Davos 6 Day Snow Forecast

Darren Pataki from United Kingdom writes:

Until last year I have been going to Davos for two weeks every Easter, but since the GBP has fallen so much against the CHF I have found that Davos just doesn't offer the same value for money as resorts, say, in Austria.

What Davos excels at is the sheer number of mountains to ski. What lets Davos down is the sheer number of drag lifts across the entire resort. The mountains Pischa, Madrisa and Rinerhorn are, once you've got off the gondola at the middle station, exclusively T-bar, which is a shame if you're a snowboarder or you have small children that are still learning (and, if like me, you don't want to just pack 'em off to ski school but would actually like to have them around on what is your family holiday). These are 3 excellent mountains that offer fantastic skiing/boarding but which are ultimately let down by their archaic lift systems.

Even more annoying is the fact that Pischa, Madrisa and Rinerhorn all close ridiculously early in the season, regardless on how much snowfall there has been. Admittedly, Easter can be late, but my final 3 years to the resort has found all 3 mountains closed before I even got there.

Which leaves you Jakobshorn and Parsenn. Again, too many T-bars. However, there are at least a good smattering of chairs (quad or above) and gondolas. Parsenn also has the updated funicular, of which they have this year replaced the upper part (although this is a waste of investment in my opinion as everyone gets off at the mid point and takes the 6 person Parsenn Rapide chairlift anyway - the money would have been much better invested in replacing the remaining T-bars).

Personally of the two, I prefer Parsenn as I feel the runs are longer and more varied and you get the feeling that you're actually going somewhere, such as when taking the route down into Klosters. Be warned though, the two blacks (13 and 16) that run down into Wolfgang have no return lift so there is no option but to buy a beer at Kessler's Kulm (or the Shell garage, which is also owned by Kessler!) and wait for a bus back to Parsennbahn in the town.

I have no interest in off-piste, but for those that have there is much.

Basically, compared to other resorts, I am disappointed to say that I feel Davos is resting on its laurels a bit - especially now that I am comparing it to other areas that are investing heavily in updating their lift systems and are offering comparable - if not the sheer amount - of skiing/boarding (such as Solden (Austria) and Andalo (Italy), to name but two).

2011-01-27