With world-class skiing but none of the glitz, it’s little wonder Klosters has a royal following, as Tim Hughes discovered on a trip to this rarefied corner of Switzerland
They came by private jet, limo and helicopter, flanked by armed guards in sharp suits and dark glasses; the rich, the powerful, the world leaders and corporate giants who run this planet.
But while the slick town of Davos found itself in the spotlight for last week’s World Economic Forum, just over the mountain in a neighbouring valley, life was going on much as it has for hundreds of years. In the Alpine chalets and cosy hotels of Klosters, the talk was not of free trade and economic development but of sport. And in this corner of Switzerland that means only one thing: skiing.
The charm of Klosters is no great secret. This venerable ski resort has long played host to its own cast of celebs, stars and even royalty (our own Prince Charles is a huge fan and has a cable car named after him). Though any attempt to ask the locals who is in town is quickly met by a shrug and a mischievous wink. Discretion, it seems, is everything.
To skiers jaded by purpose-built or soulless resorts, Klosters is as refreshing as a cool glass of Switzerland’s bizarre national drink Rivella (a soft milk whey and herb-based concoction that tastes better than it sounds). A real village, Klosters is a tidy cluster of wooden houses with carved balconies and steeply pitched roofs, low-key shops and small hotels, hemmed into a narrow valley.
Smiles ahead: Joachim Ruhri of the Swiss Ski and Snowboard School
Traffic is virtually non-existent, as are the glitzy shops of more conspicuous resorts like St Moritz. Its smattering of ski stores sit beside cheese merchants and purveyors of the ubiquitous Swiss Army Knife. To those who make their winter pilgrimage to this corner of the Graubünden Canton, within a snowball’s throw of Austria, gruyere and raclette are clearly more important than Gucci or Rolex, and it’s all the better for that.
“People don’t come here to pose, they come to ski,” said our guide, Joachim ‘Joe’ Ruhri – a championship skier from the Swiss Ski and Snowboard School – at the top of the Gotschana cable Car (an easy walk from the hotel, which takes skiers onto some of Europe’s best slopes). “You see that person over there?” he went on, waving a gloved hand at a figure flying down the piste in a spray of fresh powder. “He could be a prince. He could be YOUR prince! No one knows and no one really cares. “We are all the same up here.”
And while I liked his sentiment, I couldn’t quite agree. We clearly weren’t all the same – at least when it came to skiing. Joe made effortless progress down the piste, with the fluid grace of a ballet dancer. I, on the other hand, threw myself into turns with all the agility of a rhino on a pair of planks.
Fortunately, the slopes are wide, and empty, enough for all, with leisurely blue runs and tasty but unthreatening reds. Those with a taste for adrenaline, meanwhile, get their thrills off-piste.
The next day we took another cable car to the slopes on the opposite side of the village, Madrissa (which rises to 2602m at Ratschenjoch). We were greeted with the kind of Alpine scene which would look unrealistic if published in a brochure (and certainly be open to allegations of Photoshopping): powder blue skies, blindingly white snow, dusted conifers and an occasional flash of red from the Swiss flags flown from bars and lift stations.
The skiing was, if anything, even better, with yet more engaging reds and a lovely lazy blue running into a grin-inducing black along a narrow trail through the forest and right down to the village itself. Again, there was barely a soul in sight.
“There is always room for everyone here,” said Joe with the kind of gleaming smile one only acquires through a life spent in the mountains. “It’s nice more people don’t know how good it is here!”
I thought about Klosters’ delicious dilemma back at my hotel – the Chesa Grischuna, a charismatic 80-year-old wooden inn, with creaking pine stairs and a scattering of original art and antiques.
Fortunately, the Swiss seem to have got it right in a time-honoured way its socially-rarefied regulars would appreciate: by focussing not on quantity – but on quality.
Historic: Chesa Grischuna Hotel
* Getting there: Fly Swiss Swiss.com from Heathrow to Zurich then take the train to Klosters Platz via the stunning Rhaetian Railway. SwissTravelSystem.com.
* Stay: Tim stayed at the Chesa Grischuna Hotel, in Klosters. 081 422 2222. chesagrischuna.ch
superior double-room or junior-suite: CHF 540 per day for two people. Standard double-room: CHF 430 per day for two people.
single-room: CHF 255 per day incl breakfast.
* Ski: Ski rental by Gotschna sport. gotschnasport.ch
* Eat: On the slopes, do not miss Serneuser Schwendi schwendiserneus.ch and Zuggenhutli for hearty food in rustic settings.
* Drink: Apero at Bears Bar for stylish cocktails and the cellar at Chesa Grischuna for a beer with quirky musical accompaniment.
* Prices: for a week’s package incl flights from Ski Safari: B&B £1,099pp based on 10–17 March for two people, with Easyjet flights LGW-ZRH (incl 20kg bag) and 2nd class rail transfers. Call 01273 224 060 or visit skisafari.com
* For more on Klosters go to klosters.ch
Taxi please: Traditional form of transport at Klosters Platz
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