jamesdeluxe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
Due to starting a new job late last year, I was only able to book one trip to the Alps this season so I flew out last Wednesday in the midst of the growing Coronavirus hysteria in the U.S. Here in Switzerland, you hear news about the pandemic on radio, TV, and internet, but in real life, no one seems to be talking about it much and you don't see anyone wearing respiratory masks, despite being only 100 or so air miles from ground zero of the European outbreak in northern Italy.
As you may remember me mentioning in past reports -- whereas we in the U.S. always look forward to skiing through storm days, here in the Alps it's not necessarily a situation you want because many ski areas are mostly above treeline so if you get low-lying clouds/fog, it can turn into a vertigo-inducing challenge. That's what I got on Days 1 and 2; very interesting ski areas (I'll post about them later) but really tough visibility -- sometimes a total whiteout, similar to what you get occasionally at Grand Targhee -- so we'll fast-forward to Day 3 when the weather cleared a bit for my arrival at the ski circuit of Obersaxen/Mundaun about 50 miles as the crow flies south/southeast of Zurich. It's just to the west of the larger and more well-known Flims/Laax:
By Alps standards, Obersaxen/Mundaun is considered somewhere between medium and medium-large in size with 60 miles of marked trails. That's 5.5 miles across, about the same size as The Canyons and Park City combined, with huge expanses of offpiste skiing:
Obersaxen can also lay claim to one of my favorite ski-area logos (right up there with Hickory's original one with the rabbit). I'm glad that they've kept it old-school/no flashy updating:
My pix are OK but not spectacular and don't really show the expanse or gorgeous views. For that, check out these stunning photos that an Austrian skier posted a few years back. The first lift ride, it looked like 3-4 inches had fallen overnight; enough to freshen things up nicely offpiste.
On my first run, there were still plenty of high clouds; however, visibility was decent enough so I followed this guy for a long run through soft bootcuff-deep snow.
I like the pix of this young girl, who appears to be skiing into clouds that look like the Chernobyl nuclear reactor:
Traversing through the western quarter of the ski area:
There's a really long run that wraps around the south-facing backside of the ski area, starting off with a massive cloud bank:
Then clearing up with a long-distance vista:
German-speaking skiers love to do the sitting-down thing on cat tracks:
About 3,300 verts later, you hit the lower-elevation tree line with snowmaking in spots:
I stopped in for a mid-afternoon coffee/dessert break here:
A really enjoyable day at a ski area that's decently known, but overshadowed by larger, more recognizable mountains.
As you may remember me mentioning in past reports -- whereas we in the U.S. always look forward to skiing through storm days, here in the Alps it's not necessarily a situation you want because many ski areas are mostly above treeline so if you get low-lying clouds/fog, it can turn into a vertigo-inducing challenge. That's what I got on Days 1 and 2; very interesting ski areas (I'll post about them later) but really tough visibility -- sometimes a total whiteout, similar to what you get occasionally at Grand Targhee -- so we'll fast-forward to Day 3 when the weather cleared a bit for my arrival at the ski circuit of Obersaxen/Mundaun about 50 miles as the crow flies south/southeast of Zurich. It's just to the west of the larger and more well-known Flims/Laax:
By Alps standards, Obersaxen/Mundaun is considered somewhere between medium and medium-large in size with 60 miles of marked trails. That's 5.5 miles across, about the same size as The Canyons and Park City combined, with huge expanses of offpiste skiing:
Obersaxen can also lay claim to one of my favorite ski-area logos (right up there with Hickory's original one with the rabbit). I'm glad that they've kept it old-school/no flashy updating:
My pix are OK but not spectacular and don't really show the expanse or gorgeous views. For that, check out these stunning photos that an Austrian skier posted a few years back. The first lift ride, it looked like 3-4 inches had fallen overnight; enough to freshen things up nicely offpiste.
On my first run, there were still plenty of high clouds; however, visibility was decent enough so I followed this guy for a long run through soft bootcuff-deep snow.
I like the pix of this young girl, who appears to be skiing into clouds that look like the Chernobyl nuclear reactor:
Traversing through the western quarter of the ski area:
There's a really long run that wraps around the south-facing backside of the ski area, starting off with a massive cloud bank:
Then clearing up with a long-distance vista:
German-speaking skiers love to do the sitting-down thing on cat tracks:
About 3,300 verts later, you hit the lower-elevation tree line with snowmaking in spots:
I stopped in for a mid-afternoon coffee/dessert break here:
A really enjoyable day at a ski area that's decently known, but overshadowed by larger, more recognizable mountains.
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