Pristine slopes, a wealth of activities and one of the best après-ski scenes in the Alps make Davos an ideal incentive destination, says Mark Caswell.
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been told that 2007-08 has been a great ski season in Europe. After last year’s worryingly low snowfall levels and doomsday predictions of the end of European skiing as we know it, there’s been plenty of the white stuff across the Alps, and huge crowds hitting resorts from Val d’Isère to Verbier.
With this in mind, it seemed like the ideal time to head to the resort town of Davos, nestled high in the Swiss Alps above Zurich. Located just past the royal hangout of Klosters, Davos is the highest ski resort in Europe at 1,500m above sea level, but go back 100 years and you’d have been more likely to find a TB clinic than a chair lift. The air around Davos was renowned for its respiratory benefits, and was immortalised in Thomas Mann’s novel The Magic Mountain, set in one of the town’s sanitoriums.
Breathing I’m an expert at, but skiing I remain steadfastly in the beginner’s category – however I was advised by Altitude, our appropriately named hosts, that ability (or lack of it) would not be an issue. Indeed, the bespoke events and incentives company was keen to show that a skiing trip can be the ideal ice-breaker (sorry), particularly when you factor in the group après-ski activities.
“With a golf trip everyone playing has to be of the same sort of level for it to work,” said John Saunders, managing director of Altitude, “but that’s not the case with skiing – you can enjoy it whatever your ability.”
Which was a bit of luck really, considering the closest I’d come to a parallel turn before this trip was in a Fiat Uno. Fortunately, help was at hand in the form of Snowsports School Davos, and more specifically Carmen, a chirpy instructor from New Zealand whose unfortunate task it was to teach me the basics. I and another beginner learnt how to do a “bullfighter’s turn” (a stationary stance resembling a matador holding out his cape, designed to hold beginners steady as they start a descent), and were warned against “back-seat driving” (sitting back on the skis).
Before we knew it, it was time to join the rest of the group for lunch at Bruhin’s, Davos’s highest restaurant, where the views are quite literally breathtaking. John Saunders explained that it’s not just the great skiing (which Davos undoubtedly has) which makes an event a success.
“Anyone can arrange a skiing trip, but it’s about doing it well and for that you need knowledge, experience and contacts. It’s about making sure guestrooms have a view of the slopes rather than the main road, and that the table at lunch is in a good spot and is booked for 1pm rather than too late or too early.”
John is an excellent skier and knows Switzerland well, having lived there as a child, although he points out that skiing trips only make up about 3 to 4 percent of Altitude’s business. The company has worked with the likes of HSBC, mobile phone operator Three and private equity firm Montagu, with events ranging from a handful of people to 3,000.
Accommodating large groups is not something Davos has a problem with. Aside from the skiing Davos is famous in modern times for hosting the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, when around 2,000 economists and world leaders descend on the town to discuss all things monetary.
As a result, Davos is well-equipped to deal with a sudden influx of visitors, with nearly 60 hotels and guest houses ranging from two Sheraton properties to the family-run Morosani hotels, as well as a large conference centre. There are also plans for a 105-metre-high hotel designed by Swiss architects Herzog and De Meuron.
Davos is also ice-hockey mad – Hockey Club Davos won the Swiss championships in 2007. The town’s 7,000-seater stadium also hosts the annual Spengler Cup, an invitational tournament with teams from around the world competing. On this occasion though our presence couldn’t prevent “HCD” going down 2-1 to rivals Bern in an action-packed match.
That disappointment aside, the trip had run like clockwork, so I asked John what he saw as the golden rules of making sure an event like this works. “Planning, planning and more planning,” he said. “Assuming nothing, and being sure to look at the event from the client’s perspective. Being aware of cultural differences, delivering what has been promised, and of course making the whole process enjoyable, both for staff and clients.”
No problems on the last point – after two days of exhilarating lessons we had progressed enough to join the rest of the group on a series of blue runs.
Our final descent of the trip had some pretty serious gradients (or so it seemed to a beginner), and all thoughts of parallel turns went out of the window as survival instincts took over – cue a series of wipe-outs, although I managed to avoid the dreaded “yard sale” (this is a spectacular fall with bits of equipment spread out across the slopes as if for sale), and reached the bottom with skis and limbs just about intact.
It was at this point that the ever-encouraging Carmen proudly announced “Well done, guys – I didn’t want to scare you by telling you at the top, but that was your first red run!” The next Winter Olympics are in 2010, which should give me enough time to cement my place in the British team.
GETTING THERE
Singapore Airlines flies Singapore-Zurich return for about US$7,457 Business Class. From there, it’s a two-and-half hour train ride to Davos.
SKIING LESSONS
Snowsports School Davos offers half-day group lessons from CHF45 (US$44), and half-day private lessons for one or two people or families from CHF220 (US$215). For more information visit ssd.ch
