The Holbrook news., 1911-04-07
. IE weather experienced last
 winter in Switzerland was of a
 vileness unparalleled for fifty years, yet the number of peo-

years, yet the number of peo-
 pie who went to Alpine resorts n search of health and amusement suffered no apparent diminution. Da- vos had it's usual three thousand Eng fish visitors, and other favorite places were proportionately full. The fact is that almost everyone who has once tried the sports practiced on snow and ice not only returns to them himself, but persuades his friends to accom- pany him.
 It would be possible to enlarge the purview of these notes by discussing the attractions of Norway, Sweden, the Black Forest and the Austrian Tyrol. But we refrain from doing so because at present it is in Switzerland only that adequate provision is made for those who wish to do something more than ski all day and every day. There are toboggan runs and ice rinks out side the frontiers of the playground of Europe. but they are little used, and sufficient number of suitable companr ions is absolutely necessary for the curler and eminently desirable for the DODOBkdu6I ShdICI- ENS4 Ill 0W4lLCA- land itself skiing is so far the dom inant sport that at some of the smaller resorts a skater may discover that he has the rink too much to himself, and the keen curler find himself unable to get a good game regularly. Leuzer- heide, for example, was for two sea sons the headquarters of the Winter Alps club, and then there was much excellent skating and curling on the Kurhaus rink But when that club decided to become a migratory body the visitors who filled at once the pla- ces of its members, took to the snow. Skaters and curriers' became less numerous, and less proficient. Much the same thing has happened at Montana, where, as at Luzerheide, the ski slopes are of the first quality. In fact, if we say that at most places where only one or two hotels are open in the winter skiing has, to some ex- tent, swamped curling and skating, we shall be stating a general propo= sition as true as most of it's kind.
 It is not very easy to find satisfac- tory basis of classification for the va rious Swiss resorts. Perhaps it will. be best to arrange them according to the special facilities which they afford for different sports. Whatever sys- tenn be adopted, St Moritz, Davos and Grindelwald must form the first class. They resemble the golf courses on which championships are decided, in so far as they are the places where the experts meet to compete and CO operate with one another. Each has its peculiarities. St. Moritz is a long way of, and by a considerable num- Der of feet the highest of the three. Some consider that these accidents of position are the great advantages of the place; others are deterred by them from going there. Everything, the hotels, the Cresta Run, the skat- ing and curling rinks, is on a magni- ficent scale, and consequently life is expensive But for those who can af- ford the expense and are sufficiently expert at tobogganing to go down the Cresta. or at skating to take part in a long-combined figure, or at curling to be welcome in rink which wastes very few stones, St. Moritz Is ideal.
 Davos has of late years gone ahead of it's ancient rival in the department of English figure skating, and may be described as the home of that art. The curling is less good, and the ice run is not to be seriously compared with the Cresta- Both places provide first class facilities for bobsleighing and skiing. Both also contain sanatoria for consumptive patients, and there are not few healthy people whose enjoyment of the life is marred by the knowledge that all is not well with some of their fellow-visitors. It is the boast of the Grindelwalders that their ice rinks consistently provide the best surface for skating and curling which can be found in Switzerland. Their contention can hardly be gainsaid But their beautiful ice is purchased at a price; the sun does not shine up on the rinks for any appreciable time until February is half wasted. This is delightful for the expert skaters and curlers, who are to be found in large numbers at Grindelwald. but disap- pointing to those visitors who have come out to chase the sun. Such will be tempted to go skiing in order to get put of the shadow of the Eiger, and they will find good and varied country available for either long or short ex- petitions. There Is a long and tol- erably amusing toboggan run and the