Leysin is like a pizza pocket. Small, packed with cheese and full of warm, tasty goodness. You don’t know if you want to have a pizza pocket for dinner, but once you do, you can’t help but enjoy it and then you just want more.
In the French part of Switzerland, the village spills down the side of the mountain. You go up or you go down. Up to some of the best, brightest, warmest skiing you can do and down to eat cheese, with a side of cheese, preceded by cheese, chased by cheese and rounded off by another helping of cheese.
Large buildings that make up what is now Leysin American School, used to be Tuberculosis hospitals. Doctors used to put patients on the large terraces to sun them. They knew the sunrays helped slow the disease. Leysin is one of the sunniest places in Europe. While it may be cloudy and rainy below, the town and ski hill are almost always basking in warmth. The clouds come in periodically to dump snowballs on the mountain and then leave quickly to allow skiers that most delicious and sought after treat: fresh powder under foot, with hot sunshine overhead. It rarely gets cold and skiing in a t-shirt and sunglasses is common practice.
Head up to the top of the mountain and there are some nice groomers. From Berneuse, head down and then keep right for some nice, powdery pitches. Up the chair on the opposite side, the astutely named Sunnyside will take you to some gentle groomers to the skiers right, steeper pitches to the skiers left and on the lower half, a half pipe and some built up jumps in a terrain park.
Host of the world snowboarding championships, Leysin regularly breeds and welcomes the best snowboarders in the world. At the top of Mayan, the terrain is a lot less maintained and perfect for those free of spirit, and searching for natural terrain, trees and little drops and cliffs on which to frolic.
Most of the mountain is best suited for intermediate skiers. That being said, due to the ridiculous amount of snow that can fall in one sitting, those with a palate for powder will find it in abundance. Within steep tree slopes, several feet of powder will carry you over rocks and old stumps. A word from the wise, Leysin does not do a lot of blasting. If the avalanche is not going to come down onto the run, the pockets of powder are left alone. Several skiers, venturing off the in-bounds areas have died in avalanches. While some of the steep chutes look creamy and dreamy, stay off them when the powder is stacked because it will take you out.
Leysin is less about skiing till you drop and more about enjoying the ride. Make like a tuberculosis patient from days gone by and soak up the high altitude sunshine. The restaurant at the top of Mayan serves killer Croute. This involves bread, followed by cheese, followed by ham, followed by egg and then once more, topped by cheese and a dash of paprika. How much yum can one dish stand? Find out.
The Kuklos restaurant at the top of Bernuese is situated at the highest point and it rotates so that you can take in a 360-degree view of the Swiss Alps. This has got to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. The view, the sunshine, the peaks and the clouds below acting like a fluffy blanket lend this natural canvas a magical quality.
A perfect place for families, you can ski and hang out on the mountain and not worry about getting lost or trampled by other skiers. On the bottom of the ski hill, there are trails and jumps prefect for the budding snowboarder and future ski bum.
After skiing, you can munch on waffles at the bottom terrace or head to The Yeti. This is one of my favorite chill Après ski bars. Complete with a hippie vibe and fruit tobacco pipes, you can nurse your beer, soar legs and sunburn. But don’t stay too long, because a must-do in Leysin is Fondue.
La Fromagerie is Leysin’s most famous fondue haunt. It feels like a cave inside, a cave that smells like cheese and has all the fixings of a great Swiss restaurant. Wooden beams, cowbells and a giant cauldron of cooking cheese on an open fire welcome you. Good luck trying to choose between fondue or raclette but don’t worry no choice is a bad one when it comes to Swiss cheese.
If you are finding yourself sluggish after a few days of too much fondue, Feyday’s or Buffet de la Gare, at the mid train station has killer pizzas. Order up a margarita pizza and cover it in olive oil and hot pepper flakes.
After dinner, Top Pub is the place to put back beers and bet on a few rounds of pool. There are some other fun places to grab some Feldschlosschens. The town is small. Follow the roving groups of friends, university students or ski instructors to that night’s hot spot. There’s a super fun dance club, that used to be called club 94 (not sure of its current name) and here you will find locals, visitors and the occasional boarding school kid who managed to sneak out of the dorm for the night. Everyone always seems really committed to a good time and fruity shooters in martini shakers make the rounds.
Unfortunately, the cheese coma will eventually kick in and you’ll have to call it a night.
Leysin is a few hours by train from Geneva to Aigle and then a 20-minute cog train ride up the mountain. It’s a pretty easy drive but there is no way you can do it without chains in winter.
Highly romantic, stupidly beautiful, always fun and perpetually sunny, Leysin rocks the Casbah.
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