St.Moritz, February 15-23, 2025

A group of 39 Fund-Bank Ski Club members took part in the St.Moritz, Switzerland, trip departing on February 15 and returning on February 23, 2025.  Most of the group joined a day trip to Tirano in Italy, which turned out to be fabulous!

St. Moritz is a ski town of style, elegance and class…and, of course, great skiing.  Once the group met up in Zurich with our Land Only travelers, we were on our way to St. Moritz.  On the three-hour bus ride, we experienced a bright sunny day and majestic Swiss Alp views.  As we drove into town eyeing spectacular St. Moritz pinned to a hilly slope and the magnificent mountains surrounding it, the excitement grew.  When we unloaded the bus, we were greeted in the theatre by Club Med staff and the Chef de Village spoke about our upcoming week, including all the activities the hotel offered.  After our warm welcome, delicious lunch we went for a walk and were stunned with the view of the lake and the town of St. Moritz that lay before us.

Overall summary

We were lucky to have six blue bird days, and we fully enjoyed sun, good snow and perfectly groomed slopes. In a nutshell, St.Moritz rewarded us with fabulous skiing, great off-piste experiences, amazing mountain views and comfortable weather. All of us were assigned to groups with experienced ski instructors, we had lessons “on the go” and skied and explored all four fabulous mountains that St.Moritz has to offer.  Once on the mountain off we go skiing groomed or off-piste slopes and then relaxing for lunch in the Club Med mountain hut with a great meal….sun…..and may be a glass of good wine celebrating the joy of skiing in Swiss Alps! 

Lodging 

Club Med hotel is conveniently located a short walking distance to Corviglia Gondola, as well as to St.Moritz Dorf with museums, galleries and endless shopping. The train station is nearby and next door to our hotel there was an enormous SPA with mineral water, bubble baths, saunas, steam rooms and a jacuzzi.  The hotel itself has a lot to offer: well-designed shared facilities, a full size theatre, two fabulous restaurants, large SPA with indoor swimming pool and saunas, as well as a comfortable area for relaxing and working out that allowed us to prepare our muscles for the next day of skiing.  We had unforgettable gourmet dinners with fresh oysters, tuna and mussels, raclette, and duck confit, just to mention a few, as well as “all you can possibly imagine” breakfasts that were a part of the package. And if you are tired of the European gourmet dishes Swiss Fondue☺ was also on offer….with an elaborate menu and friendly staff.  The group chemistry was so good that we just glued together, meeting at breakfast, having lunch together on the slopes or in the village, and socializing during dinners at the reserved tables assigned for our group.

Skiing

Skiing in St.Moritz was truly exciting, offering challenging slopes (sometimes, very challenging for me), diverse quality of snow (we do not have that kind of snow in US), endless off-piste terrain, freshly groomed slopes, comfortable skiing for all levels, sunny and comfortable weather.  The sun was strong, and everyone got a nice suntan. The majority of the group skied 5-6 days, and we never got bored with the slopes, skiing most of them for the first time. 

On the first morning we loaded a hotel bus and went with our guide to Piz Corvatsch (by the way, this word means male crow). It was a great day of skiing: we found untouched slopes and left first tracks there. The rest of the days we alternated between Corviglia (a name for female crow: question - how did the male and female crow meet if the mountains are 30 minutes apart?), the local mountain in town, Corvatsch, Lagalb and Diavolezza, named after the beautiful she-devil (if you want to learn more about she-devil, please click here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diavolezza). We enjoyed skiing different terrain each time, admiring fairy-tale mountain scenery and enjoying the pleasure of delicious food at the Club Med mountain cafes.  The non-skiers also took advantage of the sunny weather and rode the funicular and gondola up to Piz Nair, at the top of the Corviglia, to join the skiers for lunch and enjoy the views. If that wasn’t enough, after a bit more skiing we all ended our day with après ski at the Main bar of Club Med.  

We usually started our days by meeting at the entrance of the hotel at 9:00, taking a hotel bus or walking to the Gondola, then switching to chair lifts during the day. Most of us did not quit until 4 PM when the lifts were closing, sliding all the way down to the hotel.

Unfortunately, a few skiers incurred injuries, but they are now on the mend.  We wish them a speedy recovery!!!

Endless skiing, endless exploration of the beautiful mountains, endless challenges, endless fun. What more can a skier dream about? Only a nice après-ski and dinner!

Tourist Program in St.Moritz

On the last day before departure most of the group went to International Concours of Elegance - exciting display of prestige cars and a classic car race on the lake of St.Moritz.  A unique, exclusive, exciting vintage car race, with lively music, crispy winter sunshine on the frozen lake among the stunningly beautiful, snow-capped mountains of St Moritz. Thousands of tourists and local families with children and dogs.  Spectacular, unforgettable experience! Here’s the link https://theicestmoritz.ch/

On Thursday, after three days of skiing twenty-four of us took a train to Tirano, Italy.  To tell you the truth, the skiing was so good that I was tempted to follow my ski buddy’s’ example and to skip the trip to Tirano.  Thank God, I did not do it!! The views across the mountains and glaciers were truly stunning. We were also impressed by the engineering feat that made the Red Train possible with the numerous bridges, tunnels and viaducts through the mountains. To understand the unique experience we went through, here’s some interesting facts about the Red Train:  The train follows the Bernina Pass, and it is the highest Alpine crossing (reaching an altitude of 2250 meters) and the steepest rail route in the world. The route is one of very few in the world listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.

After riding the Red Train, walking around Old Town Tirano, visiting gorgeous Cathedrals we had a delicious lunch at Bistrot Merizzi sharing wine and smiles.  I am confident that I would have missed an experience of my life if I did not try Tagliolino pasta with truffles that is unique for that part of Italy. Delicious!!

But that’s not all….  After lunch we decided to climb the mountain to an ancient Monastery (Chiesa di Santa Perprtua) and were rewarded with spectacular views, but also by discovering amazing facts about the monastery life and the church of unprecedented charm. 

Besides the Bernina Express and the beautiful mountain views, the group of non-skiers enjoyed other activities such as cross-country skiing, museums, shopping, and day trip to nearby Chur. 

Many of the group went to the thermal SPA, nearby our hotel, and floated for hours on the bubble beds and soaked in the jacuzzi.

I think all the participants will agree that the St.Moritz was a great trip for skiing, “fine dining”, sun tanning, sightseeing, exploring the history and culture of Swiss Alps, marveling at breathtaking views, shopping, night life……and so much more.