Laax accomodation guide - World Snowboard Guide

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Resort life

Off the slopes. Both the villages of Laax and Flims (which are 10 minutes apart by road) sit at different levels and are spread out but offer a host of good local facilities that will make a week’s stay well worth the effort. Mind you, neither come cheaply and a week will burn a big hole in your wallet. Laax has a host of attractions from squash courts to an outdoor ice rink but is more spread out than Flims. Forget about heading to Falera unless you’re a hermit.

Flims lower village
Photo: Steve, WSG

Eating

Food is much the same as in any other high mountain retreat, that is lots of hotel restaurants all serving up generally bland, traditional Swiss meals at very high prices. Still, there are a number of notable places to get a good meal including the odd pizza, try the Pomodoro and La Dolcha Vita in Flims.

In Flims theres one okay Kebab shop open till 2am, youll find it about halfway between Flims Dorf and Flims Waldhaus. The bakery just down from the main lifts in Flims opens easily in time for the first lift and around the time the last night-club closes.

Nightlife

Night-life in either Laax or Flims is okay and fairly well suited to snowboard lifestyle (apart form the cost of a beer – approx 7CHF). Nothing here is of mega status but the bars on offer are good for getting messy in while listening to some good tunes.
Après ski time, at the bottom of the slopes at Laax Murschetg, it’s a fight between the cooler Crap bar and the Austrian style Wawa yellow umbrella bar, which pumps out the euro-tunes. Take your pick, but Flims falls well behind with the Iglu bar being dead anytime before 10pm.

The Riders palace in Laax has a bar that’s open till 4am and they always have some boarding films showing on the big screen. There’s a huge club underneath that’s lively when the big stars are out. Around the Murschetg area is also the Casa Veglia nightclub that’s open till the early hours.

In Flims, the Arena bar is a good hangout with a lively club underneath, but by far the best bar is the Living Room providing you can find it. You’ll find it just behind the opposite side of the road from the Shell garage on the main street. Large open fire, cool tunes and friendly staff make it the place to chill after a hard days graft on the slopes; and there’s free wireless internet provided you buy a drink.

Living room bar in Flims
Photo: Woody, WSG

There’s a good micro-brewery in Flims- Waldhaus called the Surselva (www.surselva-bier.ch), near the bus station and next to Hotel Arvenhotel.

There’s an underground nightclub open till 6am in Flims Waldhaus towards Laax just before the Hotel Garni, it can be a bit hit and miss with the tunes, but is a lot less touristy than the popular Arena nightclub.

Accomodation

Accommodation. Some 6000 visitors are offered somewhere to sleep here, and although the choice of lodging and the prices are good, most places are a little spread out and for most, may entail a walk to the slopes. The trendy and well located Riders Palace near to Murschetg in Laax, (www.riderspalace.ch) has 5 bunk dorms at 70CHF per night (based on a week, peak season) or you can pay triple that for a room with a plasma TV and a playstation. They often do special packages including lift passes.

Capricorn (www.caprilounge.ch) also has a good reputation for offering good value and a good vibe. Sharing a dorm room will cost 25CHF a night, and even a top end double with a private bathroom will still give you change out of CHF50 per person. They even have a bar that’s open till 1am. It’s just off the main road towards Laax, get off at the Laax-Marcau bus stop.

It’s possible to stay on mountain in the 130 bed Crap Sogn Gion Mountain Hostel but you’ll usually need to book we in advance. The tourist information often have special deals for accommodation and lift passes so check with them or on the main website www.laax.com

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Resort Statistics

Resort Type: Alpine
Winter: Nov to April
Summer: May to Sept

Lifts

Total Lifts: 29
Cable cars: 7
Gondolas: 4
Chair lifts: 7
Drag lifts: 8
Other lifts: 3 kids lifts
Max people per hour: 42,000
Board Leashes required: No

Mountain

Total pistes/trails: 60
Total ride area: 220km
Longest run: 14km

Top lift: 3018m
Vertical drop: 1998m
First lift: 1020m

Piste suitability

Green runs: 35%
Red runs: 38%
Black runs: 27%

Lift Passes

	Low Season		High Season
	CHF	GBP	CHF	GBP
Day Pass	54.00	33.61	67.00	41.70
6-Day Pass	260.00	161.83	315.00	196.07
6-Day Linked area Pass	-	-	-	-

	CHF	GBP
Season Pass:	-	-

Lift Passes:
Half day 50CHF
1 Day 63Chf
6 Days 354Chf
Lift times:8.30am to 4.30pm

Snowfall

Average annual snowfall: 7.2metres
Artificial snowmaking coverage: 20%

Facilities

	CHF	GBP
Days Rental of Board & Boots:	-	-
4hr Group Lesson (full day):	-	-
4hr Private Lesson (full day):	-	-

Snowboard Schools: Snowboard Fahrschule offer freestyle and freestyle lessons email fahrschule@weissearena.ch
Snowboard Hire: Plenty of hire shops, some allowing a try before you buy.
Night Riding: : No

Other activities

Heliboarding: : About 30mins by car, www.airgrischa.ch 2-drops will set you back around 400CHF and take most of the day.
Snowmobiles: Not available

Further information

www.laax.ch/
Email:tourismus@alpenarena.ch

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Summary

Excellent snowsure resort with a good long season. The slopes are great for freeriders and freestylers as well as suiting beginners. Good if expensive local services.

ON THE SLOPES: Fantastic
OFF THE SLOPES: Okay but not rocking
MONEY WISE: Fairly expensive place, but cheaper than many swiss resorts

Terrain & parks

HALFPIPE: Yes - 1
TERRAIN PARK: Yes - 2
BACKCOUNTRY/OFF-PISTE:Yes
TREE RUNS:Yes