The Alps by Train—Riding the Rails With One of Skiing's Most Iconic Photographers

After getting to know each other during a photo shoot a few years ago, Leoni and I became good friends. We clicked immediately on that shoot and have been on many trips since. Last winter, I enjoyed visiting Leoni, her boyfriend Janick and Leoni’s family in Andermatt.

Leoni showed me around her backyard in Andermatt for a week, and even if I have skied there many times before, it felt like experiencing the mountains in a completely new way.

Since visiting the Swiss Alps for the first time during the winter of 1997, I have been called back repeatedly. After the first trip – when skiing and photographing in Engelberg, Andermatt, Disentis, and Zermatt – I have been lucky enough to ski nationwide: at the mainstream ski resorts, hidden gems in the side valleys, and around some of the most obscure huts and pretty much everything in between.

I love cheese, but the most prominent reasons for my obsession with Switzerland are the access to the mountains, the flawless public transportation system, and the people. The latter might come as a surprise to some, and yes, I must admit that Italians are generally more friendly, and the French have a better sense of humour, but I like punctuality, ordnung, and a straightforward approach. So, the Swiss lifestyle works great for me.

After several years with much less traveling and a hiatus from most international trips, I finally set off for a big journey in the Alps last winter. I am originally Swedish, but I live in British Columbia, Canada, so nowadays, the Alps are a lot farther away. While on my trip in the Alps, I bounced from ski town to ski town, using public transportation the whole time and had a blast. I heard the sorrow and complaints about the low snowpack everywhere I came, but the skiing was still great. In fact, I skied powder during most of my trip and found myself enjoying a few epic snowstorms throughout the journey. Call it luck – or just a positive spirit.

After a fantastic week in Andermatt, I took the train a bit north to Engelberg. After a short stay to visit old friends and work on a story about the connection between Swiss wines and skiing with Leslie Anthony, I met up with Leoni again. This time, at the train station in Sion, catching the yellow post bus up to Arolla, one of the most unique ski destinations in the Swiss Alps.

Forty kilometres into the spectacular Val d’Hérens, time stops. While Verbier and Zermatt, just a few valleys away, are bustling with modern infrastructure and many tourists, Arolla looks pretty much as it has been for the last century: rustic, cozy and sleepy.

At the end of the road, the tiny town consists of about 50 inhabitants, a handful of old hotels, a couple of restaurants, a family-owned corner store, an outdoor store and some ancient surface lifts that take you partway up the big mountains. To say it’s a sleepy place is an understatement.

With a base area sitting at 2000 meters, Arolla is one of the highest-elevation ski areas in Europe. Dozens of 3,000 to 4,000 peaks and some of the best backcountry access in the Alps surround the small resort. Even better, this off-the-radar location has preserved an authentic and raw ski culture devoid of crowds. While massive corporations control the most successful ski destinations globally, small, independent ski hills need help balancing the books, and places like Arolla are disappearing rapidly.

It is easy to feel at home in Arolla. The locals are friendly, the vibe is relaxed, and the experience differs, in a good way, from most other ski resorts in the Alps. During the first few days, Leoni and I met with the local mountain guide, Antoine Brenzikofer, who once learned how to ski at Arolla during his family's ski holidays. Brenzikofer showed us around his home mountains, and even if we just scraped the surface, we quickly understood why he fell in love with these mountains as a kid and, later in life, made this valley home.

Midway through the week, a big storm rolled in, and it dumped. The locals said it was the most significant snowfall that winter and everyone (meaning 150-200 people) sampled the pow next to the old Poma lifts in the lower part of the mountain. Once it was time for us to leave, the local bus was cancelled due to the high avalanche danger. Then, the friendly chief Dennis at Hotel Pinge d’Arolla, where we stayed, drove us down the valley so we could continue our journey. That speaks to the friendly vibe in Arolla.

Leoni returned home to Andermatt, and I went to Chamonix, which was a culture shock after a slow week in Arolla. After a rather intense time in the buzzing French mountain city, including an epic but busy pow day on Les Grands Montet with Black Crows co-founder Bruno Compagnet, I was pleased to jump on the Mont Blanc Express and enjoy the train ride through the Trient Valley. Next stop: another Swiss gem, Les Marécottes.

It was time to reconnect with my friends Jérémie Heitz and Nico Falquet and explore their stunning backyard.

Seeing Heitz and Falquet navigate the playground at Les Marécottes makes you understand and appreciate how they have become the excellent skiers they are. The terrain around the resort is unique and quite complex: technical, playful, steep and fun all at the same time. While the three-lift resort in the mountains between Martigny and Chamonix caters primarily to intermediate skiers, the surrounding terrain is big. Above the only chair lift are steep Alaska-looking spines, cliffs and couloirs, which have functioned as stepping stones and training grounds for the local skiers for many years. In fact, Heitz's grandfather skied here with the legendary Sylvain Saudan in the 70s.

After several fun days skiing near the resort, Jérémie and Nico suggested a tour via Col de la Golette, the pass straight above the chair lift and further on the backside. It was mid-March, and the freezing level had increased too much for the easy access lines; we needed to go higher.

On the north face of Col de la Golette, we scored and after shooting every angle up and down in the high country, Jérémie suggested I had worked hard enough and got all the shots needed. He was right, and I was stoked to enjoy the skiing while we wrapped around the mountain down to Van d’en haut Salvan. Following Jérémie and Nico as we worked our way down was an extraordinary experience. That night, we had fondue and a superb white wine from the valley – courtesy of Arther Guinand from Pomoca, a true wine connoisseur – at Jérémie’s stunning house in Les Granges. What a fantastic way to end the epic trip in the Alps.