Welcome to part 2 of my Winter Wonderland Adventures!
Day 9 Zermatt to St Moritz
I woke very early as I wanted to be at the train station by 7.30am. I quickly got ready, went dorm to breakfast at 7am, made a Turkey & cream cheese sandwich, sculled a coffee then went to check out.
I walked to the station which was easy considering it was downhill today. I was taking the Glacier Express for a long 8hr scenic journey on a special panoramic train. It is one of the most picturesque train journeys in the world. The train was waiting when I arrived and I was able to board right away. I had booked a window seat and I was looking forward to some great views.
Gradually, the train filled up as it was fully booked. They had a coat rack at one end of the carriage and a luggage rack at the end so you only have to worry about your day pack. I had my snacks so I settled in for the long journey.
The train stopped along the way to drop off and pick up passengers. We travelled through snowy valleys and forests. It was quite beautiful.
At Chur, more than half the train got off, so there were many empty seats for the last 2hrs. This was great as we could spread out a bit more.
Upon arrival in St Moritz, I tried to get an Uber but no driver accepted my booking. I had to get a taxi instead, which cost a fortune! It was an 8min drive, and cost me 30CHF! Lucky I have the time to take the bus back when I leave as it's free!
I have booked the cheapest hotel I could find after the hostel became fully booked (too slow & hesitant) but the 4 nights here have cost me £800 🥴 It turns out, I'm in an apartment block run by the hotel down the road. I had to check in at the hotel, breakfast is included & served in the hotel, but I sleep in the other building. I have a small single room, and I share the bathroom with other people. The room is clean & satisfactory, but for the cost, it is extortionate. I guess this is St Moritz at Christmas time.
I immediately dropped my stuff in my room then walked down to the cable car station & ski rental shop. When I got to the ski shop, they told me that they have no skis for me and that I had to come back tomorrow to collect them. This was annoying but I didn't have a choice.
Next I
went to get my ski pass. The automated machine had an error so I had to get the
man inside to print it for me. Goodness, what else is going to go wrong?
Then I went to the lake on the way back. The sunset was stunning. Pink and purple and amazing. Opposite the sunset I was able to watch the full moon rise over the mountain. Gorgeous 😍
Then I went back to my room and just chilled out.
Day 10 St Moritz
I woke early again today. I got ready and put on warm clothing as it was -7°C when I got up. I grabbed my ski helmet, gloves & goggles, then went down to breakfast.
The choices were the same as the hostel in Zermatt, except the addition of pastries. I had cold meat, cheese, boiled egg and a croissant.
Then I went down to the ski shop and got my skis. I paid for overnight storage so I wouldn't have to lug everything back to my room every night. 7CHF a night and worth it.
Then I took the cable car up to the first section. The sun was just rising and it was beautiful. I sat down to study the map and the chair lift started operating, so I took this up to the top. The view was amazing!
I planned to take the blue run #6 down. This is a very long run that covers a lot of mountainside. Blue is the easiest here, not too steep, wide, smooth, well groomed, perfect for beginners. Well, I discovered that the blue runs here in St Moritz have much steeper sections than the ones in Zermatt. Frighteningly steep! There were some really nice sections, but I admit I spent a LOT of time doing pizza down the slopes (legs very wide in a V shape if you don't know what pizza means for skiing). I did fall once, fortunately into the snow pack and not off the side of the cliff. Think I hurt my thumb but otherwise I’m OK. I also gained some confidence in getting faster on some downhill slopes which is good.
At one point, there was a very steep section and I just couldn't do it. I got about 1/3 the way down when a lady, who was also a beginner but better than me, came past and tried to suggest lines to take. Then she said, it's OK to take your skis off & walk. So I did. I walked the rest of the way down that ridiculously steep slope.
I managed to get myself all the way down to the bottom of run 6 to the Suvretta lift. From here, I took the chair lift back to the top and did it again. I saw that there was a ‘family friendly’ section that avoided the steep bit, so I took that the second time and it was such a good decision! So much easier!
I did this run 6 times in total. On my last run, I needed to take a different section to run 6 so I could get back to the lift that takes me back to my ski rental shop.
This section also had a family friendly bit which I originally didn't take, but I got to the top of the final section to the cable car and stopped. Along with everyone else. You literally could not see over the edge, it was that steep. I stood for a bit, then chickened out. I took my skis off and walked back up the slope for about 50m to the family friendly bit. So much better!
This one,
howbeit, didn't end at the lift station so at the bottom, I had to take my skis
off again, then walk up the hiking trail to the cable car. Uphill. In ski boots
& snow. It wasn't far (maybe 200m) but it took me a long time!
I took the cable car down, deposited my skis and walked back to my hotel. I literally took my ski gear off and collapse on the bed. I was exhausted!
After a
short rest, I took the bus into town and walked around the streets. If you need
to be reminded of how poor you are, come here. The cars are all Mercedes, Audi,
Porsche etc and the shops are all Rolex, Moncler, Cartier, Prada etc. Very expensive
in every way, shape & form. The only 2 shops I went into were a souvenir
shop & a chocolate shop. And I bought nothing.It is actually a really nice town though, quite pretty.
I found Barrett’s Palace Hotel, which is apparently famous for their huge Christmas tree.
Then I walked down to the Coop supermarket. I bought several drinks, some chicken deli meat, black tomatoes and an apple. I was going to have a little apres-ski in my hotel room. I had some tomatoes, the chicken & an apple cider.
I have come to realise that skiing is a social activity. I need to find someone who is a similar skill level to me to go skiing with in future. It’s very lonely when you're on your own and everyone else is with friends/family.
After a while, I decided to go get tea and go swimming. With my hotel, we get free access to the local public pool. I went to the main hotel to have a pizza for dinner. I chose one that had brie, parma ham and apple on it. It was quite good, and had lots of meat on it.
Then I walked down to the pool. I changed then made my way to the pool. Unfortunately, on my way to the pool, I fell and landed on my butt. A young boy was kind enough to ask if I was ok. It’s a rooftop pool, with an indoor diving pool, indoor lap pool and indoor/outdoor spa pool. I went into the indoor spa pool (small rectangle) then you go through some heavy plastic flaps (like you get at fish & chip shops in Aus) to the outdoor bit. This part has lots of bubble jets and it has a bubble lounge. This has lots of smaller bubble jets with some metal bars arranged in the shape of a lounge chair above them. This was lovely as the jets massage the whole back side of your body, from neck to calves. I stayed for about 30mins before turning into a wrinkly prune.
After showering and changing, I waited back to my hotel, I washed my hair then crawled into bed.
Day 11 St Moritz
This morning I woke to no alarms and had a calm, leisurely morning. I had a booking for bobsledding so I wasn't skiing this morning. I slowly got ready and went to breakfast.
Then I packed my backpack and went to wait for the bus. It was a 45min walk or a 12min bus trip, uphill. At the bus stop, on the left of the road is the Cresta Run, which is what I know to be called Skeleton. I had a look from the carpark and knew that skeleton is a big nope for me. Flying head first down a massive windy ice track on a toboggan going 100+ km/hr sounds like certain death to me.
I went across to the bobsled centre. And unfortunately, I got my dates wrong! My booking is for tomorrow! I was so annoyed at myself for not double checking the dates because I could have gone skiing.
I walked back into town then took the bus 3 stops towards my hotel. I stopped in a souvenir shop to buy a shot glass then walked back to my hotel.
I changed into my ski gear, then headed down to the ski shop. I collected my skis and boots, then began the journey up to the top of the mountain. It wasn't super busy, which was good, but there was a rude man who wouldn't move over on the chair lift so I couldn't get on then nearly got knocked over by the chair.
At the top I did the same run as yesterday: run 6. I did OK until I got to one intersection & fell as it has an uneven lip you need to get over then down a small steep drop. I also fell yesterday at the same point. Horrible part of the run.
I went back to the top again and repeated the first half of the run. I stopped at the midpoint where there is a restaurant, bar, toilets, the train and a cable car station. I realised I was bored, and would love to be going down these slopes with someone to talk to. There are so many people here skiing in groups, stopping to chat along the way. I decided to begin heading back to the ski shop, but taking a different run. Run 6 splits and goes into 2 directions, then you can take run 28 which goes through the forest and literally right to the ski shop.
At one point though, we noticed the clouds coming through the valley. I came out of a tunnel and literally everyone was coming to a stop on the slope. The clouds were coming across the slope, making it very hard to see! I took some photos then slowly made my way down this slope to the intersection. Here, it was worse. I knew it was absolutely time to go home. I took a video then again, very slowly, made my way down this next section.
I took the kiddy slope a bit further down, then found myself at Chantarella station. There were some restaurants and a big ski school area. This is where I could take run 28.
There was a VERY steep section right off the bat. The visibility was weird. The air was clear down this low, but you couldn't see any lumps, bumps etc in the snow. Everything was literally just white, you couldn't even see the edges of the trail. Very weird & creepy. I took it extremely slowly, and this Italian man tried to offer advice, but I don't speak Italian and he didn't speak English.
Now I was in the forest and it was beautiful. I enjoyed the first part. There were also a lot of people zooming past me. It was clearly a popular run, given it finishes right at the bus stop.
We skied alongside a road, through an underpass, and down another 2 very steep slopes. I did fall on one of them, and walked down the rest of it. Then I skied across a bridge over the river and right to the bus stop.
This was great as I took my skis off, walked 15m to the ski shop and deposited my skis. I sat down at the outdoor pop up apres-ski stand and had a bombardino. I quite enjoy this stuff! It's like runny alcoholic custard.
I was
exhausted from my run down. I was also starting to get cold, even though it was
4°C. I went back to my room to chill for a bit.The view from my window:
At 6pm, I walked to a nearby Italian restaurant for tea. I wanted carbonara, and given my proximity to Italy, I thought it might be good. It was also only 23 CHF which is much better than the 30+ I've been paying for meals lately. It was quite good, just a bit too much pepper for me. I wonder if I ask for no pepper if the Italians would get offended and refuse to make it 🤔
I walked to the lake and took on the night lights. I got treated to the church bells at 7pm, which ring for 5mins from all the churches here. It was -4°C with a real feel of -10°C, but it certainly did not feel like it. It felt much warmer, definitely above zero to me.
Then I headed back to my room. Shower, TV series, bed. Perfect.
Day 12 St Moritz
This morning, I got up, packed my backpack and headed down to breakfast. I had to wear my Allbirds today as they do not permit snow boots for bobsledding as the bobsleds have limited space.
After breakfast, I got the bus into town. I went to the souvenir shop again, then a book shop and bought a keyring. Then I had a walk around and sat and people watched for a bit.
Eventually, I walked down to the bobsled track. I checked in, was given my starting number (10), given a gift pin, a balaclava to wear under the helmet & a voucher for a glass of prosecco. I then had a whole hour to kill. I took some photos of the sleds & track, then went into the restaurant. I thought I would get a hot chocolate, but after standing for 10mins, waiting for a table, or to even be acknowledged, I gave up and went back outside.
They made all announcements in German so I had no idea what was going on, but I assumed they started calling the people based on their starting numbers. It’s 2 people per sled, so it was a while before my turn, being the 10th sled.
I got a helmet and waited. You could watch the other people on the TV screens. The track is a handmade 1,722m long ice track, reaches a top speed of 135 km/hr, pulls 4.5 G’s and lasts roughly 75 seconds. I was really excited for this!
Finally, it was my turn. I got put in a sled with another lady. Straight up, I had to tell them I can't speak German, so they gave me the instructions in English. We met our driver, who is a silver medal Olympian and gold medal world champion & brakeman. I got put in behind the driver and the lady was behind me. Your legs go right alongside the person in front of you literally hugging them, and you hold onto ropes that run along the inside of the sled.
The brakeman pushed us off and away we went. We started slow and gradually gained speed. It was exciting! Then we gained even more speed and started the corners. You could feel the G force! During the sideways corners you get pushed down into the sled and as you rocket down the track, you bounce around and your head hits the side like a ping pong ball. I felt like I was slipping back in my seat and clung onto the ropes open so tightly!
Finally, we came to a stop at the finish line. My eyes were watering and I was shaking with adrenalin. It was absolutely exhilarating! The men helped us out and we stood & chatted while we waited for the next sled. We also got some photos with the crew.
When the next sled arrived, we boarded the van and were driven back to the start. The sleds were loaded into the back of a truck and followed us. We went to the bar for our prosecco, got our certificates, and I bought the video, to be emailed to me later.
I walked back into town, and made my way to the main station to go up to Piz Nair. This is a scenic platform at the top of the mountains. It took 2 funiculars and a cable car to reach it. There was a thick layer of cloud halfway up the mountain so it gave some amazing views. I took some photos then made my way back down to town.
I was a bit chilly so I went to a bakery and got a hot chocolate and a choc raspberry cake. I sat outside and ate it, which was quite good.
By now, I knew I wasn't going to go skiing. The cloud was very thick, it was quite cold, and it was nearly 3pm. I took the bus to the ski shop to return my skis, then got my deposit back for my lift pass. Then I walked back to my hotel to warm up. I also had to start packing.
At 6pm, I got ready and went back into town to get a kebab for tea. It was really good, although having seafood sauce in a kebab is a new one for me! Then I walked around looking at the lights for a bit, then walked back to my hotel.
I packed my stuff, downloaded some TV episodes for tomorrow’s long train trip, then went to bed for my final night in Switzerland. I quite enjoyed the snow here, it was less icy than the snow in Zermatt, although some of the sections were steeper.
And so my time in Switzerland has come to an end. I have absolutely loved spending Christmas here, and being able to ski. The slopes are incredibly wide, and not overly busy, which is brilliant. I would absolutely love to come back to both Zermatt and St Moritz to ski. Highly recommend a trip to both locations if you ski/snowboard.
Tomorrow I am off to Austria so head over to part 3 New Year, New Countries for the final leg of my trip!