 Poster: A snowHead
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hi there - going to be in zermatt for the first time over new year and looking for some advice on where to go - will be skiing with two adventurous boys (anything pisted works as long as it doesn't have too many moguls) and some of the time with the less adventurous mrs womble
is sunnegga / rothorn a good place to start? it seems like the cervinia side has lots of cruisey runs and good coffee but is a bit of a trek to get to? (we're staying near the train station)
also forecast looking quite snowy, are there some good places with trees to see by?
many thanks!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If you are staying near the station then either Sunnegga or Gornergrat would be a perfect place to start. The train up to Gornergrat is a great experience, not all the trains stop at every station, there are quicker ones with only a couple of stops. Check the timetable. Although you will want to go up other ways during the week, it's one of those 'great railway journies' so probably worth doing once! Get off at Riffelberg and you can pick up a chair from there for lots of cruisy blues and some fairly benign reds. Maybe a good start for the first morning? Depending on how everyone is getting on, you can then ski down to the chair at breitboden which goes down into the valley below Findlen (you can't get off there) and up again to Sunnegga, or ski down to Gant and get the bubble up to Blauherd, so you could cover a good bit of ground that way, finishing by skiing down the Sunnegga side back to the village. There isn't a lot of tree lined skiing, but the pistes below Sunnegga and back to the village have some trees. Probably not a great idea to head straight up to Klein Matterhorn/Cervinia first day til everyone has got used to the altitude...some aren't affected at all, but dizziness, sickness, headaches not uncommon at the top. The first couple of days on Gornergrat/Sunnegga should sort that out. The kids will like the iglu bar on Gornergrat, there are great lunch stops all over the mountain, of course. Don't know if you have all your own gear, but if not, Flexrent is right opposite the Sunnegga lift station and you can leave skis/boots there overnight and walk around in regular shoes/boots, which can be a help. Getting to Cervinia involves bubble to Trockener Steg (25 mins) then two t bars or cable car (often v busy) to get to the border. Pick a blue sky day with not too much wind!
Forecast is looking perfect, snow wise, we are all getting very excited in this house !
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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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those sound like great recommendations, thank you - have really brought the piste map to life!
looks like the snow should be fantastic - now to work on the ski legs while eating & drinking to christmas excess...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Do make the trip over to Italy though if at all possible. Get to a window on the Cable car as the views of Glaciers and crevasses are fantastic, not to mention all the ooohs and ahhs as seasoned skiiers see the total panorama as the cable car nears the top. Also have lunch in chalet Etoile on the Cervinia side and have the fish soup!! You will not be disappointed. It is a 22 Euro bowl of soup, - but it is something else. I'm off to Obertauern this year after 3 straight years to Zermatt. We have found it difficult to want to go anywhere else other than Zermatt! Enjoy 
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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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just back from zermatt and would definitely rate highly as a family holiday - we had a great week, no doubt helped by fantastic conditions with lots of fresh snow and blue skies - big flakes were falling again as we left yesterday...
we all loved the big wide pistes on gornergrat, up on the glacier at trockener steg, and in Italy which was definitely worth the trip - as well as the skiing in the trees at sunegga. the lift system we found modern and fast, with easy links and barely a lift queue despite it being one of the busiest weeks of the season - the one bottleneck (riffelberg) is being addressed with a new chair next season. the boys particularly enjoyed the timed slalom at furgg and the glacier jump park.
zermatt itself I thought was spectacular in its scenery and has a very nice pedestrianised main street - the rest of the resort has snowy streets but watch out for the streams of silent electric taxis and buses!
and if you have a really little one, would strongly recommend the kinderparadies nursery in town - run very professionally with great facilities (eg big soft play area, snow playground) and friendly english-speaking staff - we were very comfortable leaving our 20-month-old little girl there each day
all-in-all, can't wait to go back![/img]
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travelwomble, delighted to hear you had a great time, and thanks so much for taking the time to post on your return
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