1 Day in Arosa Lenzerheide Ski Resort

Are you looking for a nice ski day in a big resort with plenty of great slopes and awesome scenery? In this post, I bring you to Lenzerheide–Arosa ski resort, one of my favorite big ski resorts in Eastern Switzerland.

Arosa Lenzerheide Ski Resort Spot Overview

Location:

• GRaubunden Kanton
• about 1,5h to 2h drive/train from Zürich
• 2 valleys: Vaz/Obervaz (Lenzerheide side); Schanfigg (Arosa side)

Mountains:

• Plessur Alps (Central Eastern Alps)
• Alps main northern ridge

Structure:

• 2 resorts connected by a big cable car

Size:

• HUGE (225km of slopes)

Altitude range:

• 1230m – 2865m

Tickets:

• EXPENSIVE

Upsides:

• a lot of ski options for every skier
• high altitude
• awesome sceneries
• long slopes
• easily accessible valleys

Arosa Lenzerheide Ski Options

Since the resort is big, it is unlikely to see everything and ski every corner of the slope when coming just for 1 day. Personally, I don’t manage it 🙂 and I don’t look for this either! I have found out that Arosa-Lenzerheide resort can be splitted into 3 big areas, offering each great skiing possibility and slopes diversity without too much connection time. And personally, it is exactly what I am looking for when I go skiing on weekends !!

So, if it’s your first time to Arosa-Lenzerheide, or you are just looking for ideas to plan your ski day in the resort, you should definitely have a look at these 3 suggestions:

• option n°1: one day in Lenzerheide-Valbella
• option n°2: one day in Lenzerheide-Rothorn / Arosa
• option n°3: one day in Arosa

I’ve tried myself the n°1 and n°2 several times, and both are great.

I have not yet tried the n°3 because it is a bit too far for me to drive from Zürich (more than 2 hours if there is no traffic – so it can become much longer), but it can definitely be a good option for you depending on where you live or your tolerance to the driving/train time. Personally, when I want to go skiing on the Arosa side, I always choose option n°2.

Option n°1: one day in Lenzerheide-Valbella

Advantages:

• Fastest access to the resort
• Trees area (nice backup spot for poor visibility)
• Powder-friendly (lots of easy areas by the slopes to ski powder)
• Good mix of easy-medium slopes and a few more technical slopes

If you choose this option, I recommend targeting Churwalden as the arrival point. There is a big parking just in front of the gondola, and if you come by train, you can quickly arrive with the bus from Chur.

The trip between Chur and Churwalden takes about 20 minutes (car or train), and it is really the fastest access to the resort. If it’s a powder day, the weather is nice, and you want to avoid the crowd, you can go straight to the Windegga area to enjoy your first turns.

When there is no more fresh snow to ride, or if you want to go directly to the main play area, take the main gondola towards Lenzerheide.

Up there, you find first the very nice, long, and difficult slopes of the Stätzerhorn.

When continuing more to the south, there are successive chairlifts giving access to a lot of blue and red slopes, which are perfect for carving at full speed or just easy cruising – I let you choose.

Don’t miss the area of the trees between Tgantieni and Pedra Grossa chairlifts with its super cool atmosphere and also very nice and long red slopes going from the top of Piz Scalottas to the Lenzerheide village.

Option n°2: one day in Lenzerheide-Rothorn + Arosa

Advantages:

• Access to Arosa by cable car, avoiding the longer trip by car/train
• Consistent slopes – several red and black slopes
• Amazing view from the top of the domain (Rothorn – 2865m)

If you choose this option, I recommend targeting the Heimberg lift in Lenzerheide or the Rothorn 1 gondola as the arrival point. Coming from Chur, the Heimberg lift is the first on the road; it provides direct access to a nice ski area and the quickest route to Arosa – it is the access I prefer when I arrive in the morning.

Up there, if you feel up to it, you can head up directly to Arosa taking the Urdenbahn cable car. Personally, it’s my favorite starter because the Arosa slopes face the sun in the mornings (east exposure). Then I can do the lunch break over there, and the return to Lenzerheide happens without too much pressure about the clock.

Once arrive on the Arosa side, I highly recommend the slopes around the Hörnli chairlift, which are usually the ones with the best snow in the whole resort, especially if it’s already mid or end-season (after the 15th of March).

Then, I like going to the top of the Weisshorn, where there is a fantastic 360° view of all the mountains around (especially the Albula Alps and Davos mountains).

From there, a few rotations around the Carmenna chairlift are definitely advised to enjoy long, nice, and difficult slopes. At this point, I am usually starving, and I like going to the Sit Hütte restaurant before going back to Lenzerheide.

Back to the other valley, I recommend going straight to the Rothorn summit, where you can enjoy your 2nd amazing view of the day.

The unique red slope going down from the summit of the resort is not really interesting, but then you reach very nice slopes around the other chairlifts (Weisshorn speed, Motta, Urdenfürggli). I highly recommend the long red slope at the top of the Weisshorn speed chairlift, which offers different options: continue the rotations up there or go down back to the village for a long and nice run that will make your legs burn for sure!!

For strong skiers, don’t miss the famous black slope “Silvano Beltrametti”! It’s also used for World Cup races, and it will definitely challenge your technique.

Tip: It's better to stay away from the slopes at the bottom of Arosa with an "H" in the slope name… "H" stands for Hotel and means the slope is one-way for people who have accommodation in Arosa. I know because I didn't pay attention to this, and I already got stuck down there.

Option n°3: one day in Arosa (+ Rothorn)

Advantages:

• Good mix of easy-medium slopes and a few more technical slopes
• More time to enjoy Arosa slopes without having to commute back to Lenzerheide
• Quick access to the great Arosa snow park

I have not yet experienced this option, so I will not give any logistic recommendations. Personally, I love skiing on the Arosa side (see all the cool stuff of the option n°2), but because of the longer travel time, I usually prefer the option n°2 to enjoy the Arosa slopes on weekends.

About skiing, I would suggest staying mostly on the Arosa side. You can, of course, go to Lenzerheide with the Urdenbahn cable car, but if you want to do it, I would recommend the idea n°2 to optimize your connections and travel time.

My favorite spots in Arosa resort are the Hörnli slopes, especially for the snow quality and the possibility of quick rotations using the chairlift, and the Carmenna and Weisshorn areas, which are located difficult and long slopes and an amazing view of the mountains around.

If you fancy a long cruise with a super quiet atmosphere, you should try the blue slope at the top of the Brüggerhorn chairlift – but be prepared to find at the end some flat areas that I would not advise to any snowboarder!

My favorite slopes

You will find here my favorite slopes for the 3 main areas of the resort.

I think these slopes are definitely worth a visit and provide a great ski experience. These slopes are all pretty long (it’s actually successive slopes); some are difficult (red and black slopes), and others offer more cruising/carving conditions (red and blue slopes).

For each area, I indicate first the lift that takes to the slope start and then the reference number of the slope reported on the resort’s official map.

Lenzerheide-Valbella:

• Stätzerhorn: n°70-70a-74a (red + blue)
• Scalottas: n°42-42a-42b (blue + red)

Lenzerheide-Rothorn:

• Weisshorn speed: n°21a-25-25a (red + blue)
• Motta: n°24-25-25a (black + red + blue)
• Rothorn 1: n°21c-31 (blue)

Arosa:

• Hörnli Express: n°2-2a-2b-2c (red)
• Carmenna: n°9-9c (black + red)
• Weisshorn 2: n°10 (red)

Great places to eat in Arosa Lenzerheide

Here is a list of restaurants located on the slopes which I have tried and enjoyed:

Avant Clavo

• There is a super nice terrace and atmosphere at the bottom of the Pedra Grossa chairlift.
• Perfect to combine with rotations on the n°42b slope.

SIT-Hütte

• Tasty and original dishes in a super friendly atmosphere at the arrival of Kulm cabins or Tomeli T-bars.
• It is perfect to combine with a snow park and often hosts music festival stages.

Arosa Lenzerheide offers an impressive array of pistes catering to all skill levels – from gentle slopes for beginners to challenging black runs for seasoned pros. For me? I’m somewhere in between – but whether gracefully carving through powdery snow or awkwardly tumbling headfirst into a drift (yes, that happened), every moment on those slopes was pure magic.

But skiing is only half the fun at Arosa! When lunchtime rolled around, there were numerous mountainside restaurants offering hearty Swiss cuisine – fondue and rösti quickly became my go-to comfort food! And let’s not forget about après-ski; kicking back with a hot mulled wine or Swiss hot chocolate at one of many vibrant bars is an absolute must!

If you’re seeking unforgettable skiing experiences amidst stunning alpine scenery while soaking up local culture – look no further than Arosa Lenzerheide Ski Resort.