Hi folks,
I'm heading back to the States in mid-December, and am hoping to do a bit of snowboarding in Switzerland before I leave. (This would probably mean a day or weekend trip from Basel on the Nov. 21, Nov. 28, or Dec. 5 weekend, or possibly earlier, if the lifts are open.) Would love to meet some people who might be up for some early-season skiing or snowboarding, and also to get some advice about the best resorts to check out. I'm an intermediate snowboarder (don't know how Swiss ratings work, but I tend to ride the blue square slopes in the U.S. (mostly Lake Tahoe area), and occassionally try to scrape my way down a single black diamond.) Would like to find someplace that's snowboard-friendly (preferably not too many flat spots or drag lifts) with a good variety for novices/intermediates, and hopefully some nice, wide-open cruisers. For a day trip from Basel, I was thinking perhaps Engelberg or Meiringen-Hasliberg, though I read somewhere that Meiringen has quite a lot of surface tows - would this be an issue for a snowboarder who's used to chair lifts? I'd be very interested to hear other recommendations.

If there is any interest in a weekend trip, I would also be up for venturing further afield, maybe to Zermatt? I don't have a car in Basel, so would probably be going for a snow n rail pass, and would also need to rent gear. (I figured I would rent at the resort itself; is this generally an OK option here?)

Anyway, let me know if you might be interested in a ski/snowboard trip, and thanks in advance for any advice!