Flims is the Swiss snowboarders favourite resort with the outstanding Crap Sogn Gion park and fabulous off-piste terrain, although some of the runs between the otherwise well-linked resorts are a little flat – keep your speed up! Skiers will also wonder why this resort isn’t better known internationally, and you rarely have to worry about crowds here except for the village run to Flims at the end of the day. All the more reason to wrap up with a drink at the Crap Bar in Laax Murschetg!
The Silvretta Arena comprises a large area between quiet, duty-free Samnaun in Switzerland and party-twn Ischgl in Austria. There is some excellent skiing and snowboarding, but these are not slopes best suited either to learners or experts. The modern, efficient lifts, excellent park, high, well-groomed slopes and Ischgl’s apres ski give it an almost legendary status amongst those with a work hard, play hard ethic, contrasting with the more traditional, family atmosphere of Samnaun.
Ski Area
Silvretta
Resorts
Samnaun (A: Ischgl)
Ski Region
Graubünden
Piste (km)
235
Top run (m)
2872
Bottom (m)
1700
Max Drop
1172
Snow’n’Rail
Y
Black (km)
45
Red (km)
132
Blue (km)
38
Lifts (#/hr)
80000
My Rating
5
Alpine
5
SnowPark
3
Nordic
2
Hiking
2
Family
5
Apres Ski
3
Free Ride
Y
Snow making
Y
Fun park
Y
Snow park
Y
Half pipes
Y
Spa
In Brief
Silvretta Arena
Samnaun shares the huge Silvretta Arena with Ischgl, the racier of the two resorts. There is a lot to commend the area – the resorts are pretty, the marked pistes cover a huge area, the lift system is good and mostly new, all but the resort runs are over 2000m , snow cover until the end of April is pretty much guaranteed (even for the resort runs)… all round an impressive set-up. The downsides? Not many – the lifts are not cheap (but you should have no reason to expect this extensive, modern system to be inexpensive), the resorts are hard to get to (particularly by public transport or from Switzerland)… that’s about it.
Ischgl is the better of the two resorts to use as a base. The lifts are central, the slopes on the Ischgl side are mainly North-facing, the valley runs stays open late in the season, the village is very compact and the apres-ski scene is one of the best in the Alps. Samnaun is well-regarded, however, and has the advantage of being duty-free. In many ways Ischgl reminds me of Flims/Laax. Nice long cruisy runs, great for boarders, good park.
I don’t think the Silvretta area offers as much for advanced skiers and boarders as Verbier or Zermatt, but it has plenty of off-piste and some good black runs. Beginners might find it hard to really make the most of their passes, but there is a good range of blue runs connecting many of the lifts and I would still recommend the resorts to a mixed ability party because there really is enough of the right type of slope for everybody.
Red Run #1 takes you right into IschglIf you’re driving, remember that passes you may need to take are often closed in the winter (Fluellapass and Silvretta-Hochalpenstraße) and you either need respectively to take a brief car-train journey or take a longer route if you are coming from the West. Convenient parking is free in Ischgl. Sadly public transport is not practical unless you are somewhere nearby.
Some controversy surrounds the Silvretta Arena. Ischgl, once a small sleepy village is now a global tourist destination with outlets for Rolex and Hugo Boss, a jet-set nightlife, concerts attracting major stars such as Elton John or the Killers, and the huge winter sports area it shares with Samnaun. The development of the Alps for tourism is resisted, not least amongst Alpine societies, and the plans to extend the Silvretta Arena up the 2812m Piz Val Gronda have attracted so much controversy that years after the development was first mooted, the scheme still stands on hold. With the relentlessly increasing popularity of winter sports holidays and the increasing unpredictability of snow conditions in lower resorts, the controversy about limits to development of the Alps won’t go away.
Gstaad is – suprisingly given its reputation – rather a pretty and unassuming village some distance away from most of the slopes associated with it. With a car or by public transport. however, you have access to around a dozen different communities and seven different and very varied ski area in both French and Schweizerdeutsch speaking Switzerland.
Ski Area
Gstaad Mountain Rides
Resorts
Gsteig, Lauenen, Rougemont, Saanen, Gstaad, Saanenmöser, Schönried, St. Stephan, Wasserngrat, Wispile, Zweisimmen, Château-d’Oex, Eggli, La Videmanette, La Braye, Rinderberg, Saanersloch, Horneggli, Rellerli, Glacier 3000, Scex Rouge
Ski Region
Bernese Oberland
Piste (km)
250
Top run (m)
3000
Bottom (m)
1000
Max Drop
2000
Snow’n’Rail
Y
Black (km)
40
Red (km)
90
Blue (km)
120
Lifts (#/hr)
57600
My Rating
5
Alpine
5
SnowPark
4
Nordic
5
Hiking
5
Family
4
Apres Ski
4
Free Ride
Y
Snow making
Y
Fun park
Y
Snow park
Y
Half pipes
Spa
In Brief
By public transport the easiest of the resorts in Gstaad Mountain Rides to get to is Zweisimmen from the North and East and Chateau D’Oex or Rougemont from the West. Zweisimmen couldn’t be easier, the Rinderberg gondola is right at the bottom of the railway station (turn left out of the station). Chateau D’Oex and Rougemont have their bottom stations a few minutes walk south from the station. Glacier 2000 is served by a post bus that runs between Gstaad and Les Diablerets railway stations, with stops at both Reusch or Col du Pillon, and a ski bus that runs every half hour, 9-5, from Les Diablerets station to Col du Pillon. Twice an hour a bus runs from Saanen station to the Eggli lift, and three times an hour buses run from Gstaad station to Eggli and Wispile – some are dedicated ski buses but all are gratis to people using the winter sports facilities. Saanenmöser and Schönried lifts are a few minutes walk from the respective railway stations.
Parking is available at or near all the base stations, but can be limited at weekends unless you arrive early.
There are something like 17 valley stations in Gstaad Mountain Rides, so it is a huge area, and although the best skiing and snowboarding can most easily be accessed from either Zweisimmen, Rougemont or Col du Pillon, all the areas have something to offer. Chateau D’Oex seems to be quietest at weekends and has ample parking; Glacier 3000 can get very cold, but is excellent for early or late season skiing, Rellerli conversely is delightful on a cold, clear January morning.
Accommodation, entertainment and cuisine are also wide-ranging. You can fly in by private jet, hire a Range Rover, stay in the impressive Gstaad Palace Hotel and dine in Michelin-starred restaurants. Or you can enjoy the rustic charm of a village B&B with the fabulous country foods of Saanenland and Pays-d’Enhaut. There is not the nightlife of Verbier, but there is a casino, a couple of discos and plenty of bars and restaurants. For those who don’t ski or snowboard the area provides a huge variety of alternative distractions. In late January hte highlight is the balloon festival in Chateau D’Oex.
Here is a rough summary of all the main ski and snowboard areas in Gstaad Mountain Rides:
Glacier 3000 (Scex Rouge, Dôme, Gemskopf) 25km of mixed flattish glacier runs and some steep off-glacier runs. Varied off-piste. Sector 4.
Schönried – Saanenmöser – Zweisimmen – St. Stephan
(Rinderberg, Parwenge, Saanerslochgrat, Hornberg, Horneggli) Large impressive area with around 85km piste. Sector 1. Gstaad – Saanen – Rougemont
(Eggli, La Videmanette) Large and recently upgraded area with around 86km piste. Sector 1. Gstaad-Wispile
Small family area with some tough runs. Sector 1. Gstaad-Wasserngrat
Steepest run in the valley and a gourmet restaurant at the top. Sector1. Schönried-Relleri
Sunny area with a short season but about 24km runs. Sector 1. Château-d’Oex
(La Braye) 40km of pleasant skiing and snowboarding Sector 3. Lauenen
Tiny family skiing area, with one ski lift. Sector 6. Gsteig
Tiny family skiing area, with one ski lift. Sector5.
Really very extensive slopes and bags of off-piste options – probably stands alongside the Engadin as somewhere you could spend a season. Davos is a busy town, Klosters is cuter, and both are easy to get to by road or rail.
