Full day, empty pockets: how you get fleeced on Switzerland’s slopes

«That’ll be 25 francs,» says the young man behind the counter with a smile. I want to smile back at him but swallow hard instead. I pay the amount without tipping. Next, I carefully carry one PET bottle of Cola Zero and one cream-topped liquor coffee, which is at least served in a real glass, to the table. It’s a self-service restaurant. With these kinds of prices, I try hard not to spill a single drop. This requires quite some acrobatic skill when you’re wearing ski boots and walking over an iced-up, slippery wooden floor. I make it to my seat in one piece. Only a small bit of coffee was lost along the way.

It’s a gloomy Friday afternoon at the Weissfluhjoch in Davos’ Parsenn ski resort. Before my last ski run of the day, I treat myself to a hot alcoholic beverage at one of those open-air wood cabin bars. Don’t worry, I’ve been zipping up and down the slopes since half past nine in the morning without having a drop. Besides, my alcohol-laced coffee consists of mainly hot water, a sprinkling of instant coffee, half a thimble of plum spirit and a dew drop of canned whipped cream. The Coke Zero was for my mate Claudio.

And so, I find myself sitting outdoors in the cold, clutching a lukewarm drink and feeling angry. Absolutely fuming, to be precise. 25 francs for a bit of hot water, coffee powder, a drop of schnapps and whipped cream from a can. Plus a Coke Zero in self-service. Seriously?

It’s not just the price for alcoholic coffee that’s scandalous. At the mountain restaurant, a small bowl of barley soup costs a whopping 15 francs. The mixed salad served in a soup bowl the size I’d categorise as «extra small» is 13.50. And, priced at 8 francs, a half litre of non-alcoholic Weizen beer eats the next hole in my wallet. At least, unlike at the wooden cabin bar, this order is brought to our table by a member of the waiting staff. But still, are you having a laugh? Yeah, sure, it all needs to be lugged up the mountain first. I do too, by the way. The combined day pass sets me back 78 francs.

Let me just tally that up:

• Day pass 78.–
• Liquour coffee & Cola Zero 25.–
• Barley soup 15.–
• Mixed salad 13.50
• Non-alcoholic Weizen beer 8.–

Skiing a sport for the masses? Don’t make me laugh

That’ll be 139.50, please. One hundred and thirty-nine fifty! That’s for one person for a single day of skiing. Travel not included. Wasn’t there that Swiss-German folk song that goes something like «Everyone’s on skis, skiing is what the whole nation does.» I don’t think so. At least not in Davos. And taking a look at prices in Engadin, Valais or the Bernese Oberland, we’ll only see a handful of filthy rich individuals zigzagging down the slopes covered in artificial snow.