Leukerbad Ski Area

Leukerbad’s ski area is mainly above the tree line with dramatic mountain views of the Dauberhorn and many 4,000 metre peaks of the Valais and the Rhône valley. There’s 3km of blue, 20km of red and 27km of black runs including tree-lined red and black runs from Rinderhűtte (2,350m) down to the Leukerbad-Rinderhűtte cable car station (1,411m) and to the Flaschen-Torrentalp gondola base station (1,540m). The valley runs lead to four out of five of Leukerbad’s mountain restaurants and they’re fun to ski during the day as well as offering enjoyably long runs down at the end of the day.

The ski area is small but fun with seventeen groomed runs including 2 blues, 8 reds and 7 black runs, which are best suited for intermediate and advanced skiers and riders. First time beginners can start on nursery slopes at Park Erli until ready to ski the blue runs above Rinderhűtte. Competent beginners will quickly progress from blue to red runs, but less confident beginners would be better learning to ski elsewhere. The longest descents are 10-14km long and start from the top of the Schwalbennest chairlift via a combination of routes to the bottom cable car or gondola stations.

One of the fun things about the Leukerbad ski area is the variable undulating terrain; so when you ski the same run more than once – and you’ll do so often in Leukerbad – by varying your line you can ski the same piste differently. The variable terrain is also more interesting for boarders and freestylers as some of the runs are good for riding up high on the sides of the piste. There’s a small Fun Park with tables, slides and a kicker which is reached by riding the Schwalbennest chairlift.

The Torrent ski lift system of six lifts includes a cable car, two gondolas, a high-speed 6-man chair lift and two T-bar drag lifts.  Expect to have to queue for the cable car and gondola at peak times in the morning, but nothing major.

There are five mountain restaurants the locations of which are clearly marked (but unfortunately not named) on the Leukerbad ski area map. All seventeen marked trails are clearly numbered on the ski area map but the actual piste markers at the side of the runs are not numbered and on-mountain sign posting is not always as good as it could be for navigating in bad weather.

If you find yourself skiing with orange and blue poles both to your left and right, you’re on a blue run. That’s fine in good weather, but in bad visibility you might easily find yourself with black (and orange) and blue (and orange) posts left and right, which means you’re off-piste between two runs, possibly without meaning to be.

Good skiers will easily ski the whole area in a couple of days, which makes Leukerbad a good destination for weekend skiing, but the ski area is not quite big enough to keep advanced skiers entertained for more than a few days unless snow conditions are suitable for skiing off-piste.

In addition to the main Torrent ski area, there’s a particularly good learning area next to the Sportarena on the edge of town with a T bar and a children’s lift for novices and children. There’s also a cable car leading to Gemmipass (2,350m) where you can enjoy cross-country skiing, winter hiking, sledging and snow shoeing around the frozen Lake Daubensee with splendid panoramic views and good ski touring routes higher up.