Hi all

I'm thinking of skiing in Zermatt, last weekend in November.

I've had a look at the Piste map and it doesn't seem like there's much there for beginners (loads of red slopes)?

I've been skiing for a couple of years now so not really a beginner anymore but wondered if anyone who's actually skied there in November might tell me how difficult the open slopes are versus other ski areas?

I normally go to the Parsenn ski area in Davos and can ski all the red slopes okay(ish!) but I don't suppose there'll be enough snow there at end of November.

Thanks!

It's still far too early to be predicting sow conditions yet. Nonetheless, when I was there last year in mid November, only the glacier was open, and one day that was closed due to wind. In November you can hope for snow, but unless you get some of the pistes about halfway down the mountain with some good snow cover, a beginner won't have a lot of fun.

Thanks for this. Can you suggest any other ski areas that might be okay at end of November (subject to snow conditions)?

you might want to look at this event run by Stockli, seems like pretty good value for money.

If you can ski davos you can ski zermatt. The upper slopes (if you take the chair or drag from the top of the first long gondola) are easier than the lower ones. There might not be much open and it might not be exciting but I'm sure you can do it. The routes down to the valley are usually best avoided unless conditions are good, but they wont be open in nov anyway.

I tried skiing in Zermatt early season. Working in ZH if you leave at ZHB @ 1800, you can't actually get to Zermatt before the trains stop. If you take the train on Saturday you arrive at the station then walk to the lifts. They will only sell a day pass & the lifts will close in under 2 hours....

I tried the Friday night & stay in a hotel, then early unto Zermatt, however it was windy & the lifts did not open on either Saturday or Sunday.

Hardly surprising I never returned after 2 weekend trips early season.

Will be there for a week mid-October, I can tell you how good/bad it is when I get back. I'm not expecting much in terms of ski conditions and number of open runs, but I'm there for a ski course, not for ski bumming.

I've never been to Zermatt on this side of Christmas. For the last two years I have booked a weekend in early December to start the ski season but always end up cancelling because there are not enough open pistes and the conditions suck. For the price of the lift ticket, I want most of the station to be open.

Hi, I just checked on SBB and it seems like hte last departure from Zurich HB that will get you to Zermatt on Friday night is at 20:32 so maybe they changed it now?

I used to go 1st week in December (birthday is start of december so could be last week of november as well) every year when still living in UK, its generally when the more slopes beyound the glacier start to open up. on good years you will have Gornergrat and Sunegga as well so plenty of skiing. On bad years only trockner steg and plenty of wind closures.

Sölden in austria could be an option and also cheaper

Regarding the trains to Zermatt..

I've been skiing in Zermatt this summer, and skied a lot here last season. I now have a place here (since summer).

On a friday evening there are trains leaving Zurich HB at 1802, 1902 and 2032 which arrive in Zermatt that same evening. Its an approx 3hr10min ride.

If you leave Sat morning at 0602, you arrive at 0914. The Gonergrat train is across the street from the train station. Also stopping at the train station is the bus to the Sunnegga and Matterhorn base station, and takes 8 mins and 15 mins respectively. One would be skiing by 1000. The lifts close 1600 or 1700. I did that several times last season.

regards
fj

Do the lifts really stay open that late in November? Sunset is 16.45 on 30 November,

I've done training courses there in mid-November on several occasions, and before that there tended to be a huge group from Basel going down for the last weekend in Novemer each year. Every timei've been we've been getting lucky enough to have great skiing conditions, off piste as well as on. Not guaranteed, of course, but all lifts and pistes about Trockener Steg (the top of the KM cable car direct from the village) and as far down as Furgg, as well as most of the higher ones on the Cervina side, were open each time.

Not for beginners, although why someone who's skied several time and can manage some red runs would even use that description is beyond me. In terms of difficulty the reds in Zermatt are not. In Engelberg they'd mostly be blues, for comparison for anyone that's skied there, and indeed there are a couple of blue runs as well as the reds.

Proper length ski days, with the cable car opening from 0830 and some lifts continuing to 1630 (Furgg back to Trockener Steg).

All in all I'd definitely recommend it, and may even be there myself as well.

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Sunset is 1645 throughout most of Nov and Dec. Most lifts close at 1600 or a few minutes earlier. The Zermatt to Furi lift is open until 1700. You can find the timetable PDF here.
https://www.matterhornparadise.ch/en/timetable

The Lötschberg Base Tunnel!