At the far end of Glarus’s Sernf Valley lies the tranquil mountain village of Elm. The preservation of its villagescape, characterised by timber houses, earned Elm a European Council award in 1976 and the Wakker Prize in 1981.

The 7-kilometre cross-country trail begins behind the parish hall in the canton’s highest valley community. Over near-flat terrain, the first “meadow ” section of the trail runs past the historic houses, allowing skiers plenty of time to admire the spectacular mountain panorama of the Tschingelhörner and Martin’s Hole. They may also be lucky enough to witness a natural spectacle: twice a year, in March and September, the sun shines through this rock window some 22 metres high and directly onto the church tower for a few minutes. Martin’s Hole was formed by the Glarus Overthrust, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the Sardona region covering more than 300 square kilometres, Verrucano rock between 250 and 300 million years old was forced over the slaty flysch from around 50 million years ago. This phenomenon – older rock strata on top of much younger stone – is impressively demonstrated by the Tschingelhörner at Martin’s Hole.

Now it’s time to explore more recent history. The “Bärentritt” section over the bridge is the steepest on the whole route. Once at the top, the trail runs along the edge of the forest to Aeschen. This is the site of the huge Aeschen Rock, which thundered into the valley during the Elm rockslide in September 1881. Today, it stands as a memorial to the natural disaster in which about ten million cubic metres of slate broke away and fell several hundred metres into the valley. The masses of rock buried 114 people and razed 83 buildings to the ground – something skiers can barely imagine today as they enjoy the dreamy, peaceful atmosphere on this idyllic village trail.