Mike
2008-11-08, 09:46
Zermatt, at 1620m above Visp, under the shadow of the Matterhorn is one of Europes best ski areas. Beautiful car free town with excellent skiing. The 3899 metre peaks surrounding Zermatt are impressive views and the trademark of Zermatt - 4478m high Matterhorn.
Linked to Cervinia just over the border in Italy, it offers over 250km of pistes and 2200m vertical drop. The terrain that these mountains provide is also superb. There are plenty of expensive hotels, restaurants and bars to suit all tastes.
Skiing divides into 3 areas, two are properly linked and the third tenuously so.
For experienced skiers and riders is on the Trockener Steg – Klein Matterhorn – Schwarzsee sector that is linked across the Plateau Rosa to Cervinia in Italy. The Matterhorn Express gondola provides fast access to Furi and Schwarzsee. A cable-car from Furi takes you up to 2939m Trockener Steg, and another continues up to the Klein Matterhorn at 3820m.
The second area of Sunnegga is reached by an underground funicular from near the centre of town that takes you up to 2288m. A new combination cableway – half gondola half six-pack chair – brings you on up to Blauherd, replacing the slow old cable-car. The Sunnegga sector has some demanding pistes including the black roller-coaster, Obere National FIS, as well as more benign red descents to the valley.
From 3103m Rothorn above Blauherd the area links via a long scenic piste and the Gant cable-car to the third sector of Gornergrat. This can also be accessed from the resort by a slow surface train that winds gently up the mountainside. Hohtälli above Gant and parallel Rote Nase-Stockhorn are the starting points for some of the best advanced pistes in Zermatt including the notorious Stockhorn descent to Triftji, one of the toughest runs, this 2.5km long tough mogul field with a vertical drop of almost 500m. couple of years ago a lift was finally built between Furi and the Gornergrat, so you can now ski from Kleine Matterhorn to the other 2 main areas. This season there's now a red run from Hohtalli to the Gornergrat and a new chairlift down in Findeln. So after lunch in one of the area's famous restaurants there's not only an easy way out, but also you can keep your backside warm as it has heated seats. For the advanced skiers there's a new lift in Stockhorn, but sadly the Hohtalli-Stockhorn cable car has now closed.
Best runs in Zermatt are:
• Zermatt to Cervinia via Theodulpass (and back)
• Ghiacciaio at Cervinia
• Rocce Bianche at Cervinia
• Zermatt-Sunegga Rothorn to Blauherd
• Zermatt Gornergrat to Riffelberg
To get there, both Zürich and Geneva international airports are equally convenient, with both offering direct rail transportation to the resort. However, the journey between Geneva and Zermatt takes four hours.
Travelling to Zermatt, always difficult at the best of times, has also been made easier with the new Lotschberg Base Tunnel which has reduced the time of the rail journey from Zurich and Basel. It used to take 4 hours and 24 minutes from Zurich. Now its an hour and 8 minues less and takes around the same time as it does from Geneva. The views aren't as nice though.
If you drive from Geneva, drive to Matigny via the N8 and N9 (E62) motorway, then follow the sign to Sion and Visp. You cannot drive further than the village of Täsch. There you find open-air car parks and covered car parks in Täsch. Täsch is 3 miles from Zermatt and there are bus and train connections every 20 minutes and the trip takes about 10 minutes. You can also park your car for free in Visp and then take a train to Zermatt.
Linked to Cervinia just over the border in Italy, it offers over 250km of pistes and 2200m vertical drop. The terrain that these mountains provide is also superb. There are plenty of expensive hotels, restaurants and bars to suit all tastes.
Skiing divides into 3 areas, two are properly linked and the third tenuously so.
For experienced skiers and riders is on the Trockener Steg – Klein Matterhorn – Schwarzsee sector that is linked across the Plateau Rosa to Cervinia in Italy. The Matterhorn Express gondola provides fast access to Furi and Schwarzsee. A cable-car from Furi takes you up to 2939m Trockener Steg, and another continues up to the Klein Matterhorn at 3820m.
The second area of Sunnegga is reached by an underground funicular from near the centre of town that takes you up to 2288m. A new combination cableway – half gondola half six-pack chair – brings you on up to Blauherd, replacing the slow old cable-car. The Sunnegga sector has some demanding pistes including the black roller-coaster, Obere National FIS, as well as more benign red descents to the valley.
From 3103m Rothorn above Blauherd the area links via a long scenic piste and the Gant cable-car to the third sector of Gornergrat. This can also be accessed from the resort by a slow surface train that winds gently up the mountainside. Hohtälli above Gant and parallel Rote Nase-Stockhorn are the starting points for some of the best advanced pistes in Zermatt including the notorious Stockhorn descent to Triftji, one of the toughest runs, this 2.5km long tough mogul field with a vertical drop of almost 500m. couple of years ago a lift was finally built between Furi and the Gornergrat, so you can now ski from Kleine Matterhorn to the other 2 main areas. This season there's now a red run from Hohtalli to the Gornergrat and a new chairlift down in Findeln. So after lunch in one of the area's famous restaurants there's not only an easy way out, but also you can keep your backside warm as it has heated seats. For the advanced skiers there's a new lift in Stockhorn, but sadly the Hohtalli-Stockhorn cable car has now closed.
Best runs in Zermatt are:
• Zermatt to Cervinia via Theodulpass (and back)
• Ghiacciaio at Cervinia
• Rocce Bianche at Cervinia
• Zermatt-Sunegga Rothorn to Blauherd
• Zermatt Gornergrat to Riffelberg
To get there, both Zürich and Geneva international airports are equally convenient, with both offering direct rail transportation to the resort. However, the journey between Geneva and Zermatt takes four hours.
Travelling to Zermatt, always difficult at the best of times, has also been made easier with the new Lotschberg Base Tunnel which has reduced the time of the rail journey from Zurich and Basel. It used to take 4 hours and 24 minutes from Zurich. Now its an hour and 8 minues less and takes around the same time as it does from Geneva. The views aren't as nice though.
If you drive from Geneva, drive to Matigny via the N8 and N9 (E62) motorway, then follow the sign to Sion and Visp. You cannot drive further than the village of Täsch. There you find open-air car parks and covered car parks in Täsch. Täsch is 3 miles from Zermatt and there are bus and train connections every 20 minutes and the trip takes about 10 minutes. You can also park your car for free in Visp and then take a train to Zermatt.