By Arnie Wilson, editor of Ski+board magazine
Although St Moritz was the first modern ski resort, Engelberg (Angel Mountain) in central Switzerland was another popular haunt with the British. Engelberg went out of fashion for a while after the 1960s, but is now back in favour, helped along the way by Bollywood.
In summer, the resort is besieged by Indian tourists in search of the peaks that serve as backdrops in many Bollywood movies. Engelberg also attracts gung-ho skiers and cameramen intent on capturing the photographs of wild cliff leaps and death-defying couloir runs.
It doesn’t get much more historic than Switzerland’s Jungfrau region (capital, Interlaken) where Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren have a magnificent view of three of Switzerland’s most celebrated peaks – the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. It is one of the most glorious views in the Alps, equalled only by the extraordinary view from Zermatt’s Gornergrat, which takes in the Matterhorn, the Lyskamm and the Monte Rosa.
While Wengen and Grindelwald are joined by their mutual ski areas, the historic resort of Mürren is separated by the steep-sided Lauterbrunnen Valley. It was the British who pioneered skiing in the region, particularly through Sir Arnold Lunn, who is regarded as the key figure in devising the modern slalom in 1922. In 1924, Lunn and others started the Kandahar Club in Mürren.
The following year, the Down Hill Only club was formed across the valley in Wengen. It was so-called because the British, encouraged by Lunn and his father Sir Henry, had persuaded the railways, as early as 1910, to keep running in winter, thus providing skiers with the first mechanised uphill transport. Hence they were able to boast that unlike other skiers who had to climb uphill first, they were among the elite "downhill only" brigade.
If you journey to Saas-Fee you will pass another famous ski area: the spa resort of Leukerbad. With a total of 22 thermal pools, Leukerbad is Switzerland’s largest and most important spa centre. The village, in a spectacular setting at the foot of the Balmhorn (3,699m) and Torrenthorn (2,997m), dates back to Roman times.
Elsewhere in the canton of Valais, perched on a sunny plateau overlooking the Rhône Valley, Crans-Montana is another idyllic spot surrounded by the crème-de-la-crème of Alpine peaks. The air in Crans-Montana is claimed to be the purest and healthiest in Switzerland. Back in 1911, it was the venue for what was billed the world's first downhill race (the inaugural Kandahar Challenge Cup). By then Montana was already an up-and-coming health resort, with its 4km rack-and-pinion railway – once the envy of the world – still under construction.
The journey up on horseback from Sierre would have cost 15 francs. Today you can make the same journey by funicular in just 12 minutes.
Find the best resorts in Switzerland to reach by train. Or why not combine several resorts on a Swiss ski safari?