Five great winter activities in Switzerland
In association with Switzerland Tourism
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Your support makes all the difference.Skiing and snowboarding may be the kings of winter sports, but you can do more with cold conditions than speed down a piste – especially if you book a holiday in Switzerland this year. Whether it is tobogganing, cross-country skiing, snowshoe-trekking or even cycling on ice, the many resorts in this winter wonderland of a country have plenty to offer.
Tobogganing
It seems such child-friendly fun – zipping down a hill on a wooden sledge. But there is also much for adults to enjoy in the toboggan run that ebbs for four miles between Preda and Bergün, in Graubünden. This slippery miracle (schlitteln-berguen.ch) drops 1,312ft (400m) in altitude as it goes, and is floodlit for swift dashes after dark. It is also wonderfully picturesque – if one ride is not enough, you can catch the iconic Rhaetian Railway back to Preda for a second go. Similarly, La Tzoumaz in Valais is home to western Switzerland’s longest toboggan course – a six-mile proposition which begins at the Savoleyres summit station, at 7,723ft (2,354m), and loses 2,687ft (819m) as it swerves steeply back into town.
■ en.graubuenden.ch; latzoumaz.ch
Cross-country skiing
Skiing can be a horizontal as well as semi-vertical affair – and Engadin St. Moritz is a true haven for cross-country adventures. It has witnessed two Winter Olympics, and has splendid terrain for gliding on the level – so much so that it hosts the Engadin Ski Marathon every March, where up to 13,000 skiers try to cover the 26 miles between Maloja and S-chanf. Less competitive visitors can try as much or as little of this route as they like – including a six-mile section which is illuminated after dark. Alternatively, the Gantrisch cross-country ski centre (bern.com), on the outskirts of Bern, has some 28 miles of trails – allowing skiers of all levels to traverse a wonderful winter landscape a short journey from the heart of this vibrant city.
■ bern.com; engadin.stmoritz.ch
Winter walking
Even walking can be a wild escapade in Switzerland. Champex-Lac, in Valais, will provide a picture-postcard setting this winter. Between late December and the end of February, the Fondation Barry – the organisation which has long provided Saint Bernard dogs as mountain guides – will be offering group walks with these noble hounds. Adult visitors will be able to walk a dog on a lead – while children will be able to sit behind them and be pulled on a sledge. Also in Valais, the Zinal Glacier – at the hamlet of Zinal, in the Val d’Anniviers – is accessible between November and March via day-long guided treks. Snow-shoes are required, but incomparable scenery comes as standard.
■ champex.ch; valdanniviers.ch
Adrenaline
Cycling is no longer confined to roads and mountain tracks. Intrepid holidaymakers can now spin pedals on snow via revolutionary “fat bikes” – broad-wheeled contraptions with four-inch-wide tyres that are ideal for icy conditions. These can be ridden at the Sparenmoos – a winter-sports zone at Gstaad in the Bernese Oberland. A dedicated Fat Bike Test Weekend, scheduled for 5-6 March, will see the best cyclists in the sport reveal how it is done. Elsewhere, Stoos, in central Switzerland, is a fine destination if you want to ride an airboard – a mix of an inflatable sledge and a body-board on which brave types can throw themselves down slopes. Stoos has two pistes available for such fun, on the Fronalpstock peak. Experts will show off their skills via the Airboard Team Attack race, on 1 February.
Ice sports
Few things sing of winter like afternoons on ice. Interlaken, in the Bernese Oberland, will salute the season from 19 December via Top Of Europe ICE MAGIC (icemagic.ch) where a giant rink (plus three smaller ones, great for families and children) will take over the centre of town. Davos Klosters has Europe’s largest natural ice rink – a chilled space of 18,000 square metres – as well as a superb artificial alternative in Davos Platz, where visitors can glide through an afternoon. For a different experience, the Engadin Ice Trail is a circular two-mile forested route in Sur En near Scuol, which cuts through fir trees in photogenic fashion. The ice is readied every day with brushes and water.
■ interlaken.ch; davos.ch; engadin.com
For further inspiration, go to MySwitzerland.com or call 00800 100 200 30
Click here to view tours of Switzerland, with Independent Holidays.
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