Fur coats and ski slopes at St Moritz

Although the Swiss resort of St Moritz is a playground for the wealthy, its real business is winter sports. Picture / swiss-image.ch

The rich are different from you and me. That's obvious within minutes on the snowy streets of Switzerland's No 1 winter playground, St Moritz.

There's the coiffure, the beautiful tans, the collagen, the sweeping coats and furs and burden of jewellery and gloriously ornate Swiss watches.

Take a coffee, or better still the local version, "Jagertee", at the Hanselmann's Konditorei just off the town square and the game quickly becomes counting the fur coats as they are casually discarded on the racks, and also the lap dogs, treated to bowls of water even before the hot drinks arrive. Like many of their owners they, too, have been bred for a life of comfort - apartments, restaurants and hotels.

As for Jagertee, its only similarity to Darjeeling appears to be that it's hot, the main ingredients being mountain herbs and schnapps. It's a drink designed to fortify alpine hunters, but for most its impact is to make the streets of St Moritz seem even more pleasant than they already are.

A visit to the famous Badrutt's Palace Hotel reveals acres of rich panelling, gilded ceilings, huge art works, creaking vintage wooden floors, masterful floral arrangements and an air of pampering. You can take a coffee in the giant conservatories or on the equally large terraces, taking in the view of the frozen lake with its alpine backdrop.

But the real business of St Moritz is not shopping, it's winter sports, principally skiing. The region has hosted two winter Olympics and four World Ski Championships and has the 2013 championships in its sights.

Skiers are often different from those who make up Europe's wealthy elite. They mostly like great skiing, plenty of fun, sunshine and to review their daily exploits in good company.

Club Med's formula for addressing this blends the power of the St Moritz brand - the town's sun logo was registered 75 years ago - with a 600-bed hotel that enjoys a 100 per cent occupancy rate from November to April.

Kiwis familiar with tropical Club Meds will have experienced the club's inclusive approach to life. The tariff covers your bed, meals, with complimentary wine and beer, lots of entertainment and in the case of St Moritz, lift tickets, transfers, ski guiding and lessons.

Julie Coulston of Ski Travel in Auckland says that many of her clients wanting to ski in Europe and the United States are opting for the Club Med package, mainly because you enjoy great skiing, meet people and the logistics are so easy.

She is selling New Zealanders visits to six Club Med ski resorts in Europe, including those located in famous areas of Chamonix and Val d'Isere in France and Cervinia in Italy, as well as St Moritz.

She says the packages on offer are good value, with a week's skiing for an adult ranging from $1350 through to $3365, depending on the resort and the time of year.

"Some resorts are better for children than others but the big advantage is really the integrated nature of the package. For example, hiring a skiing guide can typically cost €200 [$341] a day and you really need to if you are going to fully experience the available skiing opportunities.

"It's very different from New Zealand where the ski areas are relatively limited and it's easy to find your way about. In a class you will not only see more but you will meet people from all over the world and find yourself eating and drinking with them as friends after a week of skiing together.

"I've even put young backpacker type skiers into Club Med and they have had a great time, although sometimes their bar bills prove to be more costly than the skiing."

More than CHF1 billion ($1.1 billion) was put into the St Moritz area's infrastructure for the 2003 World Ski Championships, almost a third of which went into new transportation, snow-making equipment and catering installation on the three local lift systems, Corvatsch, Diavolezza and Corviglia.

For a skier, it's near paradise. There's 75km of easy runs, 245km of moderate runs and 35km of difficult runs. Included in that is 75km covered by snow makers, delivering a snow guarantee that runs from the end of November through to April.

Being Swiss, it all works magnificently. Cable cars whisk skiers - up to 120 at a time - to stations above 3000m where it might be -20C but the snow is dry and perfect and the runs long and exhausting, especially if you are in the tow of an enthusiastic instructor or mountain guide.

For the beginners the options are just what you would expect from an integrated lift system capable of moving 65,000 people an hour.

Down from the slopes the lake is a centrepiece for life at St Moritz. Winter turns it into a giant park and playground the size of 20 football fields right in the heart of town. There are walkways on the ice, park benches, grandstands and sleigh rides.

Horse racing on the ice started in 1907, the annual golf tournament on ice started in 1979, and the annual cricket tournament on ice was founded in 1989. It has been the venue for ski marathons since 1969 and windsurfing marathons since 1978. Up on the slopes, the locals invented bob sled racing in 1890.

But take a walk on the lake and, yes, sure enough, there is a fur coat with a brace of dogs and the compulsory pooper scooper. The dogs do their business and the madam does her duty, so the pristine winter whiteness of St Moritz continues, attracting winter sports fans from throughout the world as it has since 1864.

That's the year when hotelier Johannes Badrutt bet four visiting British visitors that if they came in the winter and didn't like it he would pay their return fares from London, but if they liked it they could stay at his expense.

They came and stayed from Christmas to Easter and the word has been spreading ever since.

* TIPS FOR SKIING IN EUROPE

Julie Coulston of Ski Travel recommends:

Take good warm gear
Including top and bottom thermal underwear, neck warmers and goggles. It can be below -20C or colder at the top of some high altitude runs.

Travel light
Not all hotels have lifts, Remember you pack it, you carry it.

Take your ski boots but think about hiring skis
Especially if you are travelling by train. Austrian Airlines gives a ski baggage allowance. Most others don't.

Take some sensible shoes with decent soles
Those pavements can be slippery.

Take thin layers of clothes
Hotels restaurants and shops tend to be overheated and those woolly jumpers don't really cut it. Remember, it's fine to go out in the evening in a ski jacket and hiking boots. The locals do it.

Take a second credit card
It's disconcerting when the ATM gobbles yours up and travellers' cheques are not user-friendly in Europe.

Check when you go
It pays to miss those French school holidays.

* ST MORITZ CLUB MED PACKAGES

Club Med all-inclusive ski 7-night packages start from $1316 an adult (at Club Med Wengen Palace in Switzerland). Club Med St Moritz 7-night packages start from $1923 an adult.

Contact information

Call Club Med on 0800 258 263 or visit online (see link below) www.clubmed.co.nz or call the ski experts at Ski Alive Travel 0800 100 SKI.

* John McCaulay travelled to St Moritz as a guest of Club Med.