Best Ski Resorts in Switzerland

Switzerland has 348 ski areas with 4,246 km of mapped downhill runs and 2,054 lifts. That puts it #4 of 73 skiing countries by number of resorts and #5 by kilometres of slopes, with 8.2% of all mapped slopes in the world. The average ski area has about 14.3 km of runs.

Biggest ski resorts in Switzerland

The largest ski areas are Zermatt - Breuil-Cervinia (209 km), 4 Vallées – Verbier/La Tzoumaz/Nendaz/Veysonnaz/Thyon (175 km), Arosa Lenzerheide (164 km), Laax (152 km) and Andermatt+Disentis+Sedrun (102 km). Together these 5 hold 19% of the country's slopes. By size, 19 resorts have 50 km or more of runs, 76 mid-sized areas have 10–50 km and 253 smaller ski hills have under 10 km — most skiing here happens on local hills close to towns.

Slopes and difficulty

Across all resorts, 44% of the slopes are beginner or easy, 42% intermediate and 14% advanced or expert. At least 100 km of runs are mapped with snowmaking. Cross-country skiers will find 1,734 km of nordic trails.

Where to ski in Switzerland

The highest skiing is at Zermatt - Breuil-Cervinia, up to 3,872 m, followed by Saas Fee (3,555 m). The longest vertical drop — 2,397 m — is at 4 Vallées – Verbier/La Tzoumaz/Nendaz/Veysonnaz/Thyon. Most slopes are in Valais (44 areas, 1,276 km), Graubunden (51 areas, 988 km) and Bern (58 areas, 704 km).