Leukerbad Advanced

More than half of the marked runs are designated black (27km) with red runs making up most of the rest (20km). The best on-piste descents for good skiers are from the top of the Schwalbennest chairlift (2,610m) all the way down to the bottom gondola station (1,540m) – firstly via red run 9, black run 10 and red run 12 and, secondly, following consecutive black runs 3, 4, 5 and 6. The last two of these are fast and enjoyable tree lined runs on undulating terrain. The Alpengruss and Briand mountain restaurants close to the gondola mid station (1,920m) both have sun terraces.

The route all the way from the top of the Rinderhalde or Torrent T-bars (2,500m) to the bottom Torrentbahn cable car station (1,450m) is another long descent starting with either red run 1 or black run 4 then from bottom of Rinderhalde T-bar via black run 15 and red runs 16 and 17 which will bring you back to the cable car. Check what times the cable car runs at quiet times during the day and time your run accordingly otherwise you might be waiting a while at the bottom station for the next cable car up. The Weidstubli half way down red run 16 is another of Leukerbad’s better mountain restaurants and worth visiting.

While Leukerbad’s ski area is relatively small in terms of the number and extent of groomed runs, when snow conditions are good there’s a reasonable amount of easy off-piste terrain between the pistes. The area above Rinderhűtte includes plenty of lift served off-piste terrain including the slopes either side of the Rinderhalde T-bar. But be careful not to stray too far away from the T-bar as there are cliffs out of sight on the left hand side of the ski area.  Similarly, if skiing or riding the easy off-piste beneath the Schwalbennest chairlift, there are a few small cliffs lower down, but not marked on the map which you need to watch out for. You’ll easily see them in good visibility when riding the chair but if visibility is poor you need to be more careful. There’s yet more relatively easy off piste terrain beneath the Torrentalp-Rinderhűtte gondola either side of red run 11.

In addition to easy off-piste skiing and riding between the pistes, there are more challenging off-piste descents from the ridge that rises left to right towards Torrenthorn (2,997m). These steep descents can be reached by booting up from the top of the Rinderhalde T-bar or from the top of the Schwalbennest chairlift (2,610m) and the higher up you go the steeper the pitch back down to the safety of the groomed runs. There’s yet more off-piste skiing on the slopes beneath Schaffberg (2,806m), which can be reached by traversing high and left from the start of the Lingelen red run (9).

When skiing or riding on more challenging off-piste terrain away from the main ski area, for safety reasons and to find the best snow, we recommend you hire a guide through Red Carpet Ski School.

Ski touring in Leukerbad

There’s ski touring on the Gemmipass including the route via Gemmi Pass to Wildstrubel (3,243m) which takes about 3 hours to skin up to the top. The views from the summit are breathtaking with as many as forty two 4,000-metre peaks visible in perfect weather conditions. Daubenhorn (2,941m) is another popular ski touring route. It takes about 2 hours to reach the top and offers similarly spectacular views of the Valais.

Other ski touring routes in Gemmi Pass include Steghorn (3,148m) and Roter Totz (2,848m), which take between 2 – 2½ hours to ski up. There are also more challenging high altitude ski touring routes to the Rinderhorn (3,448m) and Balmhorn (3,698m) which take around 4½ -5 hours to ascend and sometimes require use of crampons.