Skiing in Switzerland

The Swiss alps are filled with ski resorts and through the years I have visited quite many. I like to go to new ones rather than visiting old favorites. Here comes some short stories from big places I recently went to.

Arosa Lenzerheide

By beginning if April I visited Arosa and at the same time a spring heath wave had just hit Zürich. Who could have known that just less than three hours away the mountains could offer end of season skiing with premium Swiss quality?

This ski resort had been on my try out list for a long time and when I had a weekend in Switzerland I headed there to soak up the sun and do the last rides of the season. I hate freezing so the warm weather suited me perfectly. Most people had already parked their skis for the season but the whole system in both Arosa and Lenzerheide was open and it was a pleasure to have it more or less for myself. I had two skiing days and think I tried almost all slopes and of course the favorites more than once. And it is a big system.

Arosa side I liked more though. Snow was not that great in Lenzerheide and I did not found any rides that was “wow” I want to go again and again like I did in Arosa.

Flims – Laax

The freshest ski Swiss experience of mine was last weekends visit to Laax. I heard so much good about this place so was very happy when a friend of mine arranged a weekend there. Everyone wanted to join and after lunch when everyone had gathered I counted to 19 (!) persons. Sunday the weather was picture perfect the whole day and I think it was the very first time I skied at a glacier. Snow was perfect the whole time and if my legs would not have been that tired I would have maxed out until closing time also the last day.

Managed to cover almost the whole ski area. What I really enjoyed in Laax was the wide pistes and that in general other skiers were better than me so no one to be afraid of not having control over their equipment. I was staying in Laax village but had to take a bus to the cable car up to the mountain. First day we took it from Laax side and the que was more than an hour. I would recommend Flims because less people go to the top from there because two rides are needed so it did not took long at all to go up to the mountain.

Grindewald

In the pre-covid era I visited Grindewald and it was one of the best ski experiences I ever had. It was a huge place with very nice slopes, great snow and good after ski memories. And great pow for some offpist practice. I have to get back here once. Although I think it was four days we spent skiing here from opening to closing it was not a place to get tired of. To go for one day is absolutely not enough.

Flumseberg

Perfect for a day trip from Zürich is Flumseberg located. Just over two hours door to lift from my home in Kloten and I am ready to go down my first ride. Just before Christmas when almost everyone else were in thoughts of Christmas preparations I went here for one day skiing. Weather was great and I managed to try out most of the rides. Views was stunning. I had some great alpen macaroni – what else – during the lunch at a cute alp restaurant.

My skis needs service and the top runs were a little bit icy so I had to skip those rides. Next time. The ski resort was great and I will come back and can strongly recommend.

St Moritz

Two years ago I went to St Moritz, the famous and push ski resort in Switzerland for participate in Engadin skimarathon. Weather was all against me except for some hours which made my impression less tempting. The valley was absolutely gorgeous but the vibe was to luxury for me. It was smaller than I thought and I remember though two rides that I loved and was going again and again.

Engelberg

Engelberg is a top favorite among Swedish people and this place was filled with Swedes. I think I heard more Swedish than Switzerdeutch spoken during my visit. And I don’t need to go somewhere in Switzerland to meet Swedish people. If I want to ski with Swedes I go to Sälen, Vemdalen or Åre. It was a good place but not great I would say. During my visit it was very icy and that is never a favorite. I would say that the resort is medium sized. Not my favorite pick in Switzerland but I was happy to go there for a visit but for those who spend a week there I could recommend other better places to visit. One of the best things here was the nice restaurants and bars in the slopes. It’s a resort for enjoyment rather than excellent skiing I would say.

What though was a big plus at this place was the bars to stop at in the mountains. It was in general very good vibes so for social skiing its great. I did not stayed overnight so cannot say anything about the night life.

The list of places I want to visit for skiing in Switzerland does still include a lot of places. I think next up will be Andermatt and Crans Montana. Verbier I must visit once just because and Zermatt I only been to during summer. If you look into skiing in Switzerland and have already fixed dates it is better to pre-purchase the lift pass since they can sell out and prices also increase closer to the day. Another good idea if you don’t come by car is to look out for good Ski and Rail deals with SBB and some hotels offers skipass included in the price.

Hope this Swiss ski guide of places I been to was to some help to navigate in the Swiss alps.

/ Pernilla that enjoys skiing in the winter