A short, fun and extremely luxurious train ride from Zurich, followed by a hop-skip bus trip, will bring you to Flims/Laax. A big, burly mountainous area, there’s a lot of ground to ski out here. Each area is highly unique and you can easily spend a day or two just finding your way around. There are some nice gentle powder slopes and steeper pitches for the feisty free rider.
A lot of good skiers are attracted to the diversity of the terrain and you can play in the open bowls or easily make your way to some sweet stashes of snow in the trees. A stop in at one or two of the wooden bars is a must. If you see a giant cowbell hanging outside, beware. Ringing it means you are buying a round for the entire bar and it’s hard to talk your way out of it.
The mountains have been left quite natural and you wont find a lot of signage. Pro: you can explore easily, letting your skis and hungry eyes guide you but Con: since there are few ropes or danger signs, you can easily end up in an out-of-bounds area and have to spend an entire, or almost entire, day hiking your way out. What looks like a steep pitch that joins the run below may actually be a gully full of rocky pitches with a river at the bottom. Ooops.
It’s best to follow the old guy locals to some nice traverses that lead to some great terrain. But if you venture out on your own, at least bring some sense of direction with you.
There is a great après ski lounge dressed in cowhides at the base of Laax dorf and the crowd often dips deeply into the schnapps. Though like most Après skiing in Switzerland it ends early, there are some tasty restaurants at which to re-fuel. Pizzaria Pomodoro is fantastic. A must try after a day of getting lost and found.
