Three villages in Graubünden sharing a broad sunny mountain that has been at the centre of European snowboarding for decades. The base at Laax is quarried stone and modern design with a young crowd, closer to a city hotel than an alpine village, and deliberately so.

Five snowparks and the largest halfpipe in the world are the headline, and there is an indoor freestyle academy for days when the weather closes in. But the mountain beyond the parks is better than its reputation suggests. There is a wide open bowl up high, a small glacier at the top at 2976 metres, and long tree runs that stay skiable in flat light. Design hotels, hostel style rooms and apartments all sit within walking distance of the lift, and everything from the lift pass to dinner can be arranged in one place. Zurich is around ninety minutes away, so weekends fill up and midweek is calmer.