Worldwide Ski Resorts • Switzerland • St Moritz
Overview
St Moritz is the place to go to see the celebrities at play and to explore the fashionable shops and boutiques that are to be found on nearly every street. One should not overlook the fact that it is also a wonderful place to ski, with extensive, immaculately groomed slopes and some quite breathtaking scenery. Despite its many attractions, the town is actually rather ugly with little of the charm associated with many Alpine resorts. It is however uniformly neat and luxurious.
It is also expensive with the majority of its hotels having four and five star ratings although there are some less prestigious places and a Club Med hotel that offers all inclusive packages. As one may imagine, there is a huge choice of restaurants and bars here, but yet again, they are not cheap. St Moritz also provides a variety of off slope entertainment including polo, horse and greyhound racing and show jumping.
Profile
The resort stands at 1770m and provides access to 350 km of pistes that are served by 56 lifts. It has a reasonable snow record and has extensive snow making facilities. Experts may be disappointed with the lack of decent testing runs and the fact that the black and red runs tend to be flatteringly over graded. There are however plenty of exciting off piste areas to explore.
The resort is best suited to intermediates of all levels, although once again it can be a little flattering and the less confident must not be put off by the red grading of many of the runs. Cross country skiers will find that this is one of the foremost cross country ski areas of Europe with 180 km of superbly scenic trails to explore. St Moritz does encourage snowboarders, although the terrain park is not the best equipped and there are a number of unfriendly drags to contend with. Beginners will find that it is a fair trip to the nursery slopes, although those situated in nearby Celerina are said to be very good. Ski schools have a good reputation but there is a shortage of suitable progression slopes.
Mountain Information
Many of the slopes are designed for comfortable cruises above the tree line. From St Moritz Dorf, a train takes passengers to Corviglia which provides access to the main network of slopes and also to the high point of Piz Nair from where the north side of the mountain can be reached. This is where some of the more serious off piste country is to be found and is where the experts normally head for. This is also where the more advanced intermediates will find runs to suit their abilities. The area down from Corvatsch towards Margun — Vegi is well worth a visit, as is the run from Giand’Alva to St Moritz Bad, which despite its black grading is suitable for most decent intermediates.
Apres Ski
There is simply a huge choice of venues at St Moritz ranging from the quiet and sophisticated to the wild. Bobby’s Bar is a pub that gets pretty lively early on and the Stubli attracts the younger set with its loud music. The British tend to go for The Cresta at the Steffani. The main discos are the Vivavi and the Kings. There is also a casino to explore if you have any money left.
Swiss Resort Guide
Resort Information • St Moritz
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Resort Height | 1800m |
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Top Station | 3300m |
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Bottom Station | 1800m |
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Vertical Descent | 1500m |
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Drag Lifts | 13 |
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Chair Lifts | 7 |
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High Capacity | 5 |
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Opening Dates | Nov - May |
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Rating Expert | 9 |
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Rating Intermediate | 9 |
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Rating Beginner | 6 |
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Apres Ski Rating | 9 |
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Snow Reliability | 9 |
