1936 On the Continent

which lies at the head of the Prätigau Thal, and from which a full view of the Silvretta group is obtained. The slopes around Klosters are thickly wooded. Many delightful walks can be made from Klosters to various valleys up to the foot of the great peaks. During the winter Klosters is a popular resort, and has very fine snow conditions as it is sheltered both from the northeasterly winds and also from the Föhn, a warm wind which brings thaws. Klosters is the terminal point for the three-mile-long Laret-Klosters bobsleigh and toboggan run, and is also the starting-point for many ski-ing trips, including one to the Parsenn-Furka, whence the ascent is made to the summit of the range dividing the Prätigau and Schenfigg valleys.
    This would seem to be an apt place in which to saysomething about winter sports in general. Amongst those who have never been, there is an erroneous impression that the weather is very cold and that shoals of warm clothing are needed. Quite the contrary is the fact. During the day the rays of the sun are very strong, and a few weeks suffice to give the skin a strong, healthy tan. Many ski-ers soon shed their outer wrappings and carry on in short-sleeved shirts or jumpers. The essential equipment is a ski-ing outfit (skis and ski boots can be hired very cheaply), a wind jacket, strong shoes or boots and thick socks. In the evenings, as soon as the sun goes down, there is a decided drop in the temperature, and it is then that it is necessary to wrap up, particularly when leaving the hotels, which are all very well heated. The novice need not be deterred from trying our winter sports. At all resorts of any size there are qualified ski-ing instructors, and a week is usually sufficient to enable one to keep one’s feet and manage the skis fairly efficiently. Skating, too, can be learned very quickly. In most centres the big hotels admit guests at the smaller hotels free of charge to their dances, or else a small charge is made. A winter sports holiday can be had to suit all purses, from a very modest, but equally enjoyable, one in a small mountain village where there is no organised social life and one has to make one’s own amusement to the de luxe, cosmopolitan life of the fashionable resorts of the Engadine and the Bernese Oberland. When choosing a resort for one’s holiday, more particularly in the winter, it is advisable to ascertain whether the visitors to the hotel chosen are mainly English, as on this depends a great deal of the enjoyment of the holiday, as it is in the hotels that the parties are made up. Unless one can converse very fluently in French or German, the visitor who finds himself in a hotel mostly frequented by such nationals is apt to have a dull time.
Davos
    From Klosters the Rhaetian Railway carries us on to Davos. This resort consists of the two villages of Davos-Dorf and Davos-Platz, which are about half-an-hour’s walk from each other. Davos first became known as a spa for consumptives, and many of the invalids who were cured remained to enjoy the sports and recommended Davos totheir friends. It was here that Robert Louis Stevenson stayed for some time and wrote a number of his “Essays of Travel.”
    In Davis-Dorf is a magnificent ice rink with an area of 7[sym]1/3 acres, and here, too, is the station of the Parsenn Cable Railway which goes up to the Weissfluhjoch and gives access to some of the finest ski-ing territory in Switzerland. From the Platz we can take the Schatzalpbahn up to the Schatzalp, whence the ski-er can approach the Parsenn via the Strela. In Davos-Platz is the old town hall which was the Council House of the League of the Ten Jurisdictions. Some people consider Davos rather depressing and choose some of the smaller resorts in the vicinity, but it should be mentioned that most of the consumptives stay in sanatoria, and that an hotel catering for normal winter sports visitors will not take invalids. From Davos the line runs along the Landwasser valley and then enters the gorge of the Züge. Soon afterwards it crosses the Landwasser river on an imposing viaduct and, in fact, the whole of the railway system in the Grisons represents a remarkable feat of engineering.
The Albula Valley
    At Filisur we branch off on to the Albula Railway and enter the Albula valley. Here lies Bergün, a quaint village with unique houses combining the characteristics of the German and Italian styles of architecture, and designs are painted round many of the windows.