Laax

Winters are cold and reliably snowy from December into April, and the Vorab glacier keeps a small ski area open into early summer; summers are short and mild, better suited to hiking and biking than sunbathing. Time a winter visit around the LAAX OPEN each January, one of the world's leading snowboard and freeski contests, when a halfpipe and big crowds take over Crap Sogn Gion.

Laax is one of the most famous freestyle and snowboarding areas in the Alps, with a permanent halfpipe, several terrain parks, and enough varied piste to fill a week of skiing.

Crap Sogn Gion is the resort's main mountain station, with a 360-degree viewing platform, restaurants, and a mountain hostel; it is also the focal point for the LAAX OPEN each January.

A cable car continues on to Crap Masegn, a rocky summit at 2,516 meters with wide views over the surrounding peaks and a hiking trail back down toward Crap Sogn Gion.

Above it all, the Vorab Glacier gives skiers access to some of the highest, snow-sure terrain in the area and keeps a small ski run open well into spring.

At the valley base, Rocksresort is a car-free, architect-designed village of stone-and-timber apartment blocks built around restaurants, bars, and shops, all with ski-in ski-out access.

The Freestyle Academy is an indoor training hall where skiers, snowboarders, and skaters practice jumps and tricks on trampolines and a foam pit year-round.

For a quieter stop, Laaxersee is a small lake in the village that is popular for a swim or a walk in summer and often freezes over in winter.

A few things here are worth doing, not just seeing.

• Watch the LAAX OPEN halfpipe and slopestyle finals in January, when a temporary grandstand and a full program of live music turn the mountain into a festival for a few days.
• Try a jump session on the trampolines and foam pit at Freestyle Academy, open to complete beginners as well as competitive riders.
• Ride a marked flow trail down from the high lifts in summer — Laax's bike park is one of the reasons the resort stays busy after the snow melts.
• Soak in an outdoor pool or sauna at La Siala, Laax's spa and wellness center, after a day on the mountain.

Laax sits in the Surselva valley, within easy reach of its Romansh neighbors, the regional capital, and a historic monastery town.

• Falera — about 10 minutes by car or bus; a small Romansh village with its own share of the ski area and a Bronze Age stone row.
• Flims — around 15-20 minutes; the resort's other main village, with the Caumasee lake and the Rhine Gorge nearby.
• Ilanz/Glion — about 25 minutes by car or train; the first town on the Rhine, with a compact old town and a cobbled main street.
• Disentis/Mustér — roughly 45 minutes by train; home to a working Benedictine monastery and a stop on the Glacier Express route.
• Chur — about an hour by train or bus; Switzerland's oldest town, with a well-preserved old quarter and a cathedral.

Laax shares its ski area and the wider LAAX resort brand with two close neighbors. Flims is the larger of the two, with its own historic village core and the popular Caumasee lake nearby. Falera is the smallest, a quiet Romansh village known for its Bronze Age megalithic site.

• By air: Zurich Airport (ZRH) is the main gateway, roughly 2 to 2.5 hours away by train or car. From the airport, take the train to Chur and change to a regional train or PostBus toward Laax.
• By train: Trains run regularly from Zurich to Chur (around 1 hour 15 minutes); from Chur, a connecting regional train or PostBus reaches Laax village in about 45 minutes to an hour. Direct ski trains and buses often run from Zurich during the winter season. SBB
• By bus: PostBus line 81 connects Chur railway station with Laax and the wider valley, and is also the main way to reach Falera and Flims without a car. PostAuto

• Within the resort: The Rocksresort area at Laax Murschetg is compact and mostly car-free, with lifts and gondolas running straight from the village center.
• Public transit: PostBus links Laax village, Murschetg, Falera, and Flims. Buy tickets through the SBB mobile app or at ticket machines; many buses also accept contactless card or phone payment directly on board. PostAuto
• On foot / cycling: The valley floor is easy to walk or cycle between hamlets, but the steeper terrain above the village needs a lift or a car.

• Is a car worth it?: Not for a resort-based stay — lifts and PostBus services cover the valley — but a car makes day trips to Ilanz, Disentis, or Chur more flexible.
• Parking: Paid car parks serve Rocksresort and the main lift stations, typically CHF 10-15 a day; book ahead in peak season.
• Restrictions: A Swiss motorway vignette is required for the approach via the A13, and some mountain roads above the resort close in winter.

Restaurants cluster around Rocksresort and the base of the main lifts, ranging from quick lunch stops on the slopes to sit-down Swiss and Italian-leaning menus in the evening.

Look for Grisons specialties alongside standard Swiss dishes: capuns (chard-wrapped dumplings), maluns (grated potato fried with cheese), and air-dried Bündnerfleisch beef, all part of the food culture of the canton's Romansh-speaking valleys.

Laax is a safe, low-crime destination; the main risks here are the usual mountain ones rather than street safety.

• Stay on marked and open pistes — off-piste and glacier terrain around the Vorab carries avalanche and crevasse risk, and conditions can change quickly at altitude.
• Use sunscreen and eye protection on the slopes; UV exposure is much stronger at altitude and on snow than it feels.
• Swim only in supervised areas of Laaxersee; mountain lakes stay cold even in summer.

Laax was a small Romansh farming and dairying community for centuries, its life centered on the valley floor rather than the high peaks above it. Romansh place names survive throughout the area, and the language is still spoken locally alongside German.

Everything changed from the 1960s onward, when the first cable cars opened up the mountain above the village and a local operator, later known as Weisse Arena Gruppe, began building out lifts, hotels, and terrain. Crap Sogn Gion grew from a simple mountain station into the hub it is today, and a purpose-built halfpipe and freestyle parks turned Laax into one of snowboarding's best-known names. Rocksresort, built in the 2010s, marked the resort's shift toward architect-led, car-free development at the base of the mountain.

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