The dairymen's winter homes are easily identified by their structure which includes stalls on ground level, home on upper level. The style allowed for rising heat from the animals to help heat the home during bitter winter months. In 1877, in the Belle Époque, the first hotel for recreation opened, the Park Hotel. The hotel also took over the lake Caumasee and built swimming baths. In 1940 the first purpose built holiday homes were built, nowadays more than half of all flats and homes are being used for recreation purposes. Ancient Flims was populated since the Bronze Age, the remains of a medieval castle (Burg Belmont) can be reached by foot from the end of the public road at Fidaz within 40 minutes. Languages Most of the population () speaks German (80.0%), with Romansh being second most common ( 6.7%). Weather The Swiss climate is generally temperate, with a peak of precipitation in summer. The wettest month is August during which time Flims receives an average of of precipitation falling for an average of 12.8 days. The driest month of the year is October with an average of of precipitation over 12.8 days. From October to March a lot of Switzerland suffers from fog, which does not reach Flims normally. During this period weather can remain stable for weeks and temperatures are often inverted, which means that modestly higher areas such as Flims are actually warmer than lower lying areas. Sports Originally growing as a summer spa town in a distinctly wind sheltered and wide open area, especially since the building of big Hotels from 1877 on, it is nowadays also famous for winter sports (mainly skiing and snowboarding) and is now part of the Weisse Arena resort which combines the formerly separate resorts of Flims, Laax and Falera. It is regular host to international competitions such as the FIS World Championship in skiing and the Burton European Open in snowboarding. In 2004 the resort was featured in the popular Xbox snowboarding video game, Amped 2, and then in 2005 in the sequel Amped 3 on the Xbox 360. Due to the easy access the Weisse Arena cable-cars provide to the mountains, the town has become a popular winter and summer tourist locale. Today Flims is a year-round resort popular not only with winter sports of snowboarding, cross country skiing, downhill skiing and sledding, but also summer sports including hiking,