The Pointe d’Ar Pitetta (10,279 feet/3,133 meters) viewed from Zinal, Switzerland.
A few months ago a couple asked me to put together a custom ski tour in Switzerland. The couple had a few criteria. First, they wanted a trip that was off the beaten path with a splash of pizzazz. Second, they are intermediate skiers and they wanted gentler slopes with a nice “Swiss experience.” Third, they wanted to ski Switzerland during the Christmas and New Year holiday and sample three distinct regions. I knew right where to send them, and thus was born the Adelboden, St-Luc & Pontresina Ski & Snowboard Tour.
First, it must be said that picking a ski destination in Switzerland is a lot like choosing from a box of chocolates. It all looks mouthwatering! There are more than 300 ski resorts in Switzerland with more than 4,000 miles (7,000 km) of trails and nearly 2,000 lifts. Of course some Swiss ski resorts are enormous with myriad distractions and trappings while others offer nothing more than a single t-bar for a lift and a barn doubling as a lift ticket window. When someone tells me they want “off the beaten path” the first question I present to them is, “How far off the path would you like to go?” Put another way, “If you were to visit France, would you be happy to come home without ever seeing the Eiffel Tower, or would you like to experience a few popular sights too?” The trick in tour planning is to find a happy balance between something that’s undiscovered and less-touristy, but also fun and exciting with an authentic sense of place. The Adelboden, St-Luc & Pontresina Ski & Snowboard Tour strikes that balance.
On an off-the-beaten-path scale, Adelboden falls somewhere in the middle. The first tourists trickled into the village during the late 1800s, and the floodgates opened in 1902-3 when a British gentleman named Sir Henry Lunn organized the first packaged tours of the area. Adelboden’s fame should have skyrocketed from there, but Lunn also marketed nearby Wengen which, when combined with the villages of Grindelwald and Mürren, fast became a popular ski destination as well. Over time, resorts like St. Moritz, Zermatt and Wengen-Mürren-Grindelwald grew in fame and popularity while Adelboden became the preferred resort for families and visitors looking for a quieter “wellness” experience. The result today is a tranquil Swiss village that feels like it’s off the beaten path but actually has a long history of winter sport tourism. As of this writing there are five Gault & Millau rated restaurants in Adelboden, two four-star hotels and a host of accommodations to suit almost every taste from casual to sophisticated. The one thing that Adelboden does not have is over-the-top glitz. There are no five star luxury palaces, no Michelin-starred restaurants, and no private jets. Adelboden doesn’t have a lot of expert level terrain either unless you do some backcountry touring (which is quite good). That said, the FIS World Cup rolls into town every winter, so Adelboden can throw down when it needs to. In short, Adelboden offers a less-touristy Swiss ski & snowboard experience but still serves up loads of fun for the entire family. Adelboden is one of those warm and cuddly places that steals your heart.
Traditional wooden houses bedecked with holiday finery in the Swiss village of Grimentz.
Moving on from Adelboden, our ski & snowboard adventure enters the Val d’Anniviers, a remote valley jutting straight south of the Rhone River in southern Switzerland. Ten years ago, the Val d’Anniviers would have occupied the higher end of the off-the-path scale (pretty remote). The region wasn’t completely undiscovered, but its slow lifts, small ski areas, and a dearth of sophisticated amenities kept it off the radar for most people. The word started to get out in 2014, however, when the villages of Grimentz and Zinal connected their small resorts by cable car. Skiers and snowboarders took notice. Potential visitors started sniffing around and what they found was a truly authentic area with pristine slopes, pretty little villages forgotten by time, and tons of potential for great skiing and snowboarding. The 15-mile long Val d’Anniviers actually has five small ski areas, Grimentz, Zinal, Saint-Luc, Chandolin and Vercorin. Grimentz and Zinal are connected by cable car. Saint-Luc and Chandolin are connected by chairlift, and Vericorin stands alone. All of the resorts are accessed by a bus system that circulates throughout the valley. When you stand at the foot of the Corne de Sorebois, one of the highest points of the Grimentz-Zinal area, you have a commanding view of the “Imperial Crown,” a circle of mountains containing more than 30 peaks over 4,000 meters tall including the Matterhorn. If the Val d’Anniviers had succeeded in building a railroad like the one that exists in neighboring Zermatt, then the valley would have exploded. (Villagers in the Val d’Anniviers had plans to build a railroad, but the First World War killed the project.) In short, the potential here is huge, but here’s the thing. Many of the lifts are still slow. The amenties are few, and there’s still only one way into this dead end valley—a winding road with enough steep switchbacks to make any acrophobe grumble. I absolutely love it!
The cable car to Diavolezza above St. Moritz & Pontresina.
Finally we transition to the Engadine Valley in eastern Switzerland via the Glacier Express. This is where the off-the-beaten path meter takes a major tumble. The Glacier Express is a world famous train ride, and our final destination, St. Moritz, is widely considered the birthplace of ski tourism in Switzerland. It is definitely not off-the-beaten path. It IS the path. This is ground zero for tourism, but if you like sunny “cruiser” slopes and a high level of gastronomy and innkeeping, then there’s no better place to be. I picked Pontresina as the base for this trip because it’s a restful alternative to St. Moritz which is just 6 km down the road. Pontresina is also conveniently located between the major ski resorts with quick acess to Corvatsch, notable for its striking scenery and a nearly 6 mile-long ski run (9 km) down to St. Moritz. Diavolezza & Lagalb are also just up the road and offer thrilling black runs in a high alpine environment. Corviglia is the resort accessed directly from St. Moritz and offers excellent cruising. Everything exists in this part of Switzerland, from luxurious five star palaces and chic international boutiques to the humble Stüva serving local Engadine specialties. The St. Moritz-Pontresina area is not off-the-beaten-path, but it certainly offers a splash of pizzazz.
Click here to read more about our Adelboden, St-Luc & Pontresina Ski & Snowboard Tour.
