The Adventure Kids travel to St. Moritz, Switzerland to ski the most famous of its slopes, Corviglia.

There are some places that are almost iconic when it comes to the sporting world; for scuba divers it is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, for golfers it might be the K Club in Ireland or St. Andrew's in Scotland, and for skiers, it is definitely St. Moritz.

As a skier, I (Debra) had been waiting a long time to ski St. Moritz. I was first set to ski St. Moritz when I was 16 years old, however, due to an abrupt change in plans, my dream of skiing this remarkably breathtaking area was put on hold for a few short years, ahem, okay, for a few long years. Anyways, when Edward and I decided to take a trip to St. Moritz in January 2008, I knew that this time, without fail, I would finally ski St. Moritz and realize a longtime dream.

After many years of dreaming, the day that I had eagerly anticipated had finally arrived. It was as if St. Moritz knew that I had long been waiting for this moment, and the weather was gorgeous, bright blue skies, dry, and -1° C (30° F). Okay, perhaps the writer in me gets carried away sometime, as St. Moritz boasts a remarkable number of 322 days of sunshine per year, in fact their logo has a sun on it, and then again we could have been unfortunate and experienced one of their rare cloudy days.

Our friend Priska Zahner met us at the Kulm Hotel St. Moritz where we were staying, and dressed in our ski clothes, we walked the short distance to the ski shop to rent our ski equipment. Fully outfitted, we left the shop, and since Edward is a novice skier, Priska decided that we should forego taking the lift, and carry our skis up the hill so that Edward could practice while we would ski the more challenging pistes. Huffing and puffing we walked up the steep hill carrying our skis with altitude taking its effect, wondering if Priska was trying to kill us, as well as wondering if we would have the strength to ski once we finally reached our destination. Thankfully, miraculously, we finally arrived at our desired location, and with Edward left to practice on his own, we set off to experience the pistes of Corviglia, which has an impressive height of 2486 meters/8156 feet.

Taking the lifts and seeing the majestic mountains stretching out before me was incredible; I felt like I was seeing an old friend whose beauty was intoxicating. The fact that I was actually here, at Corviglia, was almost impossible to believe, but I quickly snapped to my senses when my feet touched the ground and it was suddenly showtime! With my heart racing with adrenaline, I followed Priska as she traversed the piste while muttering under my breath to myself that I could indeed do this! It had been several years since I had last skied, but I could do this! My muttering must have helped, because finally the connection between my brain, which often thinks that it is still 16 years old, and my legs, which did not quite feel like 16 years old at the moment, fell into the old rhythm and I was skiing. Yes, I was skiing, in St. Moritz! I felt like yipping with joy, although since I was already muttering to myself I thought better about doing this, lest my fellow skiers and snowboarders skiing past me question my sanity, and kept my joy safely restrained inside.

St. Moritz, Switzerland

Edward: Always ready for an adventure and awestruck by the unparalleled beauty of the mountains surrounding St. Moritz, I snapped on my skis and readied for a fun filled day of hitting the trails. Though my history with skis does not go back as long as Debra's (days versus years), I none-the-less had been anticipating experiencing the slopes of St. Moritz. The beauty of the area and splendor of the snow covered mountains far surpassed anything I could have imagined; I realized how truly special this moment was and I was determined to succeed. I knew I may meet the snow face-to-face a few times, but through determination, perseverance, and a high threshold of pain, I was resolute to not let a chance like this slip through my ski gloves.

With perfect temperatures, crystal clear blue skies, and immaculately groomed slopes, I practiced my skiing skills that were taught to me a few days prior. Snowplowing, stepping, cutting, traversing, and using my poles to turn and pick myself up after a ‘practice fall,' I was on my way. As the day progressed the weather became unbelievably warm at +5 Celsius (+41 Fahrenheit), and though I had to walk to a few of the areas, which lead to a bit of excessive sweating as I wearing my ‘cool' ski outfit, I thought of it as the perfect workout in optimum conditions. I was hooked and how could I not be; though the runs were shorter, it allowed me to work on control and technique. I was having a fantastic time, and even when I fell I was right back up and I wanted to make another run. I only wish I had a few more days to really master the skis and the slopes so I could have skied a piste with Debra. 

Per our plan, after making several runs in the morning, we all met up for an al fresco lunch under a bright blue sunny ski at the Chesa Chantarella "where angels meet devils." Sitting on sheepskin throw covered chairs at a wooden table, we compared notes on how we had passed the morning. Edward told us that he has spent the time practicing his skiing on the easier runs, and when I remarked to Priska on how challenging I thought the blue pistes were that we had been skiing that morning, she looked at me, smiled, and replied that they were challenging because we had been skiing the red and black Kulm Hotel St. Moritz pistes. Well, believe me folks that came as a huge surprise for me. Since I had not been skiing in several years, and had only made a few runs with Edward two days prior in Arosa, Switzerland, I thought that we were going to take it nice and slow and easy for the first few runs of the day. To face facts here, I thought that the only black that I would be seeing of the slopes of St. Moritz would be the black and blue marks left on my body if I fell.

With an extreme feeling of exuberance and confidence, I smiled with the knowledge that I had skied red and black with some finesse and had managed not to fall; this was an incredibly wonderful day thus far, although I still had an afternoon of skiing awaiting me, and if Priska had her way, more red and black pistes!

We savored our lunch of salad followed by Swiss fondue to replenish the energy that we had used skiing, and with the sun basking down on us, we enjoyed a needed respite while gazing at the mountains.

Chesa Chantarella
Via Salastrains 10
7500 St. Moritz, Switzerland
Telephone:      +41 81-833-3356
www.Chesa-Chantarella.ch

Priska and I returned to the slopes for several runs traversing and schussing the pistes, while Edward continued skiing on his own. We met at the end of the day and took the cable car up to Piz Nair (3057 meters/10,029 feet), the highest point of Corviglia, for a spectacular view from the top of the world where we had a much-deserved drink and savored our memory of skiing in St. Moritz.

Although it took me several years to realize my dream of skiing St. Moritz, I finally made it happen, and perhaps the memory is all that much sweeter because of the wait. If it is at all possible why not go for it and realize your longtime dream? I guarantee that the thrill of accomplishment will be worth it!

 
Adventure Kids on Corviglia Mountain, St. Moritz, Switzerland

Read other articles on St. Moritz in the Destinations, Hotels and Resorts, Restaurants, Chefs' Recipes, Gastronomy, Spas, and Adventures sections.

Read other articles on Switzerland in the Destinations section including: Zurich, Switzerland; Bern, Switzerland; Interlaken, Switzerland; and Lucerne, Switzerland; Hotels and Resorts, Restaurants, Chefs' Recipes, Spas, Liquor Cabinet, Wine Cellar, Gastronomy, Luxury Products, and Adventures sections.

For information on Switzerland, please visit the website: www.MySwitzerland.com. For information on St. Moritz, please visit the websites: www.stmoritz.ch and www.Engadine.StMoritz.ch. For information on the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival and all of its events, please visit the website: www.StMoritz-GourmetFestival.ch. For information on the Cartier World Cup Polo on Snow, please visit the website: www.PoloStMoritz.com.

For information on Swiss International Air Lines, please visit the website: www.swiss.com. For information on the Swiss Pass, please visit the website: www.SwissTravelSystem.com.

For information on Arosa, please visit the website: www.Arosa.ch. For information on Lucerne, please visit the website: www.Luzern.org. For information on Interlaken, please visit the website: www.InterlakenTourism.ch. For information on Bern, please visit the website: www.BernInfo.com. For information on Zurich, please visit the website: www.Zuerich.com.

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