Corviglia and Diavolezza

Corviglia and Diavolezza are the ski resorts we went to in St. Moritz. I think there are 5 ski resorts in the St. Moritz area, though one is just for sledding which is pretty neat. This southeastern area of the Alps, which includes St. Moritz, is known as the Engadin and it is known for sunshine (it has 322 sunny days per year which is more than Colorado) and plentiful outdoor activities.

We went to Corviglia on Saturday and I really liked it there. It was easy to get around, it was sunny, the trails were nice and wide and not too steep, and the snow was packed but not icy. I took some pics of the clouds starting to roll in from below:





And some more mountains from the top ... I was sitting on my butt to take this picture and nowhere near the edge so it's not the best view but you get the idea.



On Sunday we went to Diavolezza. We really liked it there. It has one really long run that covers 1,000 meters of vertical and a couple of shorter runs you can do on a small lift at the top and that's it. But that's all you need! I was nervous going here because there are no easy trails, it's all intermediate or advanced and the shorter trails at the top should be labeled as advanced, no joke, but they're not. Intermediate trails here range from somewhat flat to terrifyingly steep ... which ain't right. You never know what you're going to get until you try it. Thankfully the long run at Diavolezza had an advanced route and an intermediate route and the intermediate route was just right for me ... wide open trails. It had a few flat areas one of which I (along with all the other snowboarders and some skiers) ended up hiking every single time.

The views at Diavolezza were breathtaking. They rivaled the views we had while skiing at Lake Louise or Sunshine in Banff. But, enough words, here are the pictures:

These two I took from the top:





Here I am resting on my butt again:



In the afternoon Martin skied down a glacier. Instead of doing the long run down the front, you could go over the back of the mountain and ski over a glacier. The down side was that you had to wait at the bottom for a train to get back to the base of the mountain. Since Martin had no idea when the trains ran he of course just missed one when he got to the bottom and had to wait for an hour for the next one. But he got some great pictures on his way down!





You had to stay between the poles on this run to avoid falling to your death but thankfully the trail was well marked. I'm glad I didn't try it in the end because Martin said it had a lot of flat spots that I would have had to hike through.











Just look at all those glaciers ... global warming can't possibly exist. :)

Here are some pics we took from the car on the drive home ...





The Engadin is absolutely gorgeous ... I highly recommend making a trip there, if you have the time and the money. Martin and I decided it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, until we get rich and can afford to get back there again.