Snowsure: 4.6
- Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
- Is often closed due to a lack of snow
- Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
- Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
- Zermatt is snowsure even in the poorest seasons
Visitor reviews for Zermatt Ski Resort
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(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
Latest
January 29, 2012
Andy from
United Kingdom
Andy from
United Kingdom
We spent the second week of January here. Plenty of snow, sun all day every day, a picnic each day with a view of the Matterhorn and many other 4000m peaks.
The skiing was very varied and good, especially going across to Italy and descending to Valtournenche and Cervinia. Many pistes were very quiet, especially some in Italy. On piste the skiing was not too difficult; the blacks were relatively easy. On some runs you have to use the poles. For instance, run 52 via Stafel was very pretty, but there are a couple of uphill bits, so we only did it once.
At almost £300 for 6 days, the lift pass was significantly more than we've spent elsewhere. Considering the high price, the piste management was very poor; piste marking was generally better on the cheaper Italian side. I've never known a chair lift on a popular slope to close as early as 2.50. The lifts on the Zermatt side seemed more prone to closure than those on the Italian side, although it was generally windier on the Italian side. This led us to suspect that the Zermatt lift company pays the Italian ones fees depending on how much the Italian side is used. Zermatt is also the only place where we've needed the lift pass to get off as well as on lifts.
We stayed on the hill in Petit Village and managed to ski back home, as well as down the road in the morning. This meant coming back via Sunnegga each evening. To do this we needed to be down from the Italian side at Furi by about 2.30, in order to safely catch the last lift from Gant at 3.40. The Findeln lift runs later, but the key run 25 down to this was kept closed and unpisted, although snowmaking was running.
Overall, with the snow, sun, views and varied skiing, one of our very best skiing holidays. We didn't spend too much time and money in the mountain restaurants, because the weather and skiing was so good, and also because we often had a last lift to think about.
January 22, 2012
Bram from
France
Bram from
France
This year I skied for the 35th year, and went for the 5th time to Zermatt. I probably will have about 10 years left for active skiing. I am sure most of them will be spend in Zermatt, as it is the ski area I like most. Yes, it is expensive, but skiing is great. Especially in a year like this with lots of snow.
Like an earlier reviewer, I especially like the descent from Klein Matterhorn to Valtournenche in Italy. From 3820 to 1524 mts with only a very small lift in between. Fantastic.
The scenery is one of the reasons I go to Zermatt. Last year I was in St Anton. Nice area, but it can not compete in scenery.
I understand the complaints about prices, but you should be aware of it when you go. If you want you can economize by taking your coffee and lunch in Italy - though it is true with high winds the lifts are closed (as in all resorts, but the lifts are higher here, so more risk).
For me there is no doubt. Zermatt is number 1!
January 16, 2012
Stig
Stig
This is one of the world's great ski areas. Huge vertical, well prepared slopes, variety of pitches, huge off-piste and this year so much snow that the town looks like a post card from the thirties. If you do not enjoy yourself here (with the unbelievable food options as well) you should stay at home and watch videos and just dream.
January 12, 2012
Mick from
United Kingdom
Mick from
United Kingdom
Zermatt was fantastic. Best skiing in Europe. What powder! What scenery! Big with many alternatives...
One of the most charming towns in the Alps. Best mountain restaurants if you know where to go. Even a Michelin star restaurant in town. Great apres-ski. Decent late night party, but there are better.
A lot of reviews are from angry tourists venting about prices and the fact that pistes were closed. Come on!
Coffee price complaints? Seriously? I sense other issues.
Ski lifts being closed? They were closed because there was over 1.5m of snow that fell in 2 days! That is life on a serious mountain. Wind was also an issue but the tourists would not understand.
I guess if you go, do your research and ask locals for advice. Ohh, and hope for good weather.
January 02, 2012
zag from
France
zag from
France
Just back from a week in Zermatt. Due to a pre-existing injury I wasn't able to ski this time around, so I'll restrict my review to the town end of things.
As with many other posters I found that the main street was no fun at all. The taxis and delivery vehicles take no account of pedestrian activity, drive very fast, turn without warning, and reverse at high speed, etc . . . and all in all make for a very unpleasant experience. One day at the narrowest point in the street (at the Hotel Post) two taxis parked side by side and effectively forced the entire pedestrian flow to shuffle sideways between them. This sort of stuff isn't acceptable anywhere. It doesn't matter how cute the town is. However, turn off the main street and you enter a different world with much less crowding, much less vehicles, and nice old buildings.
We got the train down the valley twice since I couldn't ski. My suggestion - give the Glacier Express a miss and just take the local train instead. It runs down the same track and has the same views. Take an off-peak local train (not connecting with trains to Zurich or Geneva airports) and you will have loads of room to yourself. The Glacier Express was absolutely packed and this meant that it was all a bit busy and not very relaxing.
Prices are a little scary. Someone mentioned that a coffee costs the same as in the middle of London (like this was a good thing), but comparing like with like you can say that you could get a couple of coffees in an Austrian resort for the price of one in Zermatt. This may just be a function of Swiss prices in general but it doesn't make it any easier on the pocket. Expect to pay ~CHF20 for a pizza that in almost any other country in Europe would cost ~EUR5-12. Supermarket prices appeared to be much more reasonable, although we didn't buy loads there.
Ski school prices for kids were pretty high at about CHF80 per day for group lessons so the kids in our group ended up skiing with the adults. In addition, it appeared that you only found out each evening where the group was going to meet the next morning - since the lifts are spread out quite widely around the town this might mean that you end up staying in a hotel beside lift A and having to trek 20 minutes to lift B to drop them off in the morning. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
The Matterhorn museum by the church is worth a visit and is relatively good value at CHF10 for adults & CHF5 for children. We went around it & checked everything out in about 90 minutes. It opens from 1500.
January 02, 2012
Linda from
United Kingdom
Linda from
United Kingdom
Zermatt has a lot to offer as a ski resort in terms of the skiing and the town, but I'm not sure we'll go back there. This is basically down to the eye wateringly expensive lift passes and poor service. We bought the international pass for 6 days which gives access to Italy. During that time it was only possible to ski into Italy from 11.30 on one day although it wasn't showing when we went up on the Gorngergrat. We kept checking display boards & discovered it was open at 3pm by which time it was too late to ski over the border & get back in time. As a result, they refused a refund for the whole 6 days. In addition some of the lower slopes on the Zermatt side remained closed most of the week. The conditions were very snowy, but even so, in most resorts you see piste bashers going up & down continuously, but not in Zermatt. Many sat idle. For the price paid & it is Switzerland, we expected better.
December 30, 2011
Bob from
United Kingdom
Bob from
United Kingdom
Recently returned from a week in Zermatt with a large group of mixed ability. Many of the good and bad points have been listed in the reviews below, but here's my take.
Good points: The town - great atmosphere, picturesque valley and the Matterhorn (although we only saw it out of the clouds for 3 hours!)
The vertical (when it's open) and some of the long red runs were great.
Not much queueing.
The Chalet - Kamanga was fine and the food and wine good.
Bad points: Lift and piste management was very poor- lifts and pistes closed all over for no apparent reason, snow cannons left on turning poor visibility (it was snowing) into dangerous conditions.
Expensive - everything from the lift pass (which might be reasonable value if lifts and runs were open) to food and drink, but not that bad compared to top French resorts.
The runs: (those that were open) good for intermediates, poor for advanced,(hardly any blacks open) poor for beginners or nervous, and poor for boarders (too many flat sections). Can't comment on the itiniaries as they were all closed and not for lack of snow. Off piste was not advisable due to avalanche risk.
The connection to Cervinia - a joke!. We paid in advance for the area pass but could not use it. The top cable was not open for skiers at all and the double, very lengthy draglift was allegedly open for 3 hours one day, meaning that they refused to give any refunds.
Overall we had a good time and made the most of what we could do and were perhaps unfortunate that the snow arrived late and in such quantities. It snowed over 1 metre the day we arrived and continued to snow (mainly lightly) all the time we were there. The powder was brilliant for the advanced, but the visibility poor.
As others have said its probably better to go to Zermatt later in the season, when all the runs are open and hope for a bit of sunshine.
December 28, 2011
Ian de Haan from
United Kingdom
Ian de Haan from
United Kingdom
I had my first ski week of the season in Zermatt 10-17th December. Once again we enjoyed the amazingly scenic train journey form Geneva airport to Visp around the north shores of lake Geneva, on a very sunny morning.
We got into Zermatt, were collected by the Beau Site hotel's taxi and were in plenty of time to enjoy an afternoon's skiing to warm us up for the Ski Week ahead. The piste skiing was very limited due to the lack of snow but nevertheless, enough to get ready.
The next day we were off-piste with a guide for the whole week and had fantastic deep snow from the first forays into the off-piste. We started off at Rothorn and after only about 100 metres we were following the guide off-piste in deep, untracked snow. This then set the pace and continued for the rest of the week. After the first day the snow started to fall and just kept falling.
We skied over to Valtournenche mid station on the one day the pass was open but despite poor visibility we all skied the varied snow conditions form crud to crust to deep powder before returning to Zermatt and enjoying deep untracked powder on both sides of Furggsattel and on to Garten.
Everyday we skied somewhere different, always off-piste and always in untracked deep snow.
On the last day, the lifts were closed so three of us went out on touring skis with the guide via Franz and Heidis to Sunnegga, where we skied down to Hotel Cervo in lovely, light, deep powder snow to finish our week.
When you are skiing Zermatt, it can appear limiting if you only ski in Zermatt. When you ski to Cervinia and Valtournenche, it is a GREAT ski area. When you go off-piste the whole week, Zermatt becomes a VAST ski area, especially when you go off-piste to Cervinia and Valtournenche. Then you can get over to the Monte Rosa area and it becomes one of the LARGEST ski areas in the world.
Not only great skiing, but some of the finest mountain restaurants in the world which we managed to eat in too!
When I returned, I emailed some friends. They were in Heavenly USA and skiing only man-made snow!
This was undoubtedly one of the best ski weeks I have had and look forward to many more off-piste days with their guides. I am returning in January and looking to ski to St Jacques.
The lifts continue to be improved and is still value for money. Get to the lifts late and just like any other top resort, there may well be queues - ignore the people who expect the world to revolve around themselves and go to the most amazing ski resort in the world !
October 15, 2011
Sadi AKEL from
Turkey
Sadi AKEL from
Turkey
May 09, 2011
Denny from
USA - California
Denny from
USA - California
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