 Poster: A snowHead
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If it wasn’t for the lack of snow this gorgeous thing would be taking people up from Tuftern to Rothorn from tomorrow. So excited to get out there and have that added to the infrastructure.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A little top up in midweek but next weekend is starting to look a lot more interesting. Might be a decent December after all for those who can be there (Swiss side only obviously for now).
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I’ll be in Zermatt 4th - 12th Dec... fingers crossed!
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Webcams looking fantastic after the midweek snow and more on its way for the weekend. Canton now allowing the town and mountain restaurants to open from the following weekend.
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Relaxation of cantonal measures In view of the improvement in the epidemiological situation and the decline in hospital admissions, the State Council has decided to relax the cantonal protective measures in force until midnight on December 13th. From December 14, 2020, the federal provisions that were issued in the context of the Covid-19 Ordinance special situation apply. This means that restaurant businesses can reopen and entertainment, leisure and cultural facilities can resume operations. The upper limit for spontaneous gatherings in public spaces will be 15 people, events are allowed up to 50 people. In the private sector, however, these are limited to ten people. The responsibilities for controls and procedures in the event of non-compliance were also specified in detail.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Maybe of limited interest (although very interesting to me) but Cervinia is expanding its range of marked snowshoe walks. For me it is particularly interesting as from next season I can travel over there with the non-skiing wife on the new Alpine Crossing lift. Particularly earlier in the season Cervinia is probably a better place for snowshoe walking than Zermatt but we have never been able to get over there.
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Hi All, might not be the place for this so please point in right direction but couldn't see anything specific in the search.
Looking at a late season getaway(hopefully) and went to Cervinia when i first learnt back in 2000 ish, looking now at self catering there seems to be a lack of decent quality apartments available or am i just looking at the wrong sites (airbnb, Homeaway). Most of the accommodation looks like it hasn't been updated since 1960. Normally skiing in France/Austria and they seem to have similar priced apartments but with better decor. I know only a small part of the break but want to be at least comfortable in surroundings when not skiing.
Any suggestions on Italian sites for accomodation or is this just the standard in Cervinia?
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| therock wrote: |
Hi All, might not be the place for this so please point in right direction but couldn't see anything specific in the search.
Looking at a late season getaway(hopefully) and went to Cervinia when i first learnt back in 2000 ish, looking now at self catering there seems to be a lack of decent quality apartments available or am i just looking at the wrong sites (airbnb, Homeaway). Most of the accommodation looks like it hasn't been updated since 1960. Normally skiing in France/Austria and they seem to have similar priced apartments but with better decor. I know only a small part of the break but want to be at least comfortable in surroundings when not skiing.
Any suggestions on Italian sites for accomodation or is this just the standard in Cervinia? |
I managed to find a decent apartment on AirBnB in August right next to the lift. There are also some on Booking.com. There is a local estate agent that has flats for rent but I’m not sure if they do short term http://www.ilcervino.com/.
However, I realise this is not the question you asked but in case it is helpful: Italy is currently closed for none essential travel and after 1st January UK citizens may not be eligible to travel due to COVID restrictions.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/09/uk-holidaymakers-could-be-barred-from-visiting-eu-under-covid-safety-rules
Italian ski resorts are also currently closed. I am in Zermatt this week and it is not possible to ski in to Italy.
Good luck with your trip, I’m a big fan of Cervinia!
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Zermatt experts, I’m planning a trip for a few nights in January. Just thinking about the risk restaurants get closed down, can anyone recommend any hotels that have good restaurants in Zermatt (assuming they’d stay open for hotel guests)?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| hold_my_biere wrote: |
| can anyone recommend any hotels that have good restaurants in Zermatt ...? |
I would say that most hotels in Zermatt take pride in their cuisine, so you have a lot of choice.
From personal experience, the Julen hotels (Alpenhof & Romantic Hotel Julen) and the Sonne are excellent.
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Hotel Alex is excellent , the Mazot a small place is superb a must on any Zermatt trip
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| hold_my_biere wrote: |
| Zermatt experts, I’m planning a trip for a few nights in January. Just thinking about the risk restaurants get closed down, can anyone recommend any hotels that have good restaurants in Zermatt (assuming they’d stay open for hotel guests)? |
The places we stopped at before we bought our place in Täsch were bed & breakfast only. The exception was out first trip when we went crazy and went to the Mont Cervin. It is fantastic (with commensurate price) but was somewhat OTT for me (I am a simply country boy). As DCG has said the standard generally is very high and the Julen hotels are certainly good. We often drink and have pub grub in the Brown Cow which is one of the drinking/eating places within the Unique Hotel Post on the main street, the Bahnhofstrasse. I have heard people say it can be noisy over Xmas and New Year but I can’t imagine that is much of a problem in January.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| hold_my_biere wrote: |
| Zermatt experts, I’m planning a trip for a few nights in January. Just thinking about the risk restaurants get closed down, can anyone recommend any hotels that have good restaurants in Zermatt (assuming they’d stay open for hotel guests)? |
Restaurant Schaferstube at the Hotel Julen is our favourite - their lamb dishes are exquisite as is the wine list. Reasonably priced (for Zermatt standards) too. The Hotel Julen restaurant is also excellent. We’ve always had lovely meals at the Mazot too. Enjoy.
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Thanks, very helpful, I’ll take a look. Given the announcement today looks like I need to find somewhere where we won’t mind eating 3 or 4 nights in a row!
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You know it makes sense.
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| franga wrote: |
Restaurant Schaferstube at the Hotel Julen is our favourite - their lamb dishes are exquisite |
Yes, this is the one under the Romantic Hotel Julen, I think. Our favourite too. We had lamb there once and they brought seconds. I gained the impression it was normal practice.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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It is! And yes, they do bring seconds out ... I wish I was there now after a couple of beers at the Papperla.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@hold_my_biere, mazot it is then surf and turf is outstanding cooked to perfection
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Pistes looking good and most runs now open. However, New Year's Eve, which is usually great in Zermatt, will seem very strange:
• Fireworks are prohibited from 23 December 2020 until 3 January 2021.
• Spontaneous gatherings of more than 15 persons are not permitted in public spaces.
• A maximum of 10 people can take part in private events (including children).
• The Federal Council urgently advises limiting gatherings to two households.
• Takeaways are open until 7pm, home deliveries are possible until 10pm.
• Last train leaves from Zermatt at 00.30am. There are no night trains.
Still no idea when (wonder if that should be "if") I might get out there again.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@JohnMo, Currently 10 miles down valley - been out 2 weeks - done our time - free now to go on slopes. So far (& intend to continue to do so) have acted responsibly - unlike lot of locals we first saw upon arrival. Now we wait for crowds to depart before venturing out. We are tempted obviously, but walking & (one only so far) shop at appropriately quiet time has had to suffice. If only everyone acted sensibly we would be able to do more - pity!
Still - we would rather be here than looking out of window at home in UK. We did nothing illegal - it was OK when we came out. Keep hearing about Verbier 'miscreants' - can't think why they wanted to go home. is it that much better there? 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@kapt, I hope you enjoy. I have several times thought “ooh, I might just get out “then”” for “then” to come and there be one reason or another why it couldn’t be done. I would be fine with the self-isolating. As you say, it is not as though I am doing anything that much more exciting here in the UK at present. My area is currently Tier 4 so nothing is going to happen for me soon. But if we get released and the Swiss let us in I certainly hope to head out. Unfortunately, January seems unlikely as I can’t see the Tiers coming down. It is a pity because in terms of safety things are never that busy on the mountains at that time. I just hope I don’t wear out the webcams by staring into them as often as I am.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hi, a quick question about ski touring in Zermatt. I'll be here this weekend with my wife and we were thinking about spending a day ski touring. Can anybody recommend some popular easy touring routes? (Ideally something where the lifts do part of the uphill work). We are reasonably experienced tourers, but won't be equipped for glaciers. With the Italian lifts closed are a lot of people skiing off the back and then climbing back out? Or is the whole Italian area closed for any skiing? Thanks for any pointers!
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| hold_my_biere wrote: |
| Hi, a quick question about ski touring in Zermatt. I'll be here this weekend with my wife and we were thinking about spending a day ski touring. Can anybody recommend some popular easy touring routes? (Ideally something where the lifts do part of the uphill work). We are reasonably experienced tourers, but won't be equipped for glaciers. With the Italian lifts closed are a lot of people skiing off the back and then climbing back out? Or is the whole Italian area closed for any skiing? Thanks for any pointers! |
A lot of the touring in Zermatt does involve being up on the glaciers. For many visitors to Zermatt it is one of the attractions. Even below the glaciers the high areas are post-glacial and hence very rocky. This time of year would be fairly early for touring around Zermatt.
A really nice tour is the Pfulwe. There is a good description of it here:
https://www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/Planning-hikes-tours/Pfulwe
It is very easy to get to:
1. Sunnegga funicular from north end of town then gondola lift up to Blauherd and from there the cable car up to Rothorn;
2. From Rothorn follow piste 11 (do not turn left down to Kumme/Tufteren) and then at t junction take the left (piste 19) signposted to Gant;
3. You will soon see a restaurant (Fluhalp) over on your left set back away from the main piste. Ski the track over to there. That is where you put on your skins and follow the instructions on the website.
I am not sure whether there will be enough snow to ski down from Täschalp down to Täsch (and it is not a particularly enjoyable ski down). If there is not enough snow you can walk down on the road. If you could time it right it would be best to have a taxi pick you up to take you back down to Täsch train station. However, there is no phone coverage there so you would have to arrange a time for the taxi to come.
Another good touring area would be Stockhorn (the areas where the itineraries open up later this month. You access that by taking the same route noted above but continue on past the Fluhalp restaurant and a couple of hundred yards before you get down to Gant lift station there is a flat area on your left (a stream in summer). That is the end of itinerary run 31 and you could skin up there. However you probably should check at the tourist office or the Alpine centre further up the Bahnhofstrasse as to whether the snow cover is sufficient for that.
Finally, you could just stay close to the lift and piste area. The below is a pretty good summary of the best places to go off piste without going too far out.
https://mountaintracks.co.uk/blog/off-piste-guide-zermatt
As for Italy, I don’t think you are allowed to cross over into there at all. Even for those in Italy it has only been training camps for ski/snowboard competitors that have been taking place. Snowshoe walking is now allowed but I don’t think touring is.
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Cervinia’s lifts remain closed until the 18th (and possibly even beyond that). Travel into the Aosta region remains prohibited for another week (and again possibly beyond that). However the ski school is now taking touring lessons. At present only local Aosta residents can take this up.
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Restaurants in Switzerland now closed until end February. Further tightenings being considered. I guess it is not inconceivable that the ski season won’t make it to the end (for anybody I mean - obviously for Brits we have not even started).
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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A season to quickly forget JohnMo. I can’t even golf! Still well though, and that is the key for everyone.
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| twoodwar wrote: |
| A season to quickly forget JohnMo. I can’t even golf! Still well though, and that is the key for everyone. |
I fear you are right. I had hopes of making it out for Easter but they have diminished to near zero. I still vaguely hope to do some end of season touring - but that is definitely hope rather than any expectation.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I really need to turn off the notifications from the MeteoSwiss weather app. Getting this this morning really made me ponder whether my “no alcohol before 9” should be an AM rather than a PM rule.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| JohnMo wrote: |
| twoodwar wrote: |
| A season to quickly forget JohnMo. I can’t even golf! Still well though, and that is the key for everyone. |
I fear you are right. I had hopes of making it out for Easter but they have diminished to near zero. I still vaguely hope to do some end of season touring - but that is definitely hope rather than any expectation. |
i personally think the most realistic case is summer skiing and waiting for next season. the decision will be how soon after the season is done can one go.
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@JohnMo, Thanks for the very detailed ski touring post. We just had a really great weekend and couldn't have asked for better weather for the last couple of days. We had a look at Pfulwe, but with the snow cover at the moment the route up looked very rocky, to the extent it didn't look like a fun/safe ski down if we decided to reverse it if we didn't make it to the pass. In the end we just toured up from Riffelberg to Gornergrat besides the Riffelhorn. Not the most adventurous tour we've ever done but I think it might be the most beautiful!
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You know it makes sense.
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| hold_my_biere wrote: |
| @JohnMo, Thanks for the very detailed ski touring post. We just had a really great weekend and couldn't have asked for better weather for the last couple of days. We had a look at Pfulwe, but with the snow cover at the moment the route up looked very rocky, to the extent it didn't look like a fun/safe ski down if we decided to reverse it if we didn't make it to the pass. In the end we just toured up from Riffelberg to Gornergrat besides the Riffelhorn. Not the most adventurous tour we've ever done but I think it might be the most beautiful! |
Great to hear it. Yes we do that route quite a lot: in winter by snowshoe and in summer. It really is something special. You are right that it is not exactly back country. But the off piste routes down can be very enjoyable. I love the drop down from near the railway line to the Igloo bar.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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The only positive is that ski pass vouchers "valid until 02.05.2021" can be used until April 30st, 2023. So cancelled ski passes from last season (or, less likely, this season) can now be used for either of the following two seasons. The family didn't make it out last Easter and it is looking increasingly likely that they will not make it out for this Easter so that is useful for us.
Obscene amounts of snow out there at the moment. It is not actually possible to get into (or out of) Zermatt at present.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Those familiar with the the walk (down!) out of the Klein Matterhorn lift station onto the piste will recognise this. You couldn’t get out yesterday- this is the lifties trying to dig a way out.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Well the itineraries are open (some of them). Shown yellow on today’s lift map in photo. I assume the delay is simply a commercial decision - the snow has been good enough for a while. The all important Hohtälli to Rote Nasa lift is not open - that takes you to the best of the itineraries.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The Stockhorn sector is not opening this year. Sad for those out there but understandable. It is a big area to keep open for a relatively small number of skiers. When you can attract foreign tourists it is the jewel in the crown for those who prefer ungroomed areas. With the current numbers it just doesn’t make sense. All other itineraries are now open.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Its also probably not the most stable snow pack they have ever had
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| JohnMo wrote: |
Those familiar with the the walk (down!) out of the Klein Matterhorn lift station onto the piste will recognise this. You couldn’t get out yesterday- this is the lifties trying to dig a way out.
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@JohnMo, where did you get that photo from? thanks.
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| Kj82 wrote: |
| JohnMo wrote: |
Those familiar with the the walk (down!) out of the Klein Matterhorn lift station onto the piste will recognise this. You couldn’t get out yesterday- this is the lifties trying to dig a way out.
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@JohnMo, where did you get that photo from? thanks. |
Zermatt Bergbahnen Facebook page.
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As I am not UK-based an would be travelling from a v-low risk area it looks like I could enter without having to quarantine so have an outside chance of a ski trip to Switzerland this season.
Whilst I will deal with the moral conflict over the next few weeks (I could but should I?).....what would be the advice of those based in Zermatt - is it worth it for a late March / early April trip? Is there enough open....pistes/lifts/food (supermarkets for SC/Take-away/restaurants)? Would I be welcome?
It's an outside chance only - but worth exploring...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Old-fashioned, I know, but you could always call the Tourist Office +41 27 966 81 00
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They can see the Co-op from their front window
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FAQ
