The Swiss St. Moritz is a small village located near the Swiss border with Italy. The idea of winter tourism here was born back in 1864, which makes St. Moritz the cradle of the ski tourism we know today. An anecdote says that one of the first hoteliers in the area, Johanes Badrutt, made a bet with four British summer tourists: he told them to come back in winter, and if they didn't like it, he would cover all the costs. However, if they were satisfied with the offer in winter, they could be his guests as long as they wish. Thus the British came to St. Moritz for Christmas 1864, and stayed until Easter! The four of them were the first winter tourists in the Alps, discovering a brand new and magical world, and their visit marked the start of St. Moritz's long tradition of winter tourism.
Apart from luxury hotels, the St. Moritz resort is also known for its versatile winter sports offer, including polo and cricket on ice, curling, bobsledding and many others. It is also the first alpine village with a golf course, as well as the first one that decided to patent and protect its name and logo.
But let us get back to real subject - skiing. The village of St. Moritz is the center of the Engadin region consisting of a few resorts which together have more than 99 km of slopes, three peaks higher than 3000 m, 56 gondolas and other ski lifts. The longest Swiss night skiing run is also situated in this region, as well as the highest peak in this part of the Alps (Corvatsch 3.303 m), accessible by gondola. The resorts of Furtschellas, Corvatsch, Corviglia, Marguns and Diavolleza are unfortunately not connected, except by public bus transport, which is included in the ski pass price.
The Corviglia resort is the largest one in the Engadin region. It is situated right above the village of St. Moritz. Some 80 km of ski runs are covered by a very modern ski lift system consisting of two standing and one sitting gondola, two funiculars, 12 seater lifts and 5 surface lifts. Almost 90% of the seater lifts are hooded, with some hoods opening and closing automatically.
The runs, which are very well connected, are mostly categorized as red, with a couple of blacks and blues. However, don't be misled by this fact. This is the place where four FIS Alpine World Ski Championships took place (the last one in 2003), as well as the FIS WC events; the runs declared as reds are actually "dark reds". The hills above St. Moritz are very indented, so the ski lifts and runs will take you to unexpected places; from forested areas to 1700 m a.s.l, and all the way to harsh, glacier like parts of the Piz Nair peak (3057 m), where you'll find a restaurant and a lookout point. The Piz Nair Wall, at the top of the men's downhill race trail, boasts the steepest start slope in a WC downhill race ever - on a vertiginous 43 per cent slope racers speed up to 130 km/h in only 7 seconds, which is close to a free fall! The runs are very well marked; numerous waymarks, and enumerated runs will make your orientation around Corviglia an easy task. More experienced skiers will need one day to explore all its slopes. There is an interesting route to the foot of the resort, consisting of long and mild, wooded runs with the beautiful overlook of the valley.
Swiss precision and great care of skiers reflect not only in marking the runs but also in labeling every stone on the run! Black and yellow poles crossed in X shape alert to the potential hazard to your skis (and to you as well). If you think this is all, you are wrong. Trail No. 4, which stages the WC events, is situated in the centre of the slopes, below the upper station of the Signal gondola. During the WC events, the resort would have been cut in two, if it wasn't for the system of tunnels running underneath the trail.
If you're accessing St. Moritz by car, you can choose between three starting points from which you can reach the slopes. One is located right in the center of the village (St. Moritz Dorf), from where you take the funicular to hit the slopes. The other two are in the villages of Cerelina and St. Moritz Bad, from where you access the slopes by taking a gondola. We recommend the parking lot in Bad from which you'll be whisked up to the slopes by the Signal gondola. This parking lot is the largest and the cheapest one out of the three. One day parking ticket here thus costs EUR 3.23, while an hour parking ticket for a roofed garage in the center is EUR 1.30.
If you think that the St. Moritz resort is reserved only for deep pocketed customers, you're wrong. Of course, you will there 'ski' into lady skiers with perfect hair and make up, and middle-aged gentlemen with meticulously groomed hair and unique luxury skis, but also, into most ordinary, and even skiers who still haven't changed their gaudy yellow one piece ski suits from the beginning of the eighties and long flat skis reaching up to 2 m.
You can get the complete experience of the resort while strolling through the village and window shopping in numerous posh shops, such as Cartier, Prada, Rolex...However, the ski equipment prices are not as high as one would expect. The situation is the same on the slopes: a drink costs about EUR 3, a hamburger is EUR 5-6. One day ski pass is EUR 32, and the fact that a seven-day package holiday is obtainable at EUR 277 proves that ordinary skiers can afford this resort.
If you are staying at Italy's Livigno resort, be sure to visit St. Moritz; it is an hour's drive from Livigno. And if you owe a six day Livigno ski pass, you'll get a 50% on one day Corviglia ski pass.
www.ski-mag.com
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