Klosters, Switzerland

Danny Mann from UNITED KINGDOM writes:

Klosters is a pretty village, It will be alot nicer when the Bypass Tunnel is built as on a Friday and Sunday the roads get very busy with people travelling on to the other resorts in the area. The village has a range of ski hire shops and a small supermarket. There are also a number of restaurants and bars. The apres ski is very subdued but plesant.

I have been skiing at Klosters for the last 3 seasons. and love the charm of the place. It comprises 2 mountain areas Madrisa and Gotchna (Which can also be accessed by a mountain train from Davos). The Gondula for Gotchna is split over 2 rides. The first gondula leaves from the center of the village and travels up to a midway point where a smaller gondula takes you up on to the mountain.

The Cable car lift to Madrisa is a short bus journey out of the village. Busses are frequent (About every 8-10 minutes).

Skiing on Madrisa is perfect for beginners and intermediate skiers. There are only a few runs here that would challenge an advanced skiier.

At the cable car lift there is a large self service restaurant and picnic area from which there are 2 T bar lifts. The first takes you up on to gentle blue runs where as the second takes you up further where the runs back down tend to be red. There is a blue run down but it has a step first section that can be tricky and intimidating for begginers. From this top lift it is possible to ski down the back of the mountain. It is possible when there is enough snow in the lower resort to ski from here down to the village.

In Summary Madrisa is perfect for the beginer to intermediate who could spend the whole week happily learning and being challenged. But it lacks the variety to capture the needs of anyone more experienced than intermediate for more than a day or so.

Gotchna however is where it is at once you have got you ski legs. From where the Gondula drops you off are a number of fast reds that lead down to T bars that help you traverse across the mountain towards the longer runs. There are a number of cable cars that take you up to the highest point of the mountain from which there are some great carving pistes and a variety of other slopes. The beauty of Gotchna is that it has slopes facing every direction which allows you to choose the best conditioned pistes. (as the south facing pistes can sometimes get slushy in the afternoons).

There are a number of challenging black runs from the top of Gotchna and at the end of the day a fun run back down to the village. It is also possible to ski in to the Davos resort and catch the train back to klosters.

The night life in Davos is alot more upbeat and has many more hotels, pubs and restaurants than Klosers village. The train linking the 2 takes about 20 minutes.

Like many resorts when the weather is good, the weekends tend to be very busy, but come the start of the new week it sometimes feels like your the only one in the mountains...

2004-01-08