Engelberg, Chamonix and Val Thorens can offer unbeatable world-class skiing, but Airolo – a small and rather charming ski resort in the Italian part of Switzerland – makes an adequate alternative for a day trip. During my months as a nanny in Zurich during 2005, I traveled with Cisalpino to Art-Gouldeau and changed to an InterRegio train to Airolo. A journey of no more than 2 hours.
On a parking lot near the train station I saw a group of skiers walking in the direction of a white van and followed suit. At no cost, a local woman drove us up to the first ski lift. She said they hadn’t seen this little snow for two or three years. The unusually warm weather caused a thirtysomething Italian guy to keep repeating different versions of “è caldo” (it’s warm) and “sono caldo” (I’m warm).
Even though the skiing conditions weren’t ultimate (you had to look out for patches of grass and visible stones on some parts of the slopes), I did enjoy Airolo. The amazing views made me smile of contentment, and thanks to friendly locals I felt in great company. If you like skiing, I can recommend at least one visit to Airolo.
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Sounds like a great trip. I just want to go skiing in Switzerland. This will give me something to think about while I ski down the slopes in Switzerland though or sit in Switzerland’s hot springs. I’ll ask my guide a bit about it, he’s from Switzerland: Skiing Trip in Switzerland
Hi! I’m the Community Manager of Ruba.com. We’re building a website to highlight some of the most interesting places travelers around the world have discovered. We’ve read hundreds of blogs about Switzerland, and we think that yours is awesome! We’d love to highlight excerpts from blogs like yours (assuming it’s OK with you of course) and to discuss other ways of tapping into your expertise if you are interested. I’m at erin@ruba.com.
Thanks!