THE FACTS
- SEASON START & END:
-
- Corvatsch: Late November to Mid/Late April
- Diovalezza: Mid October for a month / Mid December to Early May
- Lagalb: Mid December to Mid April
- SKI ALTITUDE:
- Corvatsch: 1870-3303m / Vertical Drop- 1433m
- Diovalezza: 2093-2978m / Vertical Drop- 885m
- Lagalb: 2107-2893m / Vertical Drop- 786m
- PISTES:
- Corvatsch: 11% Beginner / 74% Intermediate / 15% Expert
- Diovalezza/Lagalb: 1% Beginner / 66% Intermediate / 33% Expert
- LIFTS:
- Corvatsch: 14 (Cable-3 / Chair lifts-6 / Drag lifts-5)
- Diovalezza/Lagalb: 4 (Cable-2 / Chair lifts-1 / Drag lifts-1 / Magic Carpet-1
- SLOPES:
- Corvatsch: 26 Pistes – total of 120 KM / Marked Freeride Routes 2km
- Diovalezza/Lagalb: 11 Pistes – total of 32 KM / Marked Freeride Routes 10km
- CROSS-COUNTRY: 220 KM of cross-country ski trails in the Engadine area
- SNOW:
- Corvatsch: 16% Artificial Snow / 200 Snow Cannons
- Diovalezza/Lagalb: 45% Artificial Snow / 21 Snow Cannons
- LIFT TICKET: 2018-19 Adult: 1 day pass CHF45 / 6 day pass CHF242.50
- (NOTE: Purchase ski passes at least 15 days before and get 30%)
- LANGUAGE: German, Italian & Rhaeto-Romansh
- NEAREST AIRPORT: St. Moritz airport or nearest international airport is Zurich 215km – 3 hours or Milan 175km – 3 hours.
- TRAIN: St. Moritz station. 3 hours from Zurich or Milan
- SKI FACTS: St. Moritz is made of 11 resorts with Corviglia and Corvatsch being 2 of the biggest followed by Diavolezza/Lagalb and Zuoz. There are 22 Snowsports Schools in total. Corvatsch has 4.2 kms of night skiing, and Diavolezza has full moon skiing.
TOWN
The biggest town in the Engadin valley area and the main centre is St. Moritz itself, which is steeped in Alpine tourism history. A the base of Corvatsch is the little town of Surlej, a slower pace of life compared to St. Moritz but with stunning views of Corviglia, one can feel the excitement of the mountains that sit just above it. Diavolezza and Lagalb do not have a town as such, however the nearest town is Pontresina just 15 minutes away, allegedly meaning ‘The Bridge of the Saracens‘ after 10th century Arab invasions. The village has an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity, luxury here is understated and subtle. The Grand Hotel Kronenhof once a guesthouse is reputed to be the first hotel to open to the public in the Alps.
The Engadin boasts some of the best culinary talents with 300 restaurants in the region, of which 30 have been awarded a total of 441 GaultMillau points and 8 Michelin stars between them. Top chef Rolf Fliegauf earned himself 2 of these Michelin stars in 2012 for the fabulous Ecco on Snow.
SKIING
In the Egadin valley there are 11 areas to ski with 4 of them being of some considerable size. Two of my favourites from this region are Corvatsch/Furtschellas and Diavolezza/Lagalb. Both vastly different from Corviglia that sits directly above St. Moritz. Both Corvatsch/Furtschellas and Diavolezza/Lagalb are snow-sure areas due to their height which makes for breathtaking views of peaks, glaciers and endless free-ride opportunities.
Corvatsch certainly won me over, the area feels vast and when we visited there was hardly anyone on the pistes so it felt like we had the mountain to ourselves; something I have heard from many other winter sports fans too. With 10 mountain restaurants one is spoilt for choice. Diavolezza- meaning ‘She-Devil’ is a spectacle; legend has it that many a man lustfully sort after her never to return from the mountain, well I lived to ski another day but she certainly won my heart. There may only be a couple of lifts but this is a mountain that I can ski again and again. If one books more than one night at a hotel offering the ‘Hotel and Ski Pass’ combination one gets the ski pass for a mere CHF 38.
BEGINNERS- Both areas do not have loads of terrain for beginners. Complete beginners may want to look to some of the smaller Engadine villages like Zuoz, Pontresina or Celerina.
INTERMEDIATE- Both areas of Corvatsch and Diavolezza have a huge amount of pistes for intermediates and will provide days of fun with their vast selection of terrain. For those wanting to experience their first black piste, it is worth checking out the Gluna Piste.
ADVANCED– There are not a vast array of black pistes around the St. Moritz region but the ones that exist are mostly in these two ski areas.
– OFF PISTE- Both areas offer great free-ride opportunities and because they are mostly north and north-east facing the off-piste tends to keep pretty well. Freeride areas of note are: Lagalb to La Rösa and Val Arlas (Diavolezza).
SKI AREA
- Corvatsch/Furtschellas 1797m – 3303m / Vertical Drop 1506
- Total 120km of piste – 6 Blue (13km) / 36 Red (89.3km) / 6 Black (17.7km) / 1 terrain park.
- Lift system 14 total – 3 cable cars / 5 Chair lifts / 6 Drag lifts.
- 10 mountain restaurants/bars.
Corvatsch has a very different feel to Corviglia with a more free-ride vibe. It is not unusual for the powder snow to stick around right through to April. It also has the largest freestyle terrain parks in Switzerland at the Murtèl middle station. The Black 9km ‘05-Hahnensee’ piste down to St. Moritz is worth a slide. On Fridays, Switzerland’s longest floodlit piste at 4.2km is open 7pm-1am Dec-Jan / 7pm-2am Feb-Apr. It can also be privately booked on other nights.
We loved all of the pistes but particularly liked the very quiet ‘01-Standard’ leading to ‘02-Fuorcla’. Favourite mountain restaurants on this side were ‘Fuorcla Surlej’ and ‘Alpetta’.
- Diavolezza 2093-2978m / Vertical Drop 885m
- Lagalb: 2107-2893m / Vertical Drop 786m
- Total 32km of piste – 1 Blue (0.3km) / 5 Red (21km) / 3 Black (10.7km) / 1 Ski Route (10km)
- Lift system 4 total – 2 cable cars / 1 Chair lifts / 1 Drag lifts / 1 Magic Carpet
- 4 mountain restaurants/bars.
Diavolezza . . . there is something enchanting about this place! 2 days in a row we skied the few pistes here and never got bored, is it the high Alpine views of the glaciers? Is it the beaming sun that seems to stay no matter what happens elsewhere? Is it because I saw about 4 other people skiing that day? Is it because the snow conditions are outstanding due to the aspect and altitude? Is it because as an Alpine Artist every mountain is a work of art? Or am I just under the spell of the Fairy Queen or She-devil as some call her? Who knows . . . but I can not wait to go back to stay over night, 3000 meters up at the Berghaus Diavolezza, Ski by the full moon on Glüna Plaina (Romansch) night and ski the 10km Glacier route. The freshly made pizzas at Pizzeria Piz Alv at the bottom of the Diavolezza Cable car station are certainly worth a mention.
Lagalb across the valley delivers some high altitude remote skiing as well. One can ski across from Diavolezza and take the magic Carpet. Once again the pistes are long and sweeping with very few people. On the days that we visited the weather was completely different on this side being windy with clouds, which demonstrates how mountains can have totally different micro climates from each other.
Look southwest towards to Diavolezza and northwest down the valley for some spectacular views.
Staying in Corvatsch or Diavolezza
For Hotels that are close to the Corvatsch Pistes then we recommend the 4* Superior Nira Alpina.
For Hotels that are close to the skiing at Diavolezza & Lagalb then we recommend the 5* Superior Grand Hotel Kronenhof.
Corvatsch, Diavolezza & Lagalb Piste Map
