Switzerland 

                                     Spotlight On Leukerbad

                                                                   (Originally written for OnTheSnow.com)
                                                                                       by Ted Heck

Leukerbad in southern Switzerland has a unique offer for skiers: ski your legs off and then recover by jumping into a thermal bath, maybe one outdoors in the snow.

This resort has been known since Roman times for the curative powers of its hot springs. It is Europe’s largest alpine spa, where you can find fitness and wellness packages purported to mend most ills.

Leukerbad is smack in the middle of Wallis, the German name for the large canton that promotes itself as “The Matterhorn State.” The French-speaking part of the state calls it Valais. The village is off the main highway that leads along the Rhone River from Lake Geneva to Brig.

Many of its 1,700 inhabitants look after guests who come year-round to 1,700 apartments with 6,900 beds, and to 28 hotels with an additional 1,400 beds. The village has 50 restaurants in which visitors can undo the good work of the health programs.

Skiing is mostly above the tree line on the Torrenthorn Mountain. Thirty-seven miles of prepared slopes run through the white arena, with lots of chances for advanced skiers to leave the groomed and try a few turns in the deep. The vertical rise is more than 4,200 feet, which is a bit more than that of Jackson Hole in Wyoming, highest in the USA. Lifts are few in number but adequate to the task: eight surface, two chairs, two gondolas and a cable car.

Cross country skiers have 14 miles of tracks, nine of them at high altitude above a ridge on the other side of the valley in which Leukerbad sits.

Skiers who tire of the limited number of runs can take daytrips to such better-known resorts as Zermatt, Saas-Fee, Crans-Montana and Verbier. They also might want to see the high trio of resorts east of the medieval city of Brig - Riederalp, Bettmeralp, and Fiescheralp - which offer stunning views of the Aletsch, Europe’s longest glacier (14 miles).

Non-skiers, when not bathing in thermal waters or relaxing in a sauna, can skate, hike, curl, or play tennis indoors, among other possibilities.

Nightlife flows around the restaurants, bars and discos and the many cultural events that are usually found in spa towns.