The Skier’s Guide to Davos

Every January, titans of industry ascend to the Swiss ski resort of Davos for four days of gabbing and glad-handing at the World Economic Forum. A few of them will actually ski.

If your address book is sufficiently unburdened to allow a few hours on the pistes, Benedikt Germanier can help you find the right place to point your boards. The veteran of UBS is the chief executive officer of Zai, a maker of skis befitting the billionaire set that frequents Davos: A pair can run anywhere from $3,200 to more than $9,000. More important, he's a former ski instructor who spent six years teaching at various resorts in Switzerland. Though he's attended the WEF in the past, he's skipping the festivities this year. "Too much talk," Germanier said. The slopes tend to be pretty empty during the Forum, he said, and recent snowfall—after hardly any so far this ski season—means there should be sufficient snow to make it worth the trouble. (Most of the lifts in the area are now open.)