Questions about Zermatt

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Zermatt has 7000 feet of vertical and it overlooks the Matterhorn. Now that alone does not make it impossible to have poor snow quality or lack of a variety of terrain, but it should tell you a lot. The week after Christmas may or may not have enough snow cover to enjoy the most difficult terrain. With the Alps it depends on the year. I've been twice in low snow cover (December) and got plenty of skiing in.

Have you seen Epic's Zermatt page?

http://www.epicski.com/products/zermatt-ski-resort

Have you used the search feature for info about Zermatt that is already on Epic?

http://www.epicski.com/search.php?search=Zermatt

There are lots of threads, but you might want to start with the 2 reviews.

I know I always give this answer, but it's the correct answer: St. Anton is the place to go.

There are 84 lifts and 276 km of total pistes spread across 5 or 6 towns. Most of that will be groomed, which will keep your mom happy. There are a number of ungroomed but marked pistes, which will keep your dad and sister happy. And, there's a ton of off-piste terrain that the guides can take you to that will leave you smiling.

On top of that, the journey there is pretty convenient and rather scenic. You can fly to Zurich and then take the train from there directly to the resort. The train starts off along the lakes near Zurich, then goes into the mountains of eastern Switzerland and western Austria. It's about 2 hrs in total.

Here are some trip reports from other members:

http://www.epicski.com/t/101032/st-anton-this-week

http://www.epicski.com/t/111201/st-anton-austria-amazing

http://www.epicski.com/t/78363/christmas-week-in-st-anton-zurs-lech-stuben

The other resorts that worth considering are :

Verbier - excellent piste and off-piste. 

Trois Vallees - largest ski resort in the world

Val d'isere / Tignes - excellent terrain

The other resorts that Scavenger listed are also fantastic and are definitely worth visiting. But, if it's a once-in-a-lifetime trip, my vote always goes to St. Anton.

Chamonix. Yes it's renowned for its 'mega-Gnar', but there's plenty of pistes there too. Moreover, a lot of the off piste terrain is easily accessible and fine for intermediate-advanced skiers. For example, Vallee-Blanche alone offers routes for intermediates to experts it's that big.



Lukas

At that time of year, your best odds for snow is in the Arlberg.  Klosters/Davos is another good bet for reliable snow.  For spectacular scenery and charm, Zermatt cannot be beat.  But you are rolling the dice a bit on snow reliability, particularly the steeper terrain off piste, early in the season.  A lot of that does not open most years until much later in the season.  Consider Lech, St. Christoph, Zurs or Stuben as well as St. Anton.  Smaller but more charm that St. Anton.  Access to the same lift system/terrain.  You can bus it from the Zurich airport to the Arlberg on Arlberg Express.  Quick and easy transfer at a reasonable cost. It will be crowded that week wherever you go.  If the snow is marginal, the pistes will be jammed.

some pics of my trip...

http://monaxmontagne.blogspot.fr/2009/03/zermatt-made-in-switzerland.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lukas 

Chamonix. Yes it's renowned for its 'mega-Gnar', but there's plenty of pistes there too. Moreover, a lot of the off piste terrain is easily accessible and fine for intermediate-advanced skiers. For example, Vallee-Blanche alone offers routes for intermediates to experts it's that big.

FWIW, I've been warned that Chamonix is not a good place to go early in the season due to poor coverage.  But that may depend on whether you want to do guided off-piste stuff.  I have not gotten there yet to check it out for myself.

Zermatt is pretty awesome, assuming you can get over the sticker shock.  We were there in kind of a 'meh' snow year (also around New Year's), and there was no shortage of runs -- and we couldn't even get over to the Italian side (bad weather the day we'd planned for that).  The place is enormous.  So unless the snow is amazingly bad or you get pouring rain or something, there will be skiing.

Would love to check out St. Anton sometime, though...

Ah, forgot when you were going. Yeh your best bet with Cham is until you're into Jan.