 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi guys,
The wife is a good skiier but I'm fairly new to the sport - been on a few ski trips (had about 5 lessons in total over about half a dozen trips, ski mostly with the wife until I'm goosed then she goes off and does her own thing) - ok with alp blue runs and scandanavian red runs (about the same as alp blue runs), but we live on the Isle of Man so we always have to add the price of the flights and overnight stay at an airport to the total price off our ski trips, which bumps up the price and the hassle.
Was looking for a cheap deal and found out that inghams do direct flights from IOM (so price to get off the island is already included) and they have a decent price (approx £1,500 for the two of us including ski hire and ski passes) for Zermatt for the end of March in a chalet with ensuite shower and catering.
Its on the winkelmatt side of zermatt close to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise gondola - but as I'll be looking for blue runs, I guess I'm asking;
1) does Zermatt have decent runs for beginners(ish)
2) are the red runs very severe?
3) is the matterhorn glacier gondola off limited for me?
4) how far away from this gondola are the lifts for the "easy" runs?
Should I go for it at that price, or should I try France with them which will cost us a minimum of £2,000 all in (for self catering)... but easier skiing?
Is Zermatt in spring a wonderful place to be for a beginner or am I best in Tignes / Val d'Isere (although they seem to have a lot of places left in Flaine)
Help me weigh up the pluses and minuses guys and girls?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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For a beginner no, but mostly due to the fact that you won't get the best out of the resort-actually some of the flatest runs are up on the glacier but a fari few lifts are needed and the area is subject to being closed in high winds.
Allot of the marked reds are quite wide so if your a weaker intermediate the you can traverse pretty easily unilke if it was narrow. I'm not surprised you've ended up finding a cheap deal to Swiss land wth year but I'd only expect it to remain that way if the accomadation is caterd to at least HB-I was tempted by some catered chalet deals but otherwise due to the exchange rate food and drink prices could be ruinous. Zermatt has some of the best on mountain dinnig of any ski resort in the world.
Zermatt is one of those places everyone should visit, the setting is awesome. Intermediate is a broad catergory I'd say Z is great for strong intermediates and at worse just kick back and enjoy the setting! Cervinia has allot more cruisey pistes over the border in Italy but the link can be closed and is a ltitle tedious to do every day just to find skiing that may be more suited to you.
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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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Sack the Juggler, I have been to Zermatt several times and there are three very good blue runs on the Gornergrat area which you would be able to access by going from the Matterhorn gondola to Furi then changing to the gondola for Riffelberg. Alternatively you could get a bus to the Gornergrat station and take the train up but the station is on the other side of town from Winkelmatten. I personally think the Gornergrat area is the best area to start the week to get used to the altitude leaving the Matterhorn side until later.
As b]Grizwald[/b], says the reds are wide and well pisted and as always some are easier than others. My OH has skied a lot longer than me and always checks runs to make sure I will cope with them. Zermatt really is a fantastic place and well worth a visit, it's worth taking the train up at least once or coming down at the end of the day.
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Sack the Juggler, Even the blacks in Zermatt don't seem too severe! Lots of runs you would enjoy and like the others said, most are wide enough to give you room to breathe. Sunnega side has a nice mix of runs and the reds are cruisy. Bus from Winkelmatten down to Sunnega or glacier paradise. Take into consideration costs of lunches etc as this ain't the cheapest spot in the world!!! It is lovely though 
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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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Sack the Juggler,
Zermatt may not be ideal for the beginer but it isn't bad for the early intermediate. If going in late March it's high altitude skiing which preserves good snow conditions is a real plus.
It is also a really attractive place to ski, the high glacier runs are amongst the easiest in the area. If it is cheaper than the alternatives I would grab the opportunity Zermatt is usually a pricey place to ski.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Zermatt is perfect for a beginner. I can't imagine a better place to fall in love with mountains.
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Sack the Juggler, added benifit to zermatt for a begineer/early int would be the chance to ski the endless effortless cruising in cervinia 
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14 days and I will be there! Cannot wait! 2 weeks of hopefully awesome skiing!
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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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Hi Guys - thanks for the feedback - booked it, it is a chalet room with ensuit shower / wc, chalet catering so breakfast and 4 course evening meal included, so for £1,500 including whole area ski passes I just decided to go for it - I will find enough slopes to ski on for me, and the place sounds great for evenings and just walking around.
We fly out on the 24 March - if anyone is out there then give us a shout, I might not be up to your level but my wife probably will!
Any recommendations for cheap places to eat and drink while we are there will be gratefully recieved - JHBGerry I will expect your report on my desk as soon as you get back!
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You have done the right thing. You'll love it.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Sack the Juggler, good decision (I'm sitting here, typing this rather jealously...) Have fun, it's a great place, and sounds like you've picked up a brilliant deal to boot! 
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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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It's one of the best ski resorts anywhere.
Suggestions:
to eat - the Riffelberg station buffet
to drink - the North Wall (seasonaires use it, but it's not easy to find)
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You know it makes sense.
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Hi Guys,
thanks for the advice - I'm just back and wanted to say what a fantastic resort it is, and how lucky we were with the chalet we chose.
The chalet itself was perfectly placed about five minute walk above the main matterhorn express gondola. We hired our skis at the intersport right next to the gondola, so we just dropped our skis and boots off in their locker each night after skiing and walked up the hill without havig to carry them!
The food in the chalet was excellent - huge breakfast, cooked and everything else, and we used the rolls and ham and cheese to make sandwiches for the afternoon. The host baked us a massive cake in the afternoon to help us recover after a day of skiing. Lovely three course evening meal with as much wine as we could drink... which usually lasted until 2am as our fellow chalet hosts were excellent - we were really lucky to have their company.
The matterhorn express gave you access to all ski areas above the town - it was excellent.
Oh, and it seems I'm not such a beginner as I thought - didn't have any lessons, but watch the others and took their advice and started off just doing the blues runs on the gornergrat, but as per thge advice above, the reds are fairly wide and easy so by the second day I was hitting the reds and finding them ok. I took your advice about italy and got a great day on the reds over there - they are long and wide and absolutely beautiful and really encourage you to crusie down them with a huge grin on your face - and on my last day I took the black run down from Furgg to Furi and although I wasn't brilliant I felt in control even on the steeper parts.
We also ate at chalet etoile in italy - ulla the owner is swedish and so is my missus and they got on like a house on fire.
The weather was perfect, sunny every day and while this meant the snow was slushy at the bottom by the afternoon, it just meant that we stayed high all day - loads of runs to enjoy.
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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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