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 three major ski resorts in the region known as the Upper Engadin. Two are close to town. Corviglia, directly behind St Moritz, basks in the light directly above town. Corvatsch, near Silvaplana is a huge, shaded beast of a mountain across the valley. The third, 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
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 below.
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.
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. Its skiable vertical of over 1,500m is what skiing BIG mountains in Europe is all about. Superb on-mountain eateries & gob-smacking views add cream and a cherry on top!
See the Corvatsch ski trail map below.
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 are a bonus. Luggage is downloaded for you & picked up at the base station once finished skiing. The off-piste skiing and snow quality is excellent, but we barely even scratched the surface. there is loads to explore on these mountains, including a 1,110m vertical, 10km long glacier run.
See the Diavolezza-Lagalb ski trail map below.
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!
Skiing Highlights
A few of the skiing highlights St Moritz - Upper Engadin region include the following:
- With an all resorts ‘Upper Engadin’ lift pass in hand, start early and do a full ‘4 Peaks’ resort tour of the region. Start at the St Moritz train station. Take an early train to Diavolezza station and catch the first cable car & the chairlift to reach the first peak (3,006m) and ski the delicious 900m+ vert down. Head across to Lagalb and repeat the dose. Get on a train back to St Moritz and bus it up to the funicular in town before heading up Corviglia and then take the cable car to Piz Nair (3,057m) and work your way all the way to St Moritz bad. It will require a at least one chairlift ride. Take the bus to Surlej and head all the way up to the top of Corvatsch (3,303m). Ski down in a few pitches to any of the base areas. Job done!
- Start early and ski the perfectly groomed pistes on Corviglia as the sun rises and shines onto the slopes ….. and whilst all the punters in St Moritz are still in bed!
- On a powder day (or not), at Corvatsch, start at Furtschellas and go all the way to the top. Ski off-piste the entire vertical back down, skirting around the top of Crap Mellan (yep, it’s a real place!), taking in a wonderful variety of terrain including larch glades. Skip over the valley trail and continue down to the valley. Phew, that’s fun.
- Head up to Piz Nair at Corviglia on a powder day (or not) and ski the steep, challenging terrain under the cable car.
- Stay overnight in the Berghaus Diavolezza at the top of the Diavolezza cable car. Get up early, watch the sunrise kiss the peaks of Piz Palü and Bellavista, then ski the entire mountain (on or off-piste depending on conditions) BEFORE the cable car starts. Be in line for first cable car up and repeat the performance before anyone else- yee har!
- If the glacier run to Morteratsch at Diavolezza is open, do it! The mountain and glacier scenery is fantastic, particularly where the Pers glacier meet the Morteratsch glacier. Taking a train back to a ski lift after a run is always fun too!
- Take some time to explore the region’s sidecountry terrain. Aside from a host of options just off the piste trails, the Val Arlas from the top of Diavolezza and Val Minor below Lagalb hold loads of adventure and fresh lines. From Corvatsch heading down into Val Roseg from the top is a local classic. There are so many more, and most will get you back to the lifts using the local public transport.
- Ski the full vertical (on piste!) at Corviglia descending from 3,057m at Piz Nair all the way down to Samedan situated at about 1,720m altitude. The last few kilometres are on ski route #26 which may a little rough in parts. Naturally, take the train back to St Moritz
- For something different go cross-country skiing & skate on the lakes from St Mortiz Bad to Furtschellas. Great exercise and a wonderful journey. Take the bus back if the return trip is too far.
- At the end of a long ski day, challenge yourself down Corvatsch’s piste #5, past Hahnensee (stop for a brew!) and continue down as the sun sets into St Moritz Bad for a few well-earned beers in the après ski hütte at the end of the trail.
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 and the cable cars limited capacity, 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 around the same & Diavolezza is the cheapest (and so it should be given its limited lift & piste infrastructure!). The Cristins beginner area at the Surlej base of Corvatsch has a separate, cheap lift pass as well.
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. If buying from the ticket window you will pay the highest daily rate - whatever that is! It is getting exceedingly difficult to work out how much a lift pass is going to cost from a ticket window...
Best Beginner Areas
Far & away, Corviglia has the best learn to ski & beginner infrastructure and terrain at St Moritz. Its four main areas cover all possibilities. Corvatsch has a small, convenient area at the Surlej base called Cristins, but it suffers from skiers crossing the main trail when returning to the cable car from the upper mountain. Diavolezza has a free rope tox near the cable car base for learning at high altitude!
Glacier Skiing at St Moritz
It is possible to ski glaciers at both Diavolezza and Corvatsch ski resorts. At Corvatsch one can ride the glacier for a few hundred metres vertical on or off-piste without too much challenge. At Diavolezza, the glacier skiing is via the 10km off piste valley run to Morteratsch. Whilst not seriously difficult, the glacier has crevasse hazards & can be rocky down low if snow cover is marginal. Check conditions before going.
More Information
Go direct to the separate resort overview pages for Corvatsch, Corviglia & Diavolezza-Lagalb if you want more info. 😊