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 08, 2010
James from
USA - California
James from
USA - California
Today is my last day at Zermatt and I am excited to be leaving. Over the past 6 days the conditions have been horrible and the entire resort disappointing. The food and lodging is ridiculously expensive. I don't mind paying a premium for location but the markup here is about 100-150% with most restaurant entrees ranging from $30-45 for mediocre food. Zermatt has a surprisingly new and commercial touristy feel and not the old world charm I was hoping for. Also, the car-free claims are not really true since you're likely to be run over by the multitude of small electric taxis or big buses weaving around pedestrians.
I consider myself an advanced intermediate skier who spends most of the day on US slopes; on blacks with the occasional double diamond on a powder day. I have skied Whistler, Taos, Tahoe, and Utah. By comparison, the slopes at Zermatt are EASY - there are about 3 blacks at Zermatt and a few orange (although most were closed due to lack of snow). All the blacks I did were very simple, boring and groomed. Beware: The entire resort was icy and had very poor snow cover - the base now is from 6" to 40" Turns out Zermatt only gets about 300 inches a year and 60% of the resort uses man-made snow (that should say something)!! Zermatt's guarantee of snow due to the glaciers is misleading, because the glacier skiing is flat and lame. Most pistes look about the same, narrow, smooth and groomed with few or no signs; many of the runs just seem like roads. No trails have names marked, only numbers, if you're lucky enough to even find a sign. I've heard there are challenging pistes, but it looks like they are only accessible with a guide and a helicopter at a cost of $400 per person with a 3 person minimum for a couple hours - such a waste when there are many resorts with challenging blacks, double and triple diamonds that are in-bounds and included in the lift ticket!! The quality of skiers here was also amazingly bad - I had anticipated there being amazing skiers since this is Supposedly the #1 resort in Europe, but maybe it is overrun with rich tourists that can't ski. The few steep slopes were cluttered with poor skiers weaving across the entire slope and stopping every 50 feet. There are also extensive transport systems across the resorts - trams, trains, lifts, gondolas and buses - but they often take an indirect route with many stops (the Matterhorn Express has two mid-mountain stops and a transfer!). From my hotel near the village center I took a bus, and then the Matterhorn Express - all this took at least 45 min to 1 hour before I even touched the slopes. Getting from one side of the resort to another, or to Cervinia, is also very time consuming, aside from the fact that once you get off a transport you often have to walk down hallways, down stairs or take elevators all in your ski boots. The transport systems seem unnecessarily inefficient and time consuming. I have never spent so much time getting around and not skiing!!
As for the views of the Alps and the Matterhorn, Cervinia easily has Zermatt beat with much more striking slopes and mountains. Cervinia is not demanding, but it is somewhat easier to get around and cheaper to eat. I have also been to the Austrian Alps at Axamer Lizum and the Stubai Glacier and I enjoyed both much more than my time at Zermatt, although not challenging both had better snow, better views, better signage and more efficient transport.
This has been a most disappointing ski experience and I will be happy to return to Whistler and Utah for future ski trips knowing that I am not missing too much in the Swiss Alps. I have no idea why this resort is rated so high. All I can think of is that it's frequented by Brits and locals that have never skied at a real world-class resort with actual natural snow and interesting runs!
January 05, 2010
Eric from
USA - California
Eric from
USA - California
Expensive, very expensive. Nothing is inexpensive here: beer, food, room. Expect to pay 50-60 SF for a mediocre plate of pasta. Coke 6 SF, beer start at 6 and go up. Same beverages and food over in Cervina 1/3 the cost.
Lift passes rival Vail or Aspen in terms of cost, without the flexibility. Better places to ski cheaper.
The snow reports were less than factual over the last 2 weeks. Zermatt needs 200+ real centimeters to be even barely skiable. 400 for great skiing, have been here during those periods. When snow is at his depth here (400+), sell your children and come here. Oh yeah, that is what it will cost.
The crew here is 2 expert, one advanced skier. We found the new lift layouts her and in Cernvina not an improvement on the old setup. You are forced into more limited skiing area with more people. Close works in shaves and dancing, not on the ski slope.
If you like skiing with rude drunk Brits, go to Austria: same ambiance, same drunk Brits, cheaper cost. Chamonix, Val D' Isere, Lech-Zurs offer comparable skiing at a lower cost.
If you must come here stay in Cervina with lower costs and similar acces to the slopes. Since one cannot forecast when fantastic conditions occur, save your cash.
Oh, travel time to get here is obscene for the experience. The Hotel Bristol is a good hotel so consider it if you must come, however, get the half board option.
January 05, 2010
Harry
Harry
Sadly, I also think the skiing at Zermatt is boring. I stayed at Cervina for a week towards the end of last season and regularly skied over to Zermatt. The scenery at both resorts is spectacular. The skiing at Cervinia is perhaps a little less boring than at Zermatt and the eating at Cervinia is much better (Zermatt's on mountain eateries are rubbish). I enjoyed my week there but wouldn't bother going back. For us here on the other side of the world, North America (particularly Colorado, Wyoming and Utah) is closer and has much better skiing than Europe generally. Even better is Japan (but we are trying to keep that a secret).
January 03, 2010
Matt from
United Kingdom
Matt from
United Kingdom
Just returned from Zermatt, and was so very, very, very disappointed with the resort as a whole.
If I could explain why from two perspectives.
1. We are experienced skiers who have done many seasons between us. We're interested in itinerary, steeps, chutes, bumps and other challenging stuff. We found Zermatt to be unbelievably boring, with only one area that we had to illegally hike to get to as it was made perfectly clear it would not be opening till february. Zermatt lifties closed lifts at the first opportunity to do so, and did so with impunity. Truly awful people, with no concept of duty to the skiers who were paying through the nose for the area pass.
2. As a group of families who have now taken to doing your one major ski holiday per year Zermatt proved to be totally inadequate - some for reasons it cannot control, but mostly for reasons it could. Geographically it is a fairly long transfer, and along with the train and taxi's you inevitably end up taking, it saps the energy out of even the hardened traveller. As Zermatt is a petrol-free resort, it relies on public transport such as taxi's and bus's. Taxi's are a disgraceful rip off, whose drivers are lunatics who take to interpreting fare's by whatever they feel like charging. Bus's are infrequent, exceptionally small, cramped and badly linked. The bus situation is inexcusable. Zermatt relies on a bus network which is just woefully inadequate. The lifts are always a walk up or downhill and even at non-peak times you are guaranteed some form of queueing. On peak, it will take 1-1.5 hours to get up to the top of the glacier. Ridiculous? Yes.
Lifts and particularly connecting lifts that are important to put people back in the correct valley for them to ski home in close absurdly early. Some as early as 15.00-15.10. How any resort in decent conditions can justify closing lower linking lifts so early and with such a horribly inflexible attitude is just beyond belief. On the Italian side it's soo much better; most lifts closing at 16.00-16.15. This was all consistent with the trend of Italian value vs Swiss style-over-substance. Zermatt is a RIP OFF. Full stop. Food and drink in Italy is cheaper, and in a different world of quality (particularly the coffee). Zermatt's glitz and beauty (the Matterhorn is undeniably an imperious neighbour) hides its poor quality and bland skiing. Bland for experts, overly crowded and stressful for beginners who struggle with miles of walking with ski's and lifties that close lifts whenever they want.
Conclusion: If you go, try and get over to Italy as much as possible. The skiing is slightly better, and the food and drink is in a different class. However, try not to go. It is more hassle than its worth. I regrettably say that I will never go back there.
October 13, 2009
Andy from
United Kingdom
Andy from
United Kingdom
Summer glacier skiing at Zermatt was very disappointing. Of the runs shown to be open on the piste map displayed at the lower lift, half were closed to recreational skiers. International teams cordon off the rest for their own use. I took this up with the Zermatt authorities but they stubbornly refused to accept any responsibility. It was a lot of money to pay for 6 days skiing on little more than 4 wide runs.
Don't bother with summer at Zermatt.
March 05, 2009
Cracker from
S. Africa
Cracker from
S. Africa
Spent my 30th on the slopes of the Matterhorn at Zermatt. Watched my first game of Ice-hockey, found a few fabulous restaurants and got pictures which are good enough to grace any postcard. Hard to find a better skiing paradise. Sometimes had a full 5-seat lift to myself and powder everywhere. It's the little things that count like friendly people and the fact that you do not have any combustion vehicles so all you hear at Zermatt is a faint buzz of electric cars, snow falling and an odd party-reveller trying to find his cabin.
December 31, 2008
BobbyBoy from
United Kingdom
BobbyBoy from
United Kingdom
If I was only ever allowed to go skiing in one place for the rest of my life it would be Zermatt. I love it. It's got the best combination of slopes, and fabulous restaurants - the 2 most important things for me. It can be very expensive, but there are well priced apartments, and you can cater for your self to make it all a bit cheaper. Check my Zermatt Blog lovingzermatt.wordpress.com
December 07, 2008
Steve from
United Kingdom
Steve from
United Kingdom
March 20, 2008
Richard Harper from
Switzerland
Richard Harper from
Switzerland
Summer and Winter in Zermatt is magical, always plenty going on, best skiing in the world, best facilities to get up the mountains, ski to Cervinia if you like pasta. Perhaps I am biased being an annual visitor. Maybe I shouldn't praise Zermatt like this, the consequence being, it might get crowded.
Nearest