First morning we headed straight up the 2nd stage of the cable car to Bergstation at 3303m at the head of the Corvatsch Glacier. The views from up here are stunning, as is the red run off.
For a first run of the day, red 3 was an eye opener! Very steep in places, especially as you head onto the glacier, and it feels as if you are actually falling off the top of the mountain as you ski down! However, its another lovely wide run, and as it was so cold (minus 23) the snow was in fantastic condition and we were able to make good speed and carve nicely down the piste.
You can ski down to 2 drags that take you back up to Mittlestation, or alternatively take the long slow 2 man chair up to Grand Alva, where theres a nice red cruise back down, or you can ski off on black 5 back into St Moritz, a long and interesting run, which we did at the end of the day, and thoroughly enjoyed despite reading all the warnings about how tricky it could be.
Over the other side of Mittlestation, theres a couple of fantastic long reds 9 and 10 down into Alp Surlej, where you can take the chair back up, or carry on down to the bottom cable car station in Surlej. This is a fine winding run through the trees. Its like another separate ski area over here, and from here you can link over to Curtinella and into the Furtschellas area. Unfortunately the drag from Curtinella was closed when we ski'd there, so we were unable to try any of the runs over the far side. However, we did have plenty to play on:
There a nice little hut halfway down red 9 at Alp Margun which is in the sun from lunchtime onwards with some spectacular views down the En Valley, and a particularly nice hut at Stuvetta Giand Alva at the foot of the long 2 man chair, but prices are high here. It was getting packed for lunch when we left at 11.30 that morning, although strangely enough at minus 15 no one was eating outside on the terrace.
On our second visit to Corvatsch on the Friday, there had been some fresh snow overnight up the mountain, and we found some virtually untracked off piste to play in around the bottom of the glacier. There were 3 really good boarders there as well, and one of them pulled off a magnificent recovery from a double flip fall after a 10 metre jump to carry on to the bottom, whooping in delight and high fiving his buddies. Brilliant to see. No so brilliant was the sight of the helicopter taking someone off just a few metres away.
On our final day, we skied for a while with fellow J2skier Stewart Dowling and his other half. We even managed to get him on a chair lift, something he admits to having problems with, and heres the proof - thats him in the blue:
Stewart and his other half had been in ski school all week, included in the Club Med package, and had benefitted from being in a small group and having a good instructor, and we saw a marked improvement in their skiing this week, which was a great achievement for them both.
Later in the morning, we decided to go flat out on some favourite runs, and Ellistine clocked us on his GPS at an impressive 80.2kmh!!! Too quick even for the camera:
This was on red 15 down into Marguns on Corviglia, a wonderful long run, and I don't think I have ever seen a run so wide in my life. It was the length of a football pitch in width, and made for some fantastic full width carving doing 360's.
We skied most of the afternoon over above Marguns on our favourite runs, before heading over to the late sun on the slopes under Piz Nair. Unfortunately, we stayed out just a little too late for the last lift up to ski right off from the top, and as the sun went over the peak and the temperature dropped to minus 20 again, we had to walk half a mile to get onto blue 28 which was the run off the mountain back in Bad. I actually lost the feeling in my fingers at one point:
Cracking view across the lake though, across to Corvatsch and beyond.
It was 5pm and almost dark when we finally hit the bottom in Bad, just in time for the free Club Med shuttle bus back for a well earned beer.
So, a summary with my marks out of 10
St Moritz as a resort
We honestly didn't see much of it, apart from one walk into town one night for a quick beer before dinner. It was very cold, so we didn't hang about long. It is certainly a pretty setting, down in the valley with the frozen lakes, and we walked on one of them on the Sunday morning whilst waiting for the airport transfer.
What I can say is that the town is as expected a very exclusive and expensive place. As has been mentioned on another thread, it would be possible to stay cheaper in the outlying parts such as Celerina, Surlej, Silvaplana and Samedan possibly, all of which are pretty little hamlets linking into the ski areas. For me it gets 7 out of 10 for how charming it is, but no higher because of the expense. There is a lot to do off the slopes, provided money is no object to you. Horses were arriving for a polo tournament the day we left.
Hotel Club Med Roi Soleil
This was our first experience of Club Med, and the food was excellent it has to be said. 2 of our party are fussy eaters and wouldn't agree, but the rest of us all felt the food was superb, despite Mrs H getting ill one night after a dodgy Japanese themed meal. Club Med were quick to post notes around the place saying there had been a pan european gastro illness going around and suggesting people should make sure they washed their hands to prevent the spread, and we were aware of quite a few people who became ill during the week for a short period only.
However, for me its too big and too busy. I prefer a small chalet with an intimate feel, and I didnt feel comfortable queuing up for dinner, especially with the typical European "me first" attitude!
The table wine was ok, I didnt try the white as I found the rose to be the best, the red was passable. The house beer was excellent however, and we enjoyed several major branded spirits and shots.
There were the usual 4 star facilities such as a pool, gym, sauna, and jacuzzi but only a few of our party took advantage of these, mainly because they were busy and all of the other people in the sauna and steam room were totally naked - perfectly normal by their own standards I assume!
There was some form of entertainment each night, which we managed to avoid in the main luckily, and it was very much geared to French speaking clients, I assume as Club Med is a French owned company. It was all quite cheesy karaoke and some dancing, and made us feel like we were on a cruise ship most of the time! We did also find that the bar and restaurant areas were very loud.
Rooms were large and comfortable, hot water all the time. There was a massive ski room with limited space for each room, and a boot room with no heaters, just storage. I was a little nervous leaving our own gear down there, as 95% of people rented skis and boots. It was sometimes a little busy in the mornings getting booted up, but we were usually some of the first out to the lifts so avoided the main rush.
The one main criticism I'd have of this hotel is its position, a good 500m walk to the nearest lift. There were only buses for those in ski school, so independent skiers were not given the same treatment, which means having to walk to the lift or alternatively wait for the free shuttle at 10.30am. No thanks, I'd have done 90 minutes skiing by then!
So, overall the experience gets 5 out of 10 from me. I don't think I'd go with Club Med again. There was a lack of information available to guests, you had to do a lot of asking, and the staff struggled with English as well. There is also one lady who tries to flog you expensive wine every night, despite it being all inclusive, but we ended up having some good banter with her.
The ski area
This is the easy bit. 10 out of 10. For us, January skiing is all about not getting in queues and lower prices. We have also generally had lovely sunny weather in January, and this was no different. Perhaps we were lucky, perhaps it was an informed decision to go somewhere so high, but with the sun out for the 6 days we ski'd and blue skies, it was just about perfect. The very cold temps meant the snow was in pristine conditions, we had no bare patches to contend with, there was no freeze/thaw at all, and it was only late in the day out of the sun that some pistes started to harden. Grooming was superb, as good as I have seen it, and the lifts are modern and fast. 90% of skiing is above the tree line due to its height, but that doesn't bother us. It might be different in a storm though.
Fantastic skiing, wonderful pistes, simple signing to each area (so much so that the piste map only came out on the first 2 days) and superb wide pistes. Something for everyone with untracked off piste to go at for advanced skiers, steep reds and blacks for good intermediates, some wonderful long cruises for everyone, and a number of easy blues and beginners areas as well. Magnificent.
Food and drink n the mountain
We stopped once maybe twice a day for drinks, as sadly Club Med got it wrong and did not include drinks on the slopes, as their restaurant only opened for lunch, and even then there was no draft beer and they wanted to charge extra for bottles.
On Corviligia, the cheapest and warmest hut was at Marguns, with the best and biggest coffee available for 4.50chf and gluhwein at 7.50chf.
Avoid the Heineken Umbrella bar at Corviliga as it is ridiculously expensive.
The cafe at Salastrains is very plush and has a terrific outside terrace, but its 12.50chf for a sunny seat!!!!
Friends of ours ate at Alpina, just above Corviligia and said the food was "average" and badly over priced.
Over on Corvatsch, the little hut at Stuvetta Gian Alva is lovely, and seemed popular with locals for lunch, but very small indoor seating area. Again, pricey.
The little cafe at Alpetta half way down red 9 became our favourite, not the cheapest but just a nice place to sit and look at the stunning views.
Being all inclusive, I didn't sample much food, apart from the nicest tomato soup I've eaten despite it costing the best part of a tenner at Marguns!!!
6 out of 10 for ambience and chic, but no more due to the prices.
We did not queue apart from waiting for about 3 chairs to go by on the Saturday when the locals came out to ski, and the ski school pupils were let loose. The downside to that was a high number of serious collisions, which involved the air ambulance making 6 pick ups that we saw on that morning alone. A combination of lack of awareness at junctions on the pistes, people skiing too fast where it was more busy, and a number of people we saw who were out of their depth on difficult red pistes added to the stats I am afraid.
Bobble watch
Well I am officially in the major minority. I would guess that 95% of skiers in St Moritz were wearing helmets, thus confirming the growing trend in the sport. However, I kept the flag flying, and was delighted to see that even the official warning sign on the bubble of the chairlift showed a real hat:
For my friend Skidaddle, this was the best skiing he has ever done, so he said. I have to say that the 6 full on days we had were as good as any I have had previously, and I would certainly say that if you have been considering this as somewhere to go, don't put it off as the skiing is absolutely superb.
Just go talk to your bank manager first.
I'd like to think that this picture sums up our week, as it was great fun:
