Celebrating Fifty Years... The Zermatt Safari

I have a passion for ski touring and love the fact that you have to ‘earn your turns’. That said, there are powder days, snatched between spells of poor weather, when you can earn your turns by paying for them. Zermatt is a skiers’ hub, an overgrown village at the foot of the world’s most recognisable peak, and the beginning and end of so many great skiing adventures. But don’t overlook its potential as a ski-safari paradise. By using its lift system, you can get the most ‘pow’ for your £ on a blue-sky day.

Push ennui aside and go for an early lift. Take the Sunnegga underground lift that links with the cable car to Unterrothorn (3013m) and let the skiing begin! Turn north into the Tufterchumme and descend 1100m in open and then wooded terrain between pistes to the Patrullarve lift, which will carry you back to the Unterrothorn.

The next stage is a descent by piste to Fluhalp, followed by plenty of off-piste action on the south-facing slopes of the Roter Bodmen.

Strong-willed safari aficionados whizz past Fluhalp, while wiser whizzers will stop for coffee and tarte aux myrtilles (blueberry tart) – after all, there’s a long way to go.

Refreshed and sustained, continue descending to Gant, with plenty of opportunity for fresh tracks either side of the piste.

Catch your breath while waiting for the lift to the Hohtälli (3286m) and then take the link to the Rote Nase. Those scouting for off-piste potential will have seen the vast slope under the lift, which offers stunning skiing after a fresh fall of snow. Early risers will have time to fit in its descent and return to the cable car. From the Rote Nase, you can descend the slopes alongside the Triftji piste and use drag lifts to gain Pt.3405m, which in the past was the end of the old Stockhorn lift. Now boot eastwards along the ridge for about 1km to the Stockhorn (3532m) itself – it’s well worth the effort. From the Stockhorn, turn north along a broad ridge towards Pt.3356m. Take the open, north-west-facing slopes of the Triftjigletscher, descending a full 1300m back to Gant. After a fresh fall of snow, this descent is as good as it gets.