz: