Arosa-Lenzerheide, Switzerland: March 9, 2020

[ChrisC]

I was trying to get from Andermatt to St. Moritz, but i got started too late from Andermatt 6/7pm after a great day.

Reading James and Tony's reviews of Arosa-Lenzerheide, I decided that it would be a great stop.

There was a super technology hotel at the base of the Rothorn 1 Gondola that does not even have a check-in person - everything is automated- Revier Mountain Lodge Lenzerheide. Interesting - the tech geek in me loved it. It allowed me to park my car, stay in a simple modern room and just ski - great!

The next day I woke up and it was cloudy and snowy - not optimal for the Alps. But I went out to ski by Braille in the early morning on the East side of Lenzerheide. Interesting note: the Rothorn 2 Tram ski route was cut through mountains, but relatively flat.
However, wish I could have skied some off-piste off the Rothorn, but could not see anything.

There were breaks in the snow, but otherwise, it was tough skiing on the east side in the 10 am zone - so I took the tram to Arosa.

Arosa had increasing visibility and more snow accumulation (4-6").

The best advanced skiing was off the Weisshorn:

The Hornli area was more mellow:

 

[ChrisC]

In the afternoon I skied the west side of Lenzerheide. The resort is poorly interconnected - I missed the the correct piste the first time. There was slightly more snow in the valley - closer 6 inches.

The terrain on the west side has a nice fun playful high intermediate/low advanced gradient - was able to make it down the valley to the south side until the lifts closed and needed to take a bus to the car. Although the ski area is not well connected ski-wise -- the bus system was quite good.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Great to see that you made it to ALH. As you note, the west side of Lenzerheide is fun with fresh snow. Too bad that you didn't get any full sun like I did in December 2017.
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... =5&t=12521

 

[ChrisC]

Really liked the place! Another under-the-radar...likely bigger than Vail...Alps ski resort.

Reminded me of a day in the Cascades when I lived in Seattle. It was OK visibility for most of the day.

My only issue: where's the steep stuff? I could barely see what was offered by the Rothorn. The Weisshorn had some nice lines.

The town looked great too - I did not get to explore it. More high-end than i thought - but if Roger Federer makes it his home base....

Really, this seemed like the type of place Americans would like if they skied the Alps. Cute town, big mountain, lots of huts, nothing too scary, cannot get into too much trouble...

Thanks to you and Tony for pointing this place out.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Liz and I got a good overview of Arosa with some powder. We saw not too much of Lenzerheide due to navigation errors with the tenuous interconnection across the road. I was also not feeling well and so faded fast in the afternoon.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

My only issue: where's the steep stuff?

I only skied 1.5 days there but most of what I remember was how you described it -- upper-intermediate/low advanced -- which works for me, but may leave expert skiers wanting more. IMO, the terrain analogy to Vail is apt as far as pitch and extent.

They could make the circuit even larger by connecting nearby Tschiertschen; however, I hope they leave that off-the-beaten-path area alone:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... =5&t=14194