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  5 of 5 24/01/2004 @ 11:05 |
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| Price Paid |
| £300 |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| myself |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
They call it boarders valley - easy to see why.
If you have a car or dont mind 10 - 20 min bus trips then the whole of the engadine valley becomes yours, and its massive. The snow and the air was the dryest ive seen in europe giving powder snow i never beleived existed in europe.
The main area above st moritz is where EVERYONE seems to go [corviglia] as it easy to get to and has excellent off piste with a couple runs down thru rocky outcrops. Wide open slopes mainly reds with easy bits and tougher bits on them. But basically the WHOLE area is boardable and you can go where the eye see's and not a lot of people do. good for all abilities but not any black runs.
10 mins over to Feurtchellas/Corvatsch and the slopes were really quiet with even more off piste and untouched powder snow. A couple of nice tree lined runs and midnite boarding until 2 am on friday's - crazy time. The area is more steep but again the whole mountain is yours to do as you want but is not as big as an area.
Maloya at the end of the valley struck me by its small size and only 1 lift worth talking about, a dot drag. but holy f@*k once at the top i was looking down a hill full of trees, ledges and powder snow waist deep most untouched agian. For only 1 lift and hill the boarding was some of the best i have done.
Pontresina area was about 40 mins on the bus and once there i was struck by the remoteness and sheer size. 2 massive mountains only can get to the top by gondola which runs every 15 mins. there were about 12 other people there the whole day and 2 of them were carried off with brocken arm and leg. Probably due to the fact again that the off piste offers limitless options, and the on-piste is just as good.
Overall a cheap pass for the main area corviglia would keep me happy for a week. But for untouched slopes with accesable quality off-piste the engadine valley pass is worth the money big time.
I got to Zurich with easy jet then to St. Moritz by train. Going out was easy with 3 trains all with quick connections, but getting back to the airport was hectic. 5 hours and as many connections. If it wasnt for helpful locals i would still be lost somewhere on swiss rail. i stayed inthe hostel international for about £150 for a week, which included buffet breakfast, evening meal bed sheets and towels. more like a hotel and had a waxing room, internet, helpful staff and heaps of old germans.
i think this would be the perfect place for boarding with a car.
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| Strengths |
| Quality snow, limitless off piste. Lift pass available for valley or area. Buses easy to use and run every 10 - 15 min. |
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| Weaknesses |
| Taking bus/car to other areas - but thats what keeps everyone away from the best untouched piste/offpiste. 4 hours by train from Zurich. 5 Hours! back to airport. |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Scotland. Austria, Mayrhofen. Switzerland, Zermatt. Italy, Cervinia. Switzerland, St Moritz. |
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