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Zermatt / Advanced
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Rothorn
From the top of the Rothorn, two itineraries are reached by cutting high and over a ridge onto the west face of the Unterrothorn, to lead down towards Tuftern. The face is a consistent pitch with multiple rocky gullies. It catches a lot of wind, often leaving pockets of sublime snow flanked by bony ribs. Back on piste, the top of the ‘National’ black run from Blauherd to Patrullarve is a fast ride down into the trees. Much of it can be skied to either side, ducking into tight trees; alternatively, the ‘rock garden’ directly under the Patrullarve chairlift gives a great line into excellent tree skiing but needs plenty of snow if you value your skis.
Stockhorn
The Stockhorn is Zermatt's experts' mecca. It usually opens in late January when sufficient snowfall has accumulated to fill crevasses and cover rocks. The main Stockhorn face is a steep sustained bump run of eleven hundred vertical metres; after fresh snowfall, this is a dream, if you like powder covered bumps. To either side are enormous tracts of freeride terrain. The area is north facing and so steep that the snow stays in condition almost indefinitely. To skier’s right of the central slope, reached either by hiking the ridge from the lift top or by cutting under the lift and traversing below the cliffs, there are endless ways down, but care is needed: there are crevasses as well as the potential for avalanche. The further right you go, the longer the traverse out at the bottom, though only the final section flattens off enough to be an issue in fresh snow.
The circuitous round trip, via a minimum of two lifts, is the only thing between you and more powder than you can handle. The rest of the face, from either the Rote Nase drag or the Hohtalli cable car, covers a huge area, with most of it up for grabs. Crevasse danger is not an issue but the bowls and gullies are punctuated by rocky outcrops and small cliffs that leave you in no doubt about the level of skiing involved; for all but experienced off piste skiers this is guide territory. Skier’s left of Hohtalli gives yet more routes down to Gant or to the restaurant at Grunsee and on to Findeln. These routes can also be picked up by hiking the ridge from Gornergrat.
Klein Matterhorn and Cervinia
The top of the Klein Matterhorn area and Cervinia offers relatively little real challenge but plenty of temptation: the powder is often perfect beyond the ropes but you take your chances with crevasses. On the pisted areas they are filled each summer by bulldozers; beyond the boundaries they sometimes claim snowboarders who have tried to backtrack out of a tricky line by taking off their boards and walking. Without the support of the board they easily drop through thin snowbridges. Skiers are vulnerable too, particularly in a bad snow year, or simply by stopping or falling in the wrong place.
Furgg and Furi
Where the mountain steepens lower down, a couple of itineraries head towards Furgg, while beneath Schwarzsee two main itineraries – the Tiefbach and the Momatt - drop into trees and a black run descends from Aroleid to Furi. It’s a more rewarding experience than the twisty Furgg to Furi black run, frequently hard-scraped by the descending hordes who want to ski all the way home on the last run of the day, regardless of their ability. Higher up and almost always deserted, with a covering of fresh-blown snow is the short sharp black run from the Hornli lift, a T-bar with a wind-blasted double-black diamond finish.
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