 Poster: A snowHead
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Mollerski, New lifts have made getting about much easier and faster.
John Crawford, North Wall (as mentioned above) and Sparky's are cheaper but if you go to Zermatt you are not going to get Soll prices.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Mollerski wrote: |
| We also thought the infrastructure in Zermatt to be disjointed and out-dated. |
Can't say that I really felt this, though I can understand the opinion perhaps. But Zermatt is a big area. Really it is two or three areas, Sunnega, Gornergrat and Matterhorn Glacier. It's not surprising, therefore, that it takes a while to get from one place to another. We found that aiming for and then sticking in one area each day worked fine.
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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 really hope all this Knobocracy was going on in Zermatt and not in Cervinia. I am off to Cervinia 31st Jan and I had thought about going over to Zermatt..I am now having second thoughts on it. It doesn't sound like they would appreciate loud, tattooed, mohawked, punk, Scottish snowboarders. 
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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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For my part it was Cervinia's skiing I found boring and Zermatt's, though inconvenient, I will return for one day. Full of off-piste challenges and character,
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snowball, ditto. Cervinia's slopes are very uninspiring.
pamw - don't write off Zermatt, I implore you!
Mollerski, Did you go prior to the Furi-Riffelberg gondola being built? If that wasn't there it would make getting around (especially from Cervinia) rather awkward. It's a key link that was only built recently.
elcottero, I found on my (partially succcesful) snowboarding day that I was treated like dirt in lift queues and on the piste. I don't know whether this is a general boarder hostility perpetrated by skiers, or whether it was somehow peculiar to Zermatt's hoorays, but sig. other and I both noticed it, and it was quite disagreeable.
Actual conversation fragment overheard whilst getting on a gondola last week:
"... still, at least it was only a snowboarder. One less of 'em."
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We were in Zermatt for Christmas. It was the first time we'd been there and I would go back tomorrow if I could. Yes, there are other places where it's easier to get up the mountain, but it's really not that hard, and if you go out there already aware that it's a bit of a trek, then that's fine. I actually enjoyed a bit of a walk in the mornings and evenings - it loosens up the muscles ready for skiing and cools them down at the end of the day.
One thing we did notice in particular - the general standard of skiing was high, and there weren't big groups of yoof showing off, maybe because it was the Christmas week, so more family orientated. There aren't as many snowboarders as in some other resorts, but I think that might be because there are quite a few paths where some poling is necessary.
Food and drink was expensive, but we had some amazing lunches - it's our family Christmas week and instead of presents we treat ourselves skiing. Chez Vrony and the Findlerhof in particular were definite treats. We had a good lunch on the Cervinia side one day, at the Etoiles, but much preferred the skiing in Zermatt.
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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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| John Crawford wrote: |
The good news is that we've got a lads' trip to Zermatt this weekend and have got a great deal on a chalet for a week - half board included.
However, the following is somewhat disconcerting:-
| Quote: |
Cons:
- Staggeringly, disgracefully, expensive.
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Any  s ou there who can advise us what we can expect to pay for a half litre of beer and for food on the mountain? Will we need to take out a mortgage from our Swiss bankers?
I've been to Zermatt a few times in the past but am wondering what current exchange rates will do for our budget....
Thanks in advance. |
John Crawford,
The best advice I can give is to go out there and enjoy it, find something to cut back on when you get home.
X rate seems to be improving a bit though.
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I read this thread before going to Zermatt, and was baffled by the completely contradictory opinions. Zermatt obviously generates different reactions from different people (which makes sense given that we are all different). Having now spent a week there (1st week of Feb 2009), here's my perspective:
Although Zermatt is routinely ranked in the top tier of ski resorts, for me the actual skiing is not in the top rank (though not bad). As a resort, it is fantastic: wonderful scenery and a lovely town, just like a ski town ought to look. This is certainly a key attraction and I can understand why for some people this would outweigh other deficiencies and make Zermatt one of the best places for a ski holiday. But judged just by the skiing, at least for this intermediate level on-piste skier, there are many better ski fields than Zermatt. I am not saying it is a bad place to ski; I am just saying it is not quite as exceptionally good as I had been led to believe (eg, Where to Ski & Snowboard book).
What are the problems? Well, I was amazed at how many runs have long flat bits and even uphill bits. The Schwarzee Paradise area was, for me, to be avoided, because the only way back to the main lifts is a long flat traverse, with uphill sections where you have to take your skis off and walk. No doubt Zermatt is unwilling to sculpt its mountain to avoid this, and I can respect that, but it does degrade the skiing. Perhaps I am a wimp, but I don't like getting all sweaty trudging uphill.
Similarly, run 27 down to Riffelalp has a long flat bit, followed by a long uphill which rapidly kills any momentum you might have had. Then it intersects the train line, so you definitely have to get your skis off to cross the line and then trudge up the long hill the other side. Of course you could just catch the train up the slope, but there's a 15 minute wait and it is slow.
Another problem is hazardous narrow runs, low down,such as runs 1, 2, 42, 62, where you get stuck in queues. This is annoying and inevitably causes impatience, so you are in danger of being wiped out by yahoos who ski past you at speed, apparently convinced that they can judge when the person they are passing will choose to turn or to skid or to snowplough. In practice, it is better to get the lift back down, so although Zermatt seems to have a vertical of 1500 to 2000m, only about 1000m is actually fun to ski.
There are also tunnels which you have to ski through, such as at Riffelberg. These are narrow and act as a bottleneck, again suffering from yahoos. I saw someone helicoptered out after an accident in one of these tunnels.
There is some great skiing, mainly in the top third of the slopes by altitude, but much of it seems prone to closure, due to high winds. This often means that you only have about 500m of vertical that is both open and fun to ski.
Finally, there is very little skiing below the tree line, which means visibility problems on flat light days.
Obviously, if you get blue skies, sub-zero temperatures, and low wind, all week, then Zermatt would be out of this world, but you can't count on this.
On the good side, it was not overcrowded and the "knobocracy" quotient was low, but both might be different in high season. My hotel, the Matterhorn Focus, was exceptionally good, though not cheap. Travelling there was pretty good - I liked being able to take a comfortable train, with lots of choice about travel times.
I am one of those who finds Cervinia much better. From what I saw on the 2 days the crossing was open, Cervinia seems to offer way better intermediate skiing: wide, well-groomed pistes from top to bottom (at least the bits I managed to ski, such as run 7/7.0, 6/6bis, and 3). I skied virtually no flat bits or uphill, though I did not cover the whole of the resort, so maybe I was lucky. It was far less busy than Zermatt. And a lot cheaper.
I did not hate Zermatt, but like about half the people who have posted on this thread I was a little disappointed. For me, it isn't good enough skiing to justify the stratospheric prices. (My tip would be to steer clear of the Bahnhof Strasse restaurants if you are on a budget. It is hard to find a main course for less than SFR 40. Places like Sparkys and Restaurant Klein Matterhorn, near the Klein Matterhorn gondola, are 25-50% cheaper and served food that I thought was superb.)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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koru, nice post...
elcottero, were you bothered by any large Italian Knobs?
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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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I was in Zermatt last February for a week and enjoyed it very much. However, I can understand koru's feelings and there is a lot of truth in them. We had a week of perfect weather, so the lifts were running all the time. And that also allowed us to go over to Cervinia on three days, so I guess we only skied Zermatt itself for half a week, two days on the Gornergrat, Rothorn side and one day from the Klein Matterhorn. We enjoyed the Cervinia side too, especially the Italian restaurants.
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I'm off to Zermatt on Saturday, I've been before and know what to expect. The Zermatt and Cervinia sides are very, very different and people will probably strongly prefer one or the other. I shall be popping over to Italy but will definitely spend the majority of time in Switzerland.
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You know it makes sense.
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koru's advice to avoid Schwarzee is sage. It's a rubbish part of the area, don't bother with it. The final poling marathon to escape it will tire you out for the rest of the day if the snow's fresh.
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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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never poled anywhere at schwarzee..the only bit that might need it down by the lifts at furi and its only an issue if you stop or lose momentum...some great itineries and off piste round there. I personally find the trocken steg area the most tedious in Zermatt.
Another vote for Sparky's, nice chap running it, great food and cheap...we normally have an apartment so get most of our food and beer from the coop, so never had a problem with the prices, and theres a few bars around that aren't that expensive.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
Similarly, run 27 down to Riffelalp has a long flat bit, followed by a long uphill which rapidly kills any momentum you might have had. Then it intersects the train line, so you definitely have to get your skis off to cross the line and then trudge up the long hill the other side. Of course you could just catch the train up the slope, but there's a 15 minute wait and it is slow.
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Yeah 27 and 40 I think are a do once and learn your lesson never do again..ever. in fact 27 is one of the most rubbish runs ever..though a nice view on a clear day, though I only had about 5m visability when we did it..so it was boring, flat and foggy.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| papasmurf wrote: |
| never poled anywhere at schwarzee..the only bit that might need it down by the lifts at furi and its only an issue if you stop or lose momentum...some great itineries and off piste round there. I personally find the trocken steg area the most tedious in Zermatt. |
I'll take your word for it, but I think you are the exception, because there's a bit before you get to Furi where there's a sign recommending that it is easier to take off your skis and carry them up the hill (rather than try to pole it or skate it).
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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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really where? the only place i can think of is in the village by the huts..and thats easy to ski up and at a push skate the last bit...the only times I recall having any reall issues with flat spots, are the riffelalp bits and that bit when coming down from the glaicer paradise. Also the final bit of the run down into town from furi just before it crossed the river...especially at the end of the day after a few drinks at Hennu
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Don't remember, exactly, as I was too busy cursing about having to walk! But I would say fairly low down, still on the traverse section, with wooded slope upwards on your right and downwards on your left.
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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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yeah sounds like the sameish place..theres a kind of cross roads ahead. You can cut through the trees or down the itinery from above, and miss most of the traverse though..or there is a bar for a rest on the left...or the disused chairlift they helpfully placed onm the hill by the lift to sit on and rest.
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Something that Zermatt newbies might like to know, in choosing where to stay, is that while I was there Sunnega/Rothorn tended to be less cloudy and windy than the other areas, but maybe that was just how it was on my week.
I chose a hotel close to Klein Matterhorn, so as to be somewhere in the middle (between Sunnega and Cervinia). But in practice, I skied a lot in Sunnega, due to better visibility, so would have been better to stay near Sunnega train. I had assumed it would not matter much, because you can ski over there, via the new gondola from Furi to Riffelberg, then ski down to Gant for the gondola up to Rothorn. However, if the weather is nasty enough to force you over to Sunnega/Rothorn, it is likely to be nasty enough to close the latter gondola. So, in practice, you have to get the bus across town. Which is not the end of the world, but better to avoid if you can.
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[quote="papasmurf"]yeah sounds like the sameish place..theres a kind of cross roads ahead. You can cut through the trees or down the itinery from above, and miss most of the traverse though..or there is a bar for a rest on the left...or the disused chairlift they helpfully placed onm the hill by the lift to sit on and rest.[/quote]Ah, if you are able and willing to ski yellow runs, you could probably skip most of the traverse, but that's really experts only. For us on-piste red types, I don't think it can be avoided.
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The other way to avoid the tedious Schwarzsee traverse is to take black 62 from Furg - which was not too bad at all but seems to frighten people off by the fact that it is a black.
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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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| Nick L wrote: |
| The other way to avoid the tedious Schwarzsee traverse is to take black 62 from Furg - which was not too bad at all but seems to frighten people off by the fact that it is a black. |
That's a lovely run, but gets busy and chopped up. We got trapped in Schwarzee anyway, I can't remember why. The only way out that we could find, other than aimless off-pisting, was to pole along a completely flat road for ages until we felt sick.
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paulio, we did that run too... once. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Off next month to Zermatt. We were there last March for the first time and really enjoyed the skiing. I'm not sure where the hatred for the railway comes in. We stayed right beside the Gornergrat station and got the 8.00 train up every morning. It meant that we were skiing before 8.30. Once up there, the links were easy in any direction. On the Saturday we were into Italy before 9.30. I wouldn't use the train during the day - but we did regularly use it to go back down at the (very) end of the day. This left us with a two minute walk to our hotel.
By comparison we were in Meribel (my least favourite part of the 3 Valleys) last year. It took us 10 minutes to get to the Chaudanne from our chalet - and then 25 minutes to go up the gondola towards Courchevel. From a 9.00 lift opening, this meant that we were an hour later getting skiing than when we were in Zermatt (and the train - going up with the pisteurs - is very much more comfortable and chatty than the gondola).
Finally, if you want miles and miles of prepared 'motorways', Zermatt would not be your choice. But the quality of skiing in the Stockhorn/ Trifji area and in other areas further from the beaten track matches anything that I have found (other than Chamonix).
It's not for everyone - but then where is?  And the views really are astounding.
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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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 I too had mixed feelings about Zermatt. I was trying to choose my top 10 resorts by checking out other peoples choice of #1 resort. After La Rosiere; Zermatt & Whistler feature commonly. I stayed in a luxury Chalet but location wasn't perfect other than I could see the Mattahorn from my jacuzzi. The buses / electric taxis weren't convenient or comfortable. It took quite a while to get to the train or lift. It was v cold when I was there which probably clouds my perception but there was tons of snow. I enjoyed the treck for lunch in Cervinia albeit the pistes were a bit tame on that side. My, that top lift is high, felt a little breathless. One blue sky day with views of the Mattahorn from the bar at the foot of the glacier made it all worthwhile. I must say I came across more hooray Henry's in Val D'Isere asking Mater & Pater for more bubbly. I thought the Russian ladies in fur coats & diamonds added to the scenery. I don't think Zermatt matches the understated quality of Zurs/Lech, anywhere near the fabulous lift system at Ischgl, the quantity of good skiing in the 3V or Killy Espace or the beauty of the Sella Ronda. But...a view of that mountain, means it is a place everyone should visit.
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I tend to regard Cevinia and Zermatt as one resort because it is fully linked but the links and the top cable cars may close when it is windy. It is the same as Tignes as skiers would automatically go around Val'D. People go to Les Arcs are most likely have a go a La Plagne. Would a skier able to travel around stick to only one of the 3 Vallees? Or ski only one side of Porte Du Soleil? Or going to La Thuile and not ski into France?
I agree skiing wise Zermatt isn't the top dog but it isn't far off as it has good variety of lifts including mountain railway which is rare. The place is exceptional clean and well looked after. Its high cost helps to limit the number of visitors and so one has less bother to compete with other piste users. Also Zermatt is a car free resort so it is not spoiled by mortorists.
Sella Ronda may have a big piece of dolomite in the middle and over 500km piste, St Moritz may have a frozen lake, Lech/Zurs may be a paradise in white with matching 5-star hotels and Ischgl has a modern and fast lift system but nowhere can offer the majestic surrounding of Matterhorn.
Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much  on Wed 11-02-09 23:21; edited 1 time in total
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You know it makes sense.
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People say that Zermatt is car free, but it's not is it? Here's why, it's really quite simple so pay attention.
It's full of fucking cars. Electric ones, granted, but cars nonetheless. Bloody everywhere.
Just because you stick feathers up your arse, doesn't make you a chicken, know what I mean.
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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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paulio, elegantly expressed.
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Poster: A snowHead
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yeah I'd like to punch who ever grampis is and his fleet of annoying slient taxis apart from the annoying tinkley bell that you only here just as they run you over....after going to the altesch resorts and seeing proper car free I only get more annoyed by Zermatt.. also this year a rather large amount of large trucks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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| Tim Sawyer wrote: |
| If it's good enough for Sir Richard... |
Doesn't he own a big chalet in Verbier?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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rob@rar, my guess is he owns chalets all over the place. I heard a rumour he was staying in the big hotel in the centre of Zermatt when I was there, but not sure.
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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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| Tim Sawyer wrote: |
If it's good enough for Sir Richard... |
the it is almost certainly too expensive for me 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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alex_heney,
The 2009 Zermatt-only day pass is 55CHF.
The Zermatt+Cervina pass cost 65 CHF per day.
That isn't expensive when comparing with St Moritz which charge 69 CHF/day, even if you go to Diavolezza which has just 3 lifts!
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Zermatt can be done reasonably. I'm off there on Saturday, £350 each for flight+transfer+apartment, not bad for the most expensive week of the season (DIY of course).
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brian
brian
Guest
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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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| Tim Sawyer wrote: |
| It was at the top of a blue at Zermatt that I came across Richard Branson |
I've heard of people bragging about face shots on piste, but this takes the biscuit.
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brian,
Right you are.
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FAQ
. And I didn't have my snowboard with me.
