While I disagree with the doom-and-gloom weather forecasters that everyone should stay inside when temperatures drop into single numbers during the day, it didn’t hurt my feelings to be packing for Switzerland when the second blast of Arctic air was threatening. The plan was to leave Boston on a direct flight to Zurich early Sunday evening.

We left Boston near 7 p.m. and arrived in Zurich a little ahead of schedule on SWISS International Airlines at 7:45 a.m. local time (6 hour time difference). Retrieving our luggage and clearing customs took very little time as all we had to do was follow the signs for the train station, which is attached to the airport. The baggage carts have automatic brakes so we could take them down the two escalators to our trains. At 8:43 we left the station, changed at the Zurich main station and were on our way to St. Moritz.

The trip begins through flat green farmland with snow capped mountains in the distance and gradually moves into the mountains. Eventually the tracks were bordered by steep mountain sides as we climbed from Chur (elev. 584 meters) where we changed trains about two hours into the trip to 1,775 meters at St. Moritz.. That equals 5,823 feet, or close to the summit elevation of Mount Washington. We arrived at 11:45, checked into the Hotel Monopol.

The afternoon was spent settling into the hotel, wandering the village and relaxing in the spa. That prepared us for the first of what would be a series of abundant evening meals, and this one at the hotel lived up to the reputation of St. Moritz as a center of fine dining.

The next morning we walked the short distance to a ski shop to pick up our rental skis. This was our day to ski Corviglia, site of last year’s World Alpine Championships, but we would see little of the trail network this day.

A steady snow reduced visibility to a matter of yards and we settled for lower runs with trees to help us stay on the trails. A day later we would get a look at the area from across the valley. The snow was great underfoot, but the wind driven snow in the air had us ready for a break by lunch time and we gathered at Le Marmite, recognized as the best gourmet restaurant on the slopes all over the Alps. This tradition of a leisurely lunch with delicacies, including smoked salmon, caviar, duck live tureen and beef stroganoff could be habit forming if the budget allowed.

From the top of the lodge where we had lunch lifts extend in several directions, the highest reaching the 10,000 foot mark. All but the very lowest runs are above timberline making trail numbers irrelevant. The lifts take skiers into upper bowls where there are groomed tracks, but the skiers can ski almost anywhere between lifts. These groomed routes allow most skiers to ski off the top while more advanced skiers head for the powder.

Skiing off all the lifts at Corviglia would provide all the adventure most skiers need, but the next morning we headed for even bigger terrain. A bus carried us to the other end of the valley and Corvatsch and the beginning of a day-long ski safari.

Our journey started with the most distant of a pair of trams that access the upper lifts. At the top of this lift our guide directed us to a T-bar for a warm up where he could judge the ability levels of the group which ranged from intermediate to expert. This allowed us to ski to a quad chair for the trip to the high point at this end of the lift network at 9,200 feet. We skied our way on a series of runs and lifts to the mid mountain station where we would later board another tram for the trip to the summit close to 11,000 feet. But, first it was time for lunch after a full morning of skiing on perfect packed powder runs.

We headed back up and reached the summit for the final leg of our safari. This run starts on the Corvatsch Glacier, a broad expanse of varying pitches where we dropped 2,000 vertical feet closer to the valley floor, but still had almost as far to go. The ski out is a series of switchbacks that wind up back at the low end of the village of St. Moritz and a gondola ride to the mid slopes of Corviglia. From here we could ski back to the funicular and take the train down to a point within walking distance of the hotel. We had traveled 18 kilometers (about 11 miles) and put in a full day of skiing retracing our tracks only to ski down for lunch.

This was to be our last day of skiing at St. Moritz. The next morning we awoke to blowing snow and the lifts we planned to ski were closed. We settled for a walking tour of the village before boarding a van to head for our second destination.

Next week, Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Dave Irons is a freelance writer who lives in Westbrook.