St Moritz Intermediate Skiing

Sun-kissed cruising on abundant and well groomed snow is what St. Moritz’s skiing is about. The good uplift and diverse spectacular geography makes up for the fragmention of the areas.

Sun-kissed cruising on abundant and well groomed snow is what St. Moritz’s skiing is about. Half the terrain is officially suitable for intermediates though in reality it’s more like three-quarters, with some of the toughest skiing within reach of adventurous intermediates. Though it should appeal to typical intermediate skiers, the area certainly doesn’t have any ‘factory-skiing’ characteristics – you won’t find parallel lines of lifts and pistes across unremarkable meadows, with a backdrop of bizarre late twentieth century architecture… And the good uplift and diverse spectacular geography goes some way to overcome skiers’ reservations about a fragmented ski region linked by road rather than lift.

Corviglia
The main Corviglia area is an ideal starting point, easily reached from St. Moritz itself and good for several days before exploring further afield. Served mainly by chairs, the pistes directly above St. Moritz are a perfect mixture of blues and reds; friendly topography means that wherever you choose to return to base there’s an easy blue route to take the sting out of the end of the day. Navigation is also easy, with most of the skiing above treeline and with the main pistes connected by a couple of blue traverses at different levels. Fuorcla Grischa and Las Trais Fluors are within the scope (there’s even one blue run amongst the red and black) of stronger intermediates, taking you deeper into the mountains north of the valley.

Corvatsch
Corvatsch is also perfect, giving skiers the opportunity for high altitude glacier skiing as well as charming routes on the north facing flank of the mountain range, with expansive views back to St. Moritz and beyond. Mostly above treeline, the runs twist and turn through rock outcrops, never following a straight line for long. The red glacier routes, invariably with good snow, are more than just tame descents of a broad glacier, having more variety than normally found on big permanent snows and with the lower half splitting into two very distinct routes before rejoining at the bottom. Starting from the Furtschella base station to ski the easiest terrain on the western side of the area, then working across to ascend the peak and ski the glacier makes a great day out, with the option of tackling the moderate but long black run via the Hahnensee restaurant to return home to St. Moritz.