Sunburn - Snowboarding in Andermatt, Switzerland
After a night of St. Patrick’s style drinking, I caught a morning train from Basel, Switzerland to Andermatt. The views along Lake Zurich and the Swiss Alps were absolutely phenomenal! Turns out - it can be really difficult to take a good photo from a train window.
I arrived in the early afternoon so I could pick up my ski pass, rent my gear, and get situated in my hotel room. I checked out the cute little town of Andermatt. It’s a quaint little place, with a healthy creek flowing through its center. A bell tower nearby rang every 15 minutes, and the bells went crazy at the top and bottom of every hour.
After staying in hostels for 2 weeks, having a room to myself was a luxury that I had been missing for a while. My wallet was not thrilled about it, nor was it thrilled about the price of food (20 CHF, or ~$22 for a pizza! 😭), but the room and private bathroom were a perfect sanctuary after the long days of “shredding the gnar”.
Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis is the full name of this ski resort. It spans several miles across three separate towns, with slopes on each side of the towns. There’s a train that runs between the towns - it takes over an hour to ride the train from one end to the other!
I was only able to ski in the sections between Andermatt and Sedrun as well as the Gemsstock area. The runs were incredibly long and I had to be careful to stay in the sections without a T-bar lift. With more time I could have gone to the opposite end, but the runs there were marked blue and I wanted more of a challenge.
The ski slope grading system for runs is different in Europe. The ticket window attendant gave me a nifty little guide.
I spent a majority of my time on the red and black runs. Apparently Andermatt is known for having really good off-piste (off-trail/backcountry) skiing, but without an avalanche rescue kit nor a pal on the slopes, I felt uncomfortable doing that.
The best section of the resort was definitely Gemsstock. The view from the top was pristine and the runs were long and challenging.
I saw two things that I had never seen before at Gemsstock. One was the extra large size gondola. Everyone loaded into the gondola and stood the whole way up - the most I had seen it fit was about 40 people crammed in there at once!
The second thing was a guy with a giant parachute on his back and skis on his feet, just casually flying around the slopes. You can watch the video here.
I also met some cool people! I met Katianna and Briana on the first day - skiers from the New England area. Then I met Jeff and Jin on the second day - also skiers from New England. Later on the second day, I found myself standing on the giant gondola between these two pairs. We ended up going to a wine bar and a pub for our après-ski. They were all wonderful to chat with!
As for the mountain conditions, days 1 and 2 were sunny and warm - almost 40ºF! Great for visibility and navigation. The slopes are usually only marked with a tiny number instead of a large name, so it can be difficult to miss some turns. The snow itself was alright - the grooming machines did a great job in the mornings. I also only found moguls on two runs, so that was a huge plus.
The pistes were practically empty as well. Hitting the slopes on a Tuesday-Thursday means people are working, lift lines don’t exist, and you have all the space in the world to turn. An interesting addition to that is the low tree line. In Colorado, the tree line is very high, so you’ll find lots of trees lining the slopes and the iconic beads and bras hanging from the branches near the ski lifts. Switzerland’s tree line is significantly lower which makes for a much wider ski area on most runs.
In stark contrast to the early nice weather, it was raining in “Andermatt-Dörf” (town) all day on day 3. Here was my visibility at the top of Gemsstock:
I had to be extra cautious to not go off-piste by accident. I also took a couple tumbles into the extra wet slop - my makeshift “ski coat” that was just the rain jacket I brought did not hold up super great on day 3. My legs were jelly, there was sopping slush in my… everywhere, and I couldn’t even see the terrain beneath my feet. Needless to say, I called it early that day.
Some unexpected souvenirs somehow came into my possession. The first was a pair of goggles and a goggle sock from the ski rental shop. The worker just let me keep a pair that someone left behind! Second was a sweet 5 CHF coin. I had to put in a deposit for my ski pass card, and the woman at the counter offered me two choices: my deposit back as a 5 franc coin, or 3 bars of chocolate. An odd question, I thought, but I chose the cool coin since the chocolate wasn’t Toblerone or Lindt.
My other souvenirs? A pair of nasty blisters on my right heel and a ripe, red sunburn on my face that will probably turn into a sexy goggle tan for the rest of this trip.
The train ride from Andermatt to Italy was even prettier than the last one - it reminded me of that long drive on I70 through the Rocky Mountains back home.
Despite the ridiculous expenses, sore muscles, and an itchy face, I really loved Andermatt and I will absolutely be returning someday! Next up is an extended trip across the many cities of Italy!
