Intermediate

Itinerary

Zermatt ski guides

What to do as an advanced skier in Zermatt

Zermatt has some fantastic terrain for advanced skiers. Start on the steeper pistes and then check out the itinerary runs.

Key Points
Starting Point: Sunnegga Express
Start time: Whenever you like. But you’re a keen skier, you’ll start early right?
Duration: Full day
Highlights: Steep groomers and itineraries around Hohtälli.
Skill level: Black run / all mountain skiers
Weather recommendation: Best on a good weather day (after a fresh dump of snow).

Start at Sunnegga

Funicular up

Lots of lunch options

If you have time to stop!

On & 'off' piste

Use the itinerary runs

Finish in town

At the south end of town by the bus

Take the Sunnegga Express and gondola to Blauherd. Start with the Tuftern red run (9) as it’s got a good pitch to warm up the legs with some short turns and it’s wide enough to let the skis run into some bigger carve turns if you want to pick the speed up. Ski through the trees all the way to the Patrullarve chairlift and ride this back to Blauherd.

Ski the National. A famous black run (8) with some pretty steep sections. Always nicely groomed. Make sure you save your best turns for the last pitch as it’s directly under the chairlift. Take the Patrullarve chair back to Blauherd and the cable car to Rothorn.

If you want to ski more piste (or the off piste isn’t in great condition), take the black run from Rothorn (13) and continue on down the Kelle piste (15). If you’re ready for your first itinerary of the day, check out the Chamois (16) or Marmotte (17) itineraries.

All these runs bring you down to the big gondola for a quick return to Rothorn. You can loop this lift if you want to check out the alternatives you missed last run.

Moving on from Rothorn, take the red run (19) to Gant and the big cable car to Hohtälli. This area is very high and all north facing. In general, this is where you’ll find the best snow in the resort.

TOP TIP - Yellow Runs

Our itinerary runs (yellow runs) are marked and they’re controlled for avalanche safety. So they’re safe to ski when they’re open. However, they’re not groomed (ever) so you need to be comfortable skiing all sorts of snow conditions as you can find anything from skied out bumps to fresh deep powder depending when it last snowed. Finally, the yellow runs are not patrolled so it’s best not to ski them alone.

The red run from Hohtälli (28) will bring you to the Mittelritz itinerary (30). This is a great run, often with some fantastic bumps. Beware though, it’s 700 vertical metres with no escape so make sure you’ve got the skills and the legs for it before jumping in.

An even more committing option from Hohtälli is the cable car across to Rote Nase. There are only itinerary runs here and they all involve 1000 vertical metres of variable snow goodness. Even if multiple runs in this area is all you do in a day, there are plenty of variations and you can have an awesome day just using the Hohtälli cable car.

TOP TIP - Powder day

If it’s a powderday following a fresh dump of snow, you can skip the warm up runs and head straight to Hohtälli to get fresh tracks on the itinerary runs.

Once you’re done with Hohtälli (we’ve lived here years and we’re not ‘done’ with Hohtälli but you know what I mean) then take the red run (44) across to Gornergrat. Keep moving on through, nothing to see here. The runs continue to Furi. Take the lifts to Schwarzsee.

Some great advanced skiing here. The black run from the top of the Hirli chair has some super steep sections. The real gems at Schwarzsee are the itinerary runs Aroleid (58), Tiefbach (59) and Momatt (60). These wind their way down through the trees and are narrow in places. They can have some great moguls on them.

TOP TIP: The Schwarzsee runs are a great place to head if the weather is bad. The trees offer a bit of protection as well as improving visibility in flat light.

Lunch Options

 

You don’t stop for lunch. You just ski first to last lift and eat a granola bar on the chair right?

In case you do want to stop:

Ze Seewjinu is handy if you’re looping Hohtälli.

Alphitta is a good break if you’re on your way to Schwarzsee.

Stafelalp is a cool spot under the north face of the Matterhorn if you’re in the Schwarzsee area.