Flumserberg, Switzerland

Skiing in the Alps - not a bad days work... About an hour from Zurich sits a ski mountain called Flumserberg. The Swiss Travel System offers a winter package called the Snow N Rail, a combo round trip train ticket and 1 day lift ticket. Flumserberg was the first run at trying this out... If you hit the right trains you can be on the slopes in just over an hour from Zurich. The snow was a little crusty, little icy and just about perfect in different spots. The morning started out with sunny skies as you can see from a couple pictures. A little storm rolled in and by noon, snow flurries gave a fresh coat of snow for afternoon tracks.

On a Wednesday after the European holidays the mountain was empty - which was ideal. There were no lift lines and it made for one of the better ski days you could imagine. As this is only an hour from Zurich, the moutain is likely pretty packed on weekends/holidays - but this would be a great spot to hit with some fresh snow or to warm up for the season.

Before it clouded up you could see Lake Zurich to the Northwest. On a crystal clear day you got the feeling you'd be able to see more Swiss scenery. Once you got past the views of the Alps and local lakes, you got a chance to catch some solid sublties of the Swiss Alps... down closer to the lake were endless green fields that show a mix of farmland and just countryside in between homes. A little farther up the mountain (at the base farthest from Zurich), you see a pack of motor homes that look like they'll be there until the snow melts. After a couple wrong turns on the mountain, Flumserberg showed one of its other callings - avanlanche training. About a dozen dogs and their human counterparts were in training for snow rescue. Had this not been found from a wrong turn and some inevitable cross country skiing with downhill skis, you'd have some pictures adding to the description. Pretty cool to watch and certainly gave you the feeling that you'd be in good hands upon avalanche...

For a few extra shots click here...