The 3 Resorts of St Moritz
Prior to first visiting St Moritz, it is usually assumed that there is a single ski resort in the area called ‘St Moritz’. The reality is that St Moritz skiing & snowboarding takes place at 3 major ski resorts in the region known as the Engadin. Two are close to town, Corviglia & Corvatsch & one, Diavolezza Lagalb, is 17km by road or rail to the southwest near the Bernina Pass.
Thankfully each St Moritz ski area is quite different & allows us to consider the question of where to ski at St Moritz more easily. In simple terms, think of Corviglia as the light, Corvatsch as the dark & Diavolezza Lagalb as the free! (Settle down ..... this is Switzerland, so nothing is for free. Think freeride, freedom & free-flowing!)
St Moritz Skiing & Snowboarding Terrain
St Moritz's three separate ski areas of Corviglia, Corvatsch and Diavolezza-Lagalb offer completely different skiing experiences. All three are connected by bus and/or train & it is possible to ski back to St Moritz Bad from Corvatsch, but otherwise there are no lift or piste trail links between the three areas (although there are plans for one- read on).
Corviglia
St Moritz’s ‘local hill’, Corviglia, basks in the light directly above town. A piste skiers paradise, it is accessed from four different points in the valley. Corviglia’s 155km of sunny south-facing slopes are wonderful for fast turns & long lunches. The off-piste is vast as well & includes everything from expert-only chutes to wide open alpine bowls. Strangely, the worst place to access the ski area is from the centre of St Moritz. The villages of Celerina and St Moritz Bad (as in ‘spa’) on the fringes are better. Start skiing early and the slopes will be deliciously perfect and deserted until after 10.30am (ish) when the glitterati finally get out.
See the Corviglia ski trail map Corviglia ski trail map.
Corvatsch
Corvatsch is a north-aspect behemoth up to 3,303m & includes 120km of piste and a glacier in its terrain. The opposite of Corviglia (literally - it is shaded & colder!), Corvatsch’s darkness nonetheless delivers fabulous snow quality & more terrain diversity than Corviglia. Superb on-mountain eateries & gob-smacking views add cream and a cherry on top!
See the Corvatsch ski trail map.
There are plans to replace the Corviglia's Signal cable car (St Moritz Bad) with a gondola & also, to lift link Corviglia to Corvatsch via a gondola from the Signal car park to above Corvatsch’s Hahnensee run. A tasty prospect indeed, but one that appears to be further & further away from fruition.
Diavolezza Lagalb
The freedom on St Moritz’s third ski area, Diavolezza Lagalb, is absolutely pleasurable. Spending the night on top of Diavolezza in the Berghaus is fun. First tracks in the morning after a beautiful sunrise over the glaciers & peaks during breakfast were a bonus. Luggage was downloaded for you & picked up at the base station once finished skiing. The off-piste skiing and snow quality was excellent, but we barely even scratched the surface.
See the Diavolezza-Lagalb ski trail map.
Diavolezza’s opposite number is Lagalb, which provides a similar ski experience to Diavolezza but with a different aspect. It is noticeably quieter compared to the other St Moritz ski areas, but none of them is particularly busy, so that observation is relative. Both Diavolezza & Lagalb have their own train station plus are linked by connecting trails and surface conveyors. Snowboarders will need to push a bit - that’ll teach you!
St Moritz Ski Lifts
All three St Moritz ski areas rely heavily on cable cars for access to each resort. Whilst not the best way up a ski hill on a busy day, here one is stuck with it. Exceptions are at Corviglia where depending on where one starts the day it is possible to take a chairlift from Suvretta, a cable car from St Moritz Bad, an awful 2-stage funicular from St Moritz or wonderful gondola from Celerina.
Whilst cable cars are pretty much all one gets at Diavolezza Lagalb, at Corvatsch & Corviglia they essentially are utilised to move skiers up to main terrain or up to the highest summits. All other lift infrastructure tends to be modern & comfortable chairlifts. Beginner areas have the usual range of surface conveyors & tows.
The best overall lift infrastructure is at Corviglia (no surprise). Corvatsch’s lifts are constrained by some complex terrain, but it is perfectly adequate on all but the busiest days.
Lift Passes
Each St Moritz ski resort has individual lift pricing as well as the 'Upper Engadin' regional passes that cover all resorts plus public transport including ALL buses & trains in the broader area. In effect, someone staying in St Moritz can take the train to Lagalb & return for free with an Upper Engadin all-resorts lift pass.
If wanting the day to day local lift pass option, Corviglia & Corvatsch cost the same & Diavolezza is the cheapest (and so it should be given its limited lift & piste infrastructure!).
All lift pass pricing is now set dynamically online depending on demand for each day. Pre-purchasing online can save up to 45% off the ticket window price, particularly for weekdays.
Trail Maps
Due to the separation of each ski area, there are several ski trail maps for the St Moritz ski resorts. Each provides a reasonable representation of the ski areas. See the trail maps below:
More information coming soon.... or not, depends on whether we find the time. Go direct to the separate resort overview pages in the meantime. 😊
