From here, a single track makes the ascent to Arosa, a climb of some 4,000ft (the resort sits at 5,8

Thanks to the cold, flaky events of the last two weeks, you re probably sick of the subject of snow, especially when it crops up in relation to travel. Closed runways, cancelled flights, buses stranded in deep drifts (if they even left the depot). And so on, ad nauseam.
cheap off broadway tickets However, if you ll indulge me for a minute, I recently encountered a happy flipside to the snow-travel relationship, a situation where vast piles of the white stuff actually improved the A-to-B experience rather than grabbing it by the wheels cheap off broadway tickets and forcing it to a weary halt.
Of course, it probably helped that this occurred in Switzerland, a country where they not only seem to have heard of snow, but have also formulated a plan to deal with it that doesn t involve flapping their arms, pointing at the ground in a desperate frenzied manner and shrieking What shall we do, oh lord, what shall we do? in increasingly shrill voices.
The jaunt in question was quite a simple one, a train ride from the major metropolis cheap off broadway tickets of Zurich to the small ski resort cheap off broadway tickets of Arosa – which nestles in the south-eastern corner of Switzerland, where this most mountainous of nations begins to bleed into northern Italy. This adds up to a distance of little more than 100 miles, but the view from the carriage window is a scene of such distinct and varied beauty that the journey would be entirely worthwhile cheap off broadway tickets even if there wasn't the prospect of perfect pistes and schapps-infused coffee at the end of it. In terms of airport transfers, this is as far as you can get from a stuffy coach braving the tarmac arteries of the Costa Del Sol en route to a dilapidated hotel.
Half of the appeal is that the rail line passes along the southern bank of Lake Zurich. It doesn't have much choice. This is a long, crescent-shaped body of water that stretches out south and east for around 25 miles – and Zurich sits at its upper tip. Any train heading downward and diagonally from Zurich Hauptbahnhof towards the low right-hand portion of the country has to cleave to its shoreline – quite literally in those parts where the track appears cheap off broadway tickets intent on veering straight off the land and into the blue. (See the photo below. Apologies for the mild blurriness. This being Switzerland, the train was moving pretty fast. Nor does the fading light do justice to the dramatic vista – the rocky ridges plunging down to the lake s edge, the ripples on the surface, the odd boat bobbing in the distance.)
The second half of the journey, though, is the piece de resistance . To reach Arosa from Zurich, you have to change trains in Chur, a medium-sized town (and one of the oldest in Switzerland) whose chocolate-box look is complimented by the fact that, in the immediate vicinity of the station, arriving and departing trains run along the roads, rather like trams.
From here, a single track makes the ascent to Arosa, a climb of some 4,000ft (the resort sits at 5,823ft, Chur at a comparatively modest 1,946ft). It takes around 45 minutes, but I found myself hoping it would take a lot longer – not least when the snowline cheap off broadway tickets clicked cheap off broadway tickets into place, and everything turned pale and wintry. The line wanders upwards, switching back and forth on itself, cheap off broadway tickets as it passes isolated shepherd huts and barns locked down against the inclement weather, fir trees dusted with powder, tiny one-horse stops (the likes of Peist and Langwies – diminutive clusters of chalets where a surprising number of skiers jump aboard), the occasional dizzying drop to the valley far below. Even the train plays its part, its red livery standing stark against the pristine background (see above and below).
Eventually, the line ploughs through a last tunnel and arrives in Arosa, where the station waits in a prime spot, right at the bottom cheap off broadway tickets of the main ski lift and alongside another lake, the Obersee. It s a charming enough sight that you could forget you came to ski. Almost.
The one downside cheap off broadway tickets is that the journey is not entirely cheap – a round trip from Zurich Airport to Arosa costs around 120 Swiss Francs (about £72 at the current bleak exchange rate – see the Swiss rail network website at www.sbb.ch/en) – although if you book a ski package, the transfers will usually be part of the deal. Swiss Travel Service (0844 879 8002), for example, does seven-night breaks in Arosa where the £719 starting price includes flights and half-board cheap off broadway tickets accommodation as well as what may well be Europe s loveliest transfer.