Arosa in Switzerland is not one of the best known ski areas to people in the UK. Although located at a snow-sure 1740m metres above sea level, and easy to reach on a spectacular train journey from Zurich, its 70km of mostly intermediate terrain did not really meet up to modern market demands, and its themed humour, jazz, and gay ski weeks had, well, limited appeal to just those niche markets.
The local ski club was established back in 1903, and as the 21st century got underway, Arosa’s client base was increasingly ”mature”.
Something had to be done, and this year a new lift connection to neighbouring Lenzerheide, which has created a giant joint ski area with 225km of piste, has completed a transformation that was undertaken a little over 5 years ago.
More of that later, but first up to the plate was the resort’s leading hotel, the 5★ Tschuggen Grand.
About 8 years ago, the onwers of the Tschuggen decided it needed to do something very different and create something unique to put itself, and Arosa, on the map.
In the end it did two things. Firstly, a spectacular spa, complete with iconic architecture, was created. The 5000m2 facility, linked to the hotel by a glass bridge, is one of Europe’s biggest and best. Built into a neighbouring hillside, light wells shaped like sails stand above the building, filtering daylight down into the semi-subterranean spa, then at night-time, lit from within, the sails shine out as a unique architectural feature of the hotel.
But for most skiers and boarders the hotel’s most amazing attraction is its personal funicular, which links the building to the ski slopes. Rather than install a private chairlift, or even a gondola, as some top ski hotels have around the world, the Tschuggen Grand wanted something unique, something different.
So they decided to try something completely new – the Tschuggen Express, a luxurious private funicular, which awaits its guests as they leave the in-hotel ski hire shop, or arrives at the push of a button.
The lift has two comfortable large gondola cabin-style cars, each capable of carrying six guests, and runs on a miniature track, on-demand, rather than hanging from a wire.
With just over ½km of track, the Express is something a James Bond movie master villain would be proud of, quickly ascending 150 vertical metres, at gradients up to 52%, its seats tilt to compensate for the slope. Travelling at 4m/s, it takes just 2½ minutes to reach the ski slopes. Hotel guests’ lift passes can be used to ride the Tschhuggen Express, and all the other lifts of Arosa and Lenzerheide. Passes not issued to hotel guests won’t work on the Express.
Once at the top stop, it’s an easy ski down through pretty inner Arosa, full of idyllic old Swiss wooden chalets, to a modern gondola lift, which takes you up to Arosa’s second super-cool lift, the all-new cable car that crosses the 1.7km-wide Urdental valley to create the link to Lenzerheide from Hörnli.
This new lift opened in January, after many years of planning and construction, which eventually led to separate public referenda from each resort to agree its construction, has twin giant 151-passenger cable car cabins. Like the Tschuggen Express, it’s very fast and very cool, making the crossing in just 3 minutes 12 seconds.
So all in all, you can leave your hotel room in the Tschuggen Grand, pop on your warmed ski boots, and jump on the Tschuggen Express, ski down and ride the gondola, then the new cable car, and be skiing and boarding over in Lenzerheide in little over a quarter of an hour.
Of course, there’s no need to rush before you board that new cable car, as the Hörnli Hut at the top of the gondola has superb views and a reputation for great food.
So it’s no surprise that along with business being up, the Tschuggen Grand reports the average age of its clientele has dropped by more than a decade.
Although belittled by some for that ”small” ski area, Arosa’s powder bowl is a lot of fun, and great for families, and beginners or intermediates, and will remain an attraction for those who prefer their slopes uncrowded with a friendly, intimate atmosphere.
And now the new cable car takes the skiing possibilities to a new world-class standard. Lenzerheide has more than twice the terrain, and a reputation for much more steep stuff for the serious skier. There are, for example, ten black runs, 19km of slopes, including the 6.5km Weisshorn Speed descent, compared with Arosa’s two.
Back in Arosa, at the end of the day, you may want to stop for a little après-ski drink at one of the ski huts closer to the hotel, and perhaps book dinner in one of the Tschuggen Grand’s restaurants – the Bunderstube, famed for its fondues and raclettes is particularly good fun, as it has a classic skittles alley to enjoy too.
Alternatively (or additionally) you could switch your skis for a classic Davos toboggan, using the Tschuggen Express to access the toboggan run that snakes away beneath it back to the hotel, or you could just slip on your swimwear and fluffy bathrobe and cross the glass bridge to the spa.
In short, a ski holiday in Arosa–Lenzerheide has gone from feeling a little dated, to being a serious contender for the title of the coolest ski resort in the world.