jnelly
Member
After leaving Vorarlberg Thursday afternoon, I arrived in Chur and found my hotel. For a few of the things I read and saw about Chur being a dump and dirty* so I was not expecting much more than a jump off point and kinda lamented on staying there once I entered the outskirts, but I ended up being very happy with it. This was never going to be a 100% ski centric trip so being able to knock around town was a nice option as was in Schruns.
*I'd add that "dirty" is definitelty relative. You could've eaten off the floor of the train station in Chur, so take it for what its worth.
The old town section (Altstadt) was pretty cool. Definitely had a Cold War era spy vibe to it. Walking around at night with the church bells ringing, the murmur of people the cobblestone streets; I felt like I should be walking to a dead drop site and not looking for a good haunt to crush a brew in.
Side note, I know one of the knocks on Chur is how quiet it is…I’d agree 100%. People looking for nightclubs need not apply. I found it super refreshing personally… no horns, no banger bars, no one peddling / gouging your eyes out for change. Quiet in a refreshing way.
Friday it was time to hit Tschiertschen, a James special, and one I was immediately drawn to when initially researching options. The entire idea was right up my alley. Old traditional village on the side of the mountain and skiing that’s more my flavor. Rollers, trees, good views, small and low key. I also luckily nabbed the Pistenknuller ticket on the last day, so bonus there!
The weather was okay. Grey, but you could see across the valley most of the time. But on the slope side a fog would come from the southwest and slowly drift down to about the upper 1/3 of the mountain. At brief times visibility was terrible and there was zero depth perception on the piste. I had this poor woman, go past me as I was trying to navigate poles and could tell she totally lost sight, a second later, complete yard sale in front of me. She was last in her group and they didn’t see her bite it, so I acheived my good deed for the day helping her get collected.
I never did see the top of the Jochalp lift save for a brief moment near the end of day; but I for most of the day I could just make out the top of Gurgaletsch lift, however that was not running at all (a fellow on the lift told me bc of avalanche danger' but wasn’t sure). Most of the day that fog just hung over and drifted in and out. So I basically only got to ski 2/3rds of the place. Second or third to last run, I noticed a small window opening in the fog at the top of Jochalp lift so that was going to be my last run for the day…but by the time I got back up and heading towards it a large cloud/fog bank enveloped the entire place down to the village and I called it a day.
My impressions were good. If I were in the area again, I'd def come back. I’d love-love to be here on bluebird day. I like the pace. I like the setting. The off piste had tons of potential and I did partake in some but here again, it was pretty cut up so minimal amounts. But a fresh layer on the off-piste here would be sweet. Lots of little enclaves to explore with minimal trouble to get into. The rest of the pistes were good. The best snow was to the west side of the mountain..There was not much in the way of scratchy, except where the tots slalom was taking place. I must admit, as much as I loved skiing into town, thru cabins and lanes…I had a notion to trade in my skis for a sled. The sledding trails were really cool. I love how they meandered all over the place. Also, could riding a wooden toboggan with a sheepskin fit into the whole idyllic setting more perfectly? Don’t think you could draw it up better. Although they could repaint some of the piste makers here, in the low light, the purple and red trails were indistinguishable and I ended up on a few sledding parts.
A memo for anyone that might stumble into this. I had made a preliminary reservation for staying in Tschiertschen at The Alpina Lodge and I had cancelled it and rebooked in Chur. I did this with the sense that if people thought Chur was quiet, TChen might be like a funeral home….glad I listened to my gut for a few reasons. 1. You could hear a pin drop up there. It was cool, but I think particularly if you’re alone and staying here, you could have some “all work and no play makes jack a dull boy” moments. Ie. You’d lose ur ever loving mind.
2: After having to get towed up a relatively modest incline during a modest storm earlier in the week. Getting the hell out of a place like this if you had to for itinerary or medical purposes during such weather events would be interesting.
Is there a patent for this yet?
Gurgaletsch lift.
Skiing amoungst these was so great.
The one thing I kept thinking all morning was. I really need to reapply my Joop at some point. Eureka!
Run 5a-b
End of day
*I'd add that "dirty" is definitelty relative. You could've eaten off the floor of the train station in Chur, so take it for what its worth.
The old town section (Altstadt) was pretty cool. Definitely had a Cold War era spy vibe to it. Walking around at night with the church bells ringing, the murmur of people the cobblestone streets; I felt like I should be walking to a dead drop site and not looking for a good haunt to crush a brew in.
Side note, I know one of the knocks on Chur is how quiet it is…I’d agree 100%. People looking for nightclubs need not apply. I found it super refreshing personally… no horns, no banger bars, no one peddling / gouging your eyes out for change. Quiet in a refreshing way.
Friday it was time to hit Tschiertschen, a James special, and one I was immediately drawn to when initially researching options. The entire idea was right up my alley. Old traditional village on the side of the mountain and skiing that’s more my flavor. Rollers, trees, good views, small and low key. I also luckily nabbed the Pistenknuller ticket on the last day, so bonus there!
The weather was okay. Grey, but you could see across the valley most of the time. But on the slope side a fog would come from the southwest and slowly drift down to about the upper 1/3 of the mountain. At brief times visibility was terrible and there was zero depth perception on the piste. I had this poor woman, go past me as I was trying to navigate poles and could tell she totally lost sight, a second later, complete yard sale in front of me. She was last in her group and they didn’t see her bite it, so I acheived my good deed for the day helping her get collected.
I never did see the top of the Jochalp lift save for a brief moment near the end of day; but I for most of the day I could just make out the top of Gurgaletsch lift, however that was not running at all (a fellow on the lift told me bc of avalanche danger' but wasn’t sure). Most of the day that fog just hung over and drifted in and out. So I basically only got to ski 2/3rds of the place. Second or third to last run, I noticed a small window opening in the fog at the top of Jochalp lift so that was going to be my last run for the day…but by the time I got back up and heading towards it a large cloud/fog bank enveloped the entire place down to the village and I called it a day.
My impressions were good. If I were in the area again, I'd def come back. I’d love-love to be here on bluebird day. I like the pace. I like the setting. The off piste had tons of potential and I did partake in some but here again, it was pretty cut up so minimal amounts. But a fresh layer on the off-piste here would be sweet. Lots of little enclaves to explore with minimal trouble to get into. The rest of the pistes were good. The best snow was to the west side of the mountain..There was not much in the way of scratchy, except where the tots slalom was taking place. I must admit, as much as I loved skiing into town, thru cabins and lanes…I had a notion to trade in my skis for a sled. The sledding trails were really cool. I love how they meandered all over the place. Also, could riding a wooden toboggan with a sheepskin fit into the whole idyllic setting more perfectly? Don’t think you could draw it up better. Although they could repaint some of the piste makers here, in the low light, the purple and red trails were indistinguishable and I ended up on a few sledding parts.
A memo for anyone that might stumble into this. I had made a preliminary reservation for staying in Tschiertschen at The Alpina Lodge and I had cancelled it and rebooked in Chur. I did this with the sense that if people thought Chur was quiet, TChen might be like a funeral home….glad I listened to my gut for a few reasons. 1. You could hear a pin drop up there. It was cool, but I think particularly if you’re alone and staying here, you could have some “all work and no play makes jack a dull boy” moments. Ie. You’d lose ur ever loving mind.
2: After having to get towed up a relatively modest incline during a modest storm earlier in the week. Getting the hell out of a place like this if you had to for itinerary or medical purposes during such weather events would be interesting.
Is there a patent for this yet?
Gurgaletsch lift.
Skiing amoungst these was so great.
The one thing I kept thinking all morning was. I really need to reapply my Joop at some point. Eureka!
Run 5a-b
End of day