The host resort for the European Open and owned by the ex-head of the ISF, Laax has been one of the best resorts in Europe in catering for snowboarders for a long time. It is located in the canton of Graubunden, approximately 1-2hrs South-East of Zurich.



Laax is an excellent all round resort. It has great freestyle facilities, some fun freeriding and not too many package ski holiday type customers. The villages servicing the resort, Flims, Laax, and Falera aren´t too touristy but still still have plenty of accommodation, eating out and partying options.
The ski area is big so it's not too hard to get fresh tracks, and the modern high capacity lift system means that lift lines are usually pretty minimal. The resort hosts several competitions throughout the year, the biggest being the European Open, held in late January each year. Other contests are the Pleasure Spring Sessions in the lead up to the close of the season and of course the Orange Brits held in March.

Freestyle
Laax builds a big park each year. It is well maintained and includes a superpipe, a smaller halfpipe, rails and boxes as well as a huge variety of kickers, so if you are into park riding you are going to be pretty well catered for.
All the freestyle stuff is located around Crap Sogn Gion. The pipe and some other features are covered by a surface lift and the others by the Plaun lift. Early season or when the conditions don’t quite come to the party there is a pipe and some kickers set up on the Vorab glacier. The only trouble with the glacier is that it takes a few lifts and quite a bit of time to get there.

Freeriding
The freeriding in Laax, whilst not being in the same league as Chamonix and Verbier in that it doesnt have longer big mtn type lines, still has enough gnarly terrain to satisfy most riders. The Cassons Gondola, which is a bit old and slow, accesses some good terrain. The fact that it’s not in the main part of the resort keeps this area a little less crowded and therefore untracked a bit longer. It is a wide open bowl area, not super steep, but it has a lot of natural hits and places to build kickers.
The chairlift La Siala was closed for a fair while due to avalanche danger when I was there but was epic when it finally opened. It is steep, had lots of powder, chutes and cliffs/drops of different sizes especially if you are willing to hike a little bit along the ridgeline.
The lower part of the mountain, coming down from the main services area on the top of the mountain at Crap Sogn Gion is in the trees. Either the runs to Falera or Laax or to the lift at Plaun are good areas to head to if weather is snowy or cloudy, as the trees provide shelter so a good time can still be had.

Nightlife/Accommodation
At the base of the gondolas in Laax there is an interestingly named establishment, the 'Crap Bar'. The locals maintain that it means rock in Romansch, the traditional local language (Swiss German is more widely spoken given the influx of visitors each season) and the bar itself is made up of a bunch of flat rocks so that along with the abundance of other 'Crap' things in a pretty good place means I will have to take their word for it. Anyway, it’s a nice bar that isn’t full of too many cheesy apres-ski types and a good place to get a beer after a days riding.
Later on in the night there are a couple of other places to check out. The Riders Palace is a Hostel/Hotel in Laax 200m or so from the gondola. It has a modern bar that plays some good tunes, friendly staff and some bean bags in one end of an open area to chill. Downstairs is the nightclub which has a bunch of concerts and parties during the season, especially when the European Open comes to town. It has hosted people such as Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dog, The Wailers, Millencollin and others. Riders Palace also has dorm style rooms that are pretty affordable, through to huge double rooms that looked pretty slick.

In between Laax and Flims is another nightspot which is a good place to party, the Flem Massive. Despite this being another potentially dubious name it is a fun bar with a dance floor that heats up later. Plans of getting first lifts went out the window when I had a night out here though. You have been warned...

Local Stores
There are some good snowboard stores. In Flims, a store called Chopp, has some super helpful staff that give good advice and a good range of products as well. Located at the base of the gondolas in both Laax and Flims are the Snowboard Garage stores that have a big range of hardgoods and outerwear.

Getting to Laax
Most people will probably arrive via Zurich airport. There is a train from the airport to the central station where you can get a connection to Chur. From here it is a short bus ride to the villages of Laax, Flims, or Falera, that make up the resort of Laax. Total journey time = 2hrs. Laax is in the east of Switzerland, in between Zurich and Innsbruck, so it could be combined with a trip to the Tyrol.

It's worth noting that the Swiss railway and bus system is extremely good and therefore travellng in Switzerland is not as mad/frustrating as doing the same thing in Spain or France. The services are comprehensive, well organised, run regularly, and you can get a ticket which covers both the bus and train legs of a journey.





:: ALL RESORTS A-Z AUSTRIA >> Saalbach Hinterglemm FRANCE >> Avoriaz Chamonix Chatel Courchevel Les Deux Alpes Flaine La Rosiere Les Arcs Les Gets Meribel Morzine Tignes Val D'Isere ITALY >> Campo Felice Livigno La Thuile SPAIN >> Baqueira Beret Cerler Sierra Nevada SWITZERLAND >> Laax Les Crossets Saas Fee St. Moritz Verbier USA >> Breckenridge Jackson Hole Mammoth Mountain Snow Summit CANADA >> Whistler Blackcomb