So from
unpretentious “local hill” skiing in Grenoble to arguably the most pretentious
ski area in the world. When I got St. Moritz, I got a call from James, who was
standing in for the injured Mike, to say that he had emergency dental surgery that
day, so I would have to explore this resort on my own. I quickly realized that
luxury SUVs, designer ski suits and clothes are the norm here. When skiing in St. Moritz, one can’t
help but be taken aback by the natural beauty that surrounds you. The town itself is idyllic, on the
shores of a frozen lake. St.
Moritz is high so there are two things that I noticed: it’s cold ( a lot more
so than other resorts in the alps) and it almost all above the tree line. This translated into some of the best ski
conditions I have experienced anywhere. Unlike, Chamrousse near Grenoble, the
pistes were in pristine condition. It is almost all bowl skiing on red and blue
runs, blacks seemed to black in name only. If you love to carve down hard packed powder then St. Moritz
is bliss. There are some off
piste opportunities too (within the ski area). I didn’t do any because my small
skis quickly sunk far into the powder.
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| St. Moritz from 3300m |
There
are 3 ski areas covered on the Egmond St. Moritz pass. The main area just above St. Moritz is
called Corviglia with 33 runs. There are stunning views of the lake and some
excellent long red runs.
Further down the valley on the opposite side is Corvatsch with 21 runs you must take
bus #6 to get to the cable car from St. Moritz. The highest cable car goes to 3300m and from here you ski
down a glacier. I had a lot of fun
on a red run to the far cable car station as well as the “black” run back to
St. Moritz Bad. This black run
takes you to the Signalbahn cable car so two of the three areas are
interlinked, well sort of – in one direction at least. The third area, Diavolezza is
small and out of the way. I was told, “It is not worth your time”. So I didn’t go.
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| The slopes are still pristine at noon! |
For four days
skiing it cost me €144, which isn’t too bad considering it is the most
expensive resort. One thing about
the resort is that you must pay to park your car at the bottom of the lift, on
the plus side there is an extensive shuttle bus system. This works out well because it prevents
the town becoming a mini-Monza like Cortina was. However some of the shuttle buses run every half hour so try
to get to the stop around the scheduled time to avoid long waits.
St. Moritz is
not your typical European resort.
For starters there were very few families and very few Brits; it was an
older crowd. I hardly heard
English being spoken, it was mostly German, Italian, Russian and lord knows
what else. The standard of
skiing was very good, I don’t think I saw many beginners and most people were
of course wearing designer Descente or Spyder over-the-top some times fur
trimmed ski wear. At one T-bar the
liftie said to me in an Italian accent, “Do you speak English?” “I can tell because Americans
Canadians and British are the only ones who wear jackets that are one colour
(plain). It’s better like that I
think than the fancy jackets.” I
couldn’t argue with him there. I
got some good use of that jacket, it is 7 years old and I wear it skiing, my
rain coat in town and my general jacket on canoe trips and it was still getting
compliments (sort of) at St. Moritz of all places!
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| My 7 year old MEC shell on the top of Corvatch 3300m |
I used my go pro
quite a bit on my favourite runs so some people could vicariously experience
the trip. I went to do
the 1948 Downhill course, but disappointingly, it is no longer in use and
permanently closed. So I did the
black run beside it instead and recorded it. St. Moritz was a good choice of
venue to host the first full slate of Alpine events at the Olympics in 1948
(Garmisch only had Combined).
However, compared to modern day downhill courses (Val D’Isere comes to
mind) the slopes here are quite forgiving.
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| That's not how I roll. |
Skiing Silver
So… my totally
arbitrary rating. In Mike’s books this would definitely be gold. I had two excellent days of skiing with
no lift-lines, in superb sunny conditions, the third day I was suffering the
effects of food poisoning – either from a dodgy cordon bleu made of mystery
pork or chicken or a hillside pound saver lunch of dried sausage meat (I
couldn’t spend 20 EUR on a burger and a drink and by hillside I mean in on the
chairlift –15C weather isn’t conducive to a beside the piste lunch like
Cortina). The drawback is the
variety, it is all bowl skiing, with no mogul runs, glades or forest runs. The lift system near the town is good
but the areas further from town (Corvatch and Diavolezza) have a large amount
of surface lifts, and for some reason the Cable Car to 3300m at Corvatch was
closed before 1430. For the
rating, I am going to have to go with Silver. In some ways it was similar
skiing to Cortina, but the conditions were much better. It is a large area but
a gold area would keep me captivated for a week, I am not sure St. Moritz could
do this, but I am definitely impressed.
Apres ski Silver
St.
Moritz is truly a winter playground for the rich no mega rich. On Friday there was a constant stream
of private jets taking off and landing at the nearby airport. Unlike most other
winter resorts where skiing is the
thing to do, at St. Moritz skiing is one
of the many things to do. This leads to relatively empty slopes but a variety
of things to see if you don’t feel like skiing - most cost a lot of money or
membership of some exclusive club but some don’t. The lake, which apparently is frozen for 5 months of the
year, lends itself to lots of these activities. I saw lots of people cross country skiing on it, there was a
10 rink 5 on 5 ice hockey tournament, pleasure skating and uniquely outdoor
curling.
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| St. Moritz Dorf |
The
numerous horses going through town
and BMW 7 series driving around town (not that it is that abnormal there) with
various “VIPS” indicated that
“World Winter Polo Championships” were being played. Apparently this
championship is contested by luxury brands and not countries, I saw Ralph
Lauren lose to Cartier. I don’t know a thing about polo, but it was quite
decadent sitting in the grand stand drinking gluwein and watching horses and
riders chase a giant orange ball with the seemingly arbitrary penalty thrown in
for good measure. I must admit it
was quite exciting to watch and at times quite fast and furious, unlike the
other major event going on in town at the time.
This year St.
Moritz, the home (or Wimbledon if you will) of bobsled and it was also hosting
the World Bobsled Championships.
The track starts just outside the town centre and winds its way through
the outskirts. It is the original
bobsled run and is entirely natural; no concrete or refrigeration. According to Wikipedia, bobsled was
invented by posh Britons staying at the local hotels and it quickly became an
annual tradition. The nearby
Cresta Run is also famous and the home of luge. At the hostel, I met the
American Bobsled fan. He is an
accountant and frequent flyer expert. He travels the world collecting and
spending miles. Watching the
bobsled is okay, but it is impossible to know who is doing well and who isn’t
as the time difference is imperceptible. A video screen is essential the US
Bobsled fan conceded to watching a bobsled race.
I get the
impression that St. Moritz is to the world’s super-rich as Muskoka is to
Toronto’s middle and upper classes; people go back year after year, generation
after generation and know each other quite well. I am sure it is an amazing off piste experience if you have
the money.
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| St. Moritz Olympic Stadion |
I went to the
Olympic Stadion, and it looks much like it did in the photos from the 1928 and
1948 photos. Other than that there
is not much else in terms of historic Olympic infrastructure. ( I think the
Cresta and Bob runs are the same, but they just melt every year!) Just as an aside some of the early
Olympic games had some pretty obscure sports, like ones you would find at
summer camp. In 1928 there was a
competition of being pulled on skis by horses/ dogs called skijoring and also
barrel jumping on skates, but no alpine skiing! In 1948 two rival American Olympic Hockey teams showed up,
confused organizers allowed one to play and the other to march in the opening
ceremonies.
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| Skijoring 1928 |
It is tough to
rate après ski here as I was on my own, but I get the feeling that to truly
enjoy your time here you need a fist full of cash as things are, as expected,
really expensive.
Overall Silver
St. Moritz is
certainly an unforgettable experience.
The natural beauty of the place is amazing. It has such high elevation and I wasn’t expecting -23C
temperatures. Having said that in 1928 the 50km Nordic ski race started with an
air temperature of 0C but finished with a temperature of 25C, so maybe the
temperature is quite variable.
But the cold weather meant great conditions. It may not be the best
skiing in Europe, but it is very good.
There are so many things to do some of them exclusive and require
membership to club but most you
can do with a fist full of Francs.
With a lot of people coming to just to hang out and be seen, the pistes
were quiet. North American skiers
would be surprised at how many
surface lifts there were at the Corvatsch area. St. Moritz is a host town that doesn’t flaunt it’s Olympic
past, it doesn’t need to, it is already world famous.
