Zermatt off-piste & powder guide

Valais, Switzerland · 1620m to 3899m · 2 documented zones

Finding powder at Zermatt

Zermatt combines enormous vertical with genuine high-alpine glacier terrain, and the two are not always clearly separated. The Stockhorn and Triftji faces give over a kilometre of sustained fall-line skiing straight off a lift, while routes like the Schwarztor are full glacier tours needing rope, kit and knowledge rather than just good legs.

Lift-accessed zones — no walking

Ride up, drop in. These 1 zones need no hiking, which also means they are the first to get tracked out after a storm.

Stockhorn and Triftji

Gornergrat sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

One of the steepest, broadest and longest mogul faces anywhere, at just under 1,200 vertical metres, with the main Stockhorn face running around 1,100 vertical metres of sustained bumps through Triftji. Exceptional when it is powder-covered.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Stockhorn cable car or Hohtalli cable car
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed. The Rote Nase lines are reached either by hiking the ridge from the top of the lift or by cutting under the lift and traversing below the cliffs, and some routes can be picked up by hiking the ridge from the Gornergrat.
Getting back
Descends towards Gant for the Gant to Hohtalli cable car or the Gant to Blauherd chairlift.
Aspect
North-facing· Holds powder longest
Known hazards
  • Crevasses
  • Avalanche potential
  • Gullies punctuated by rocky outcrops and small cliffs

Worth the walk — hike-to zones

Every one of these needs time on foot, which is exactly why the snow lasts longer. Walk-in times below are as published by the resort guides.

Schwarztor

Klein Matterhorn sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

A full glacier tour from the top of the Klein Matterhorn, descending the heavily crevassed Schwarze glacier. Around five hours all in, and entirely dependent on good visibility.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Matterhorn Glacier Paradise (Klein Matterhorn)
Walk in
Roughly 210m of ascent from the mountain station, traversing or pushing towards P3824 and using skins if needed. This section shares the popular Breithorn route and gets busy.
Getting back
Work down to the bridge at 1,945m, then climb a short way to reach the ski area or the piste from Furgg to Furi.
Known hazards
  • A very crevassed glacier
  • Requires proper glacier equipment and the knowledge to use it
  • Needs good visibility
  • May mean carrying skis late in the season

The avalanche danger scale

Every European bulletin uses this five-level scale. The column that matters most is the last one: around half of all avalanche deaths happen at level 3, not at the extremes, because that is when the snow still looks worth skiing.

1. Low

about 5% of fatalities

Generally stable snowpack. Triggering is only possible with high additional loads, and only in extreme terrain. Natural avalanches are small at most.

The most favourable conditions of the season. Terrain choice still matters in isolated extreme spots.

Forecast on about 20% of the season

2. Moderate

about 30% of fatalities

The snowpack is only moderately well bonded on some steep slopes. Triggering is mainly possible with high additional loads. Very large natural avalanches are unlikely.

Conditions look benign and catch people out. Roughly a third of fatalities happen at this level.

Forecast on about 50% of the season

3. Considerable

about 50% of fatalities

The snowpack is moderately to poorly bonded on many steep slopes. Triggering is possible even from a single skier. Large avalanches are possible.

The most dangerous level in practice. It carries about half of all avalanche deaths, because the skiing still looks good and the snowpack no longer needs much provocation.

Forecast on about 30% of the season

4. High

about 10% of fatalities

The snowpack is poorly bonded on most steep slopes. Triggering is likely even from a single skier, and numerous large natural avalanches are expected.

Off-piste travel should be limited to low-angle terrain well away from anything steep above you.

Forecast on only a few days a year

5. Very High

rare enough that no share is published

An extraordinarily unstable snowpack. Numerous very large and often extremely large natural avalanches are expected, even on moderately steep terrain.

Do not go off-piste. Roads and parts of the resort itself may be closed.

Forecast on very rarely forecast

Scale and statistics from European Avalanche Warning Services - Avalanche Danger Scale.

What you need to carry

Transceiver

Worn on your body, not in your pack, and switched to transmit before you leave the lift. Every member of the group needs one; a single person without makes the whole group less safe.

Probe

Pinpoints the burial once the transceiver has brought you close, so you dig in the right place first time rather than in a hole beside them.

Shovel

A real collapsible avalanche shovel. Digging is the slowest part of a rescue, and it is what actually gets your partner out.

Airbag pack (optional)

Helps keep you nearer the surface in a moving slide. It supplements the three items above and never replaces them.

How to ski it

Read the bulletin before you go, every day

The danger level, the problem type and the aspects and altitudes it applies to matter more than anything on this page. Conditions change overnight.

Practise with your kit until the search is instinctive

Owning a transceiver is not the same as being able to use one under pressure. Run search drills at the start of every season.

Never ski off-piste alone

Companion rescue is the only rescue fast enough to matter. Burial survival drops sharply after about fifteen minutes.

Ski steep slopes one at a time

Exposing one person at a time keeps the rest of the group free to dig, and reduces the load on the slope.

Hire a guide for terrain you do not know

Local guides know which aspects have loaded, which lines cliff out and where this season's weak layer sits. Every resort guide on this page says the same thing.

Plan the exit before you drop in

Several classic routes finish in a different valley or a long way from a lift. Know how you are getting home, and what time the last lift and last bus run.

Keep planning

Zermatt snow report & forecastSnow history & depthMore resorts in Switzerland