[Anonymous]

4 February 2020 at 23:26:45 #825108

Planning a trip to Mt. Blanc or Zermatt in mid-April. I’m told either Zermatt or Chamonix will offer the best skiing around mid-April. If I choose Zermatt, I could get a better ” swiss alps experience” Both are spectacular in their own rights, I’m sure.

Will be taking the train from Paris to Geneva.

thoughts?

💡 Save time and get daily forum questions & answers by e-mail

[User]

Reply 1 of 8 • 5 February 2020 at 6:34:20 #929445

Hi EMT760 and welcome to MySwissAlps,

You have a great chance to find snow on the Zermatt (http://www.myswissalps.com/zermatt) ski slopes in mid-April, but also on Titlis (http://www.myswissalps.com/titlis) near Lucerne, although it is a bit further from Geneva. You could also ski near Jungfraujoch (http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfraujoch).

I am not familiar with Mt. Chamonix opportunities in April, but the ski area is scheduled to open from
6th December 2019 to 3rd May 2020. (Of course weather permitted.)

See these too: http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/skiing-in-april-mt-titlis and http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/ski-equipment-availability-and-pricing-for-zermatt.

These might be useful for you too:

• Snow fun in Switzerland: http://www.myswissalps.com/activities/snow
• How travel from France to Switzerland: http://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/france
• Weather: http://www.myswissalps.com/weather
• Best time to visit: http://www.myswissalps.com/besttimetovisit

Ildiko

[Mark]

Reply 2 of 8 • 5 February 2020 at 21:06:24 #929446

Hi EMT760

Well you can only get a Swiss alps experience in Zermatt as Chamonix is in France. I have hiked in both places in the summertime and would say Zermatt and Chamonix are very similar towns in size and character. Both are fairly upscale compared to Wengen or Grindelwald and likely more expensive. Lots of shops, restaurants, hotels and bars at both.

While I haven’t skied at either, both have glaciers and i would guess plenty of snow. Both have large ski areas but I would guess Zermatt has a much more varied terrain and probably more lifts.

Chamonix has Mt Blanc the highest alp, while Zermatt has the Matterhorn and Gornergrat (both very impressive). Overall I would say Zermatt is more scenic. I expect you would have a nice ski experience at either.

Mark

[User]

Reply 3 of 8 • 6 February 2020 at 18:42:50 #929447

thanks for the replies. In late April, I was looking at historical weather reports of April of 2019, it looks like in late April Zermatt experiences fog and haze in the morning that could burn off 50/50. It looks like early May is when the sun starts to pop out more consistently. If I were to spend 3 nights in the area what is your opinion on how the weather will play out? I know it’s hard to say.

http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/switzerland/zermatt/historic?month=4&year=2019

[User]

Reply 4 of 8 • 6 February 2020 at 20:13:32 #929448

Yes, that is really a difficult question. Because of the global warming (http://www.myswissalps.com/aboutswitzerland/nature/environment/globalwarming) I would say it means very little how the weather was last year. Also I would afraid of the snow quality in May. I know Zermatt has full year open ski slopes but I guess you would like to ski on more slopes than just those, right?

Anyway, the weather in Switzerland can change in a minute – sometimes not even according to the forecasts.

I hope you will have nice skiing weather whenever you are coming 🙂

Ildiko

[User]

Reply 5 of 8 • 6 February 2020 at 20:20:43 #929449

Instead of staying in Zermatt for 3 nights, do you think a home base like Visp would be a better option? Zermatt is 1-2 hours away ( I think) and you can access other places like Lauterbrunnen and or Leukerbald, Kandersteg within a hour or so.

[Mark]

Reply 6 of 8 • 6 February 2020 at 23:16:54 #929450

While I haven’t skied the Alps, I have skied for years in western US and Canada and late April is iffy pretty much everywhere. The higher the altitude and average snowfall the better your chances. If the conditions are poor in Zermatt, I would doubt they would be better in the other places. but you can check the altitude and average snowfall in the nearby areas and maybe check the current snow base at the resorts before you decide. Personally I’d take a chance on Zermatt and not miss the ambiance and views in Zermatt.

Mark

[Anna]

Reply 7 of 8 • 7 February 2020 at 15:13:19 #929451

Hi EMT760,

I would pick Zermatt. It has more piste to choose from, from beginners to advanced. And you can ski down from either Gornergrat or Klein Matterrhorn. Also, Zermatt is a car-free village, slightly smaller but certainly more scenic in my opinion 🙂 From Zermatt you can ski to the Italian side although I’ve never done this before but would like to sometime in the future.

• Things to do in Zermatt: http://www.myswissalps.com/zermatt/activities
• Gornergrat: http://www.myswissalps.com/gornergrat
• Klein Matterhorn: http://www.myswissalps.com/kleinmatterhorn

Regards,

Anna

[Mark]

Reply 8 of 8 • 7 February 2020 at 18:15:25 #929452

Actually you can take a gondola or ski to the Italian side in Chamonix as well

But I agree with you Zermatt has more varied terrain, more lifts, and is more scenic than Chamonix.

I don’t know how they compare to each other in altitude or average snowfall but I would expect they are similar.

Mark