Zermatt Highlights:

✈️ Getting to Zermatt:For your journey to Zermatt, flying into Geneva is a convenient option. The airport is approximately 236km away from Zermatt. Upon arriving at Geneva, taking a transfer to Zermatt is a practical choice. Despite the distance, efficient transportation options ensure reasonable transfer times and costs. The journey from Geneva to Zermatt typically takes around three to four hours, offering picturesque views along the way.

Why we love Zermatt :

🏞️ Unrivaled Scenery and Varied Skiing:
Linking with Cervinia in Italy, Zermatt provides diverse skiing experiences against the backdrop of towering 4000m+ peaks. The Klein Matterhorn cable car, reaching 3883m, opens up pistes descending on both sides of the border, offering exhilarating descents with breathtaking views. Zermatt is a paradise for off-piste enthusiasts, being the endpoint of the renowned Haute Route tour.

🚗 Car-Free and Convenient:
Situated 230km away from Geneva Airport, Zermatt is effectively car-free, emphasizing eco-friendly transportation. The absence of internal combustion engines creates a unique atmosphere with electric vehicles and horse-drawn carriages navigating the streets. A train transfer from Geneva adds to the convenience, delivering visitors directly into the town.

🏔️ Year-Round Skiing and Glacier Descent:
Zermatt stands out as one of the few resorts offering year-round skiing on its glacier. Skiers and snowboarders globally travel here to experience the glacier and a massive 2-kilometer vertical descent. The town’s capacity and capabilities cater to a year-round crowd, ensuring a vibrant atmosphere.

⛷️ Skiing Challenges and Off-Piste Paradise:
While Zermatt offers incredible skiing, it comes with challenges. The ski areas don’t seamlessly link, and the public transport system may be confusing initially. Much of the off-piste terrain is glaciated, requiring guidance for newcomers. Local instructors and guides can help navigate these challenges, ensuring an optimal experience.

Ski and Snowboard Guide to Zermatt:

Photo: Zermatters

Zermatt boasts impressive elevations; three lifts elevate you over two kilometers. The journey starts with a gondola to Furi, followed by another to Trockener Steg at 2,939m. Another lift takes you to the glacier at 3,883m, and a drag lift goes even higher to 3,899m, ensuring year-round skiing.

🏔️ Skiing Zones:
Dividing Zermatt’s side into sections, the Rothhorn area offers varied terrain. The Stockhorn peak zone caters to advanced skiers with freeride terrain. The Gornergrat peak area, accessible by funicular, is beginner-friendly. The glacier zone provides reds and freeride terrain, allowing a full 2km vertical descent back to town.

Lastly, up towards the glacier. You’ll find reds and freeride terrain snaking down, and will be able to ride the entire 2km vertical all the way back to town through a series of long, sweeping reds.

All that’s left, then, is Cervinia, which offers up a whole lot more terrain on its own and is well worth exploring in its own right.

Zermatt for Beginners:

Photo: PDS Snowsport Switzerland

Embarking on your skiing journey in Zermatt promises an enchanting experience amidst stunning landscapes and a vibrant alpine atmosphere. While Zermatt is renowned for its challenging terrain, it also warmly welcomes beginners, offering a perfect blend of learning opportunities and breathtaking surroundings.

🌨️ Gentle Slopes for First-Timers: For those taking their first steps on snow, Zermatt provides gentle beginner slopes conveniently located under Sunnegga and Gornergrat. These welcoming areas offer a comfortable environment for mastering the basics, making learning enjoyable and stress-free.

🏡 Beginner-Friendly Zones: Zermatt’s Gornergrat peak area is specifically designed with beginners in mind. Accessible by a funicular railway, it provides a supportive learning space with lovely blue runs circling down towards the mid-station. Additionally, a dedicated slow slope ensures a comfortable progression for those new to the mountain.

Zermatt for Intermediates:

Photo: Prati Borni Ski & Snowboard Schule

Intermediate skiers will discover a playground that caters to their desire for variety, challenge, and breathtaking views. Every turn in Zermatt is an opportunity to explore diverse terrain and embrace the alpine wonder that surrounds you.

⛷️ Explore Varied Terrain: Intermediate skiers in Zermatt can revel in the vast and varied terrain that caters to your skill level. From snaking red runs to exhilarating freeride sections, Zermatt ensures that every turn down the mountain is a delightful exploration of the alpine landscape.

Zermatt for Experts:

Photo: Zermatters

Expert skiers: Experts will get the most out of Zermatt, drinking in the high-altitude air and leaping down perilous powder slopes. The freeride sections here are legendary, and if you’re in this category of skier, you don’t need us to tell you what Zermatt has in store for you. Epic lines, epic runs, and an epic trip to look back on. Zermatt will become your canvas and, with the right guide, you’ll be painting lines all over it. Do keep in mind that much of the off-piste here is on glaciated terrain and comes with the associated risks.

Off-Piste Guiding Zermatt:

Considered by those who get into it as skiing in its purest (and most fun!) form, freeride (also known as off piste or backcountry) skiing is the pursuit of skiing all over the mountain, unrestricted by the edge of the piste in a variety of snow conditions.

A good day’s freeride skiing might involve long descents down wide open mountain faces, steep couloirs and adventures through the trees, far away from the crowded pistes. In addition to private ski instructors and mountain guides you can sometimes find camps and courses designed to give upper-intermediate skiers their first taste of off-piste delights in Zermatt. Be careful though, the white powder can be quite addictive.

There you have it, SkiBro’s resort guide to Zermatt. Have something to add? Let us know in the comment section!