Love Andermatt? Where to go next for the off piste, the snow or a town at the bottom
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20268 min read
People who love Andermatt rarely love it for the size of its piste map. Off piste is first on our list of what it does best, then snowfall, then the fact that it is up and coming. Our read of it is reborn and snowy, a sleeper in the middle of Switzerland on its way up, and the only trait we tag it with is expert.
The figures agree. Andermatt has 21 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the fourth most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, and 76 percent of its piste sits at or above 1,800 metres. So the question for a regular is which part you would miss: the snow beyond the markers, the snow itself, or the way the mountain skis. No single resort keeps all three.
Andermatt, measured
Start with the size, where two honest numbers disagree. The pass covers 180 kilometres across Andermatt, Sedrun and Disentis, and the operator also publishes 120 for Andermatt and Sedrun on their own. The Gemsstock, though, sits outside the linked area. Around the village itself we measure 61 kilometres of graded piste, and only four of the 55 resorts we cover measure less. So the skiing on the doorstep is modest, and the size is in how far the pass reaches.
The snow is the strong suit. Seventy six percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres and the skiing reaches 2,922, which makes Andermatt snow sure on our measure. Sixty four percent is above 2,000 metres, and half of it sits above 2,122. The village is not especially high, at 1,444 metres against the 1,350 of a typical resort we cover. The height is in the skiing, not the village.
Then the expert label. Andermatt's toughness lives mostly off the piste. There are 8.3 kilometres of black, against 14.1 at a typical resort we cover, but the longest itinerary we measure runs 5.5 kilometres with 1,170 metres of vertical, more than twice the length of the longest piste. On the piste, 27 percent is steeper than one in four, the second biggest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, though only about typical across the 55 we cover. The blacks average 30.7 percent, the third steepest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against 26.7 for a typical Swiss black, and the reds 22.0 against 19.9. These are average gradients per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so treat them as the feel of the week rather than a verdict on any one run.
So "somewhere like Andermatt" means snow beyond the markers, skiing that is mostly high, and a sleeper on its way up. The kilometres of piste are the least of it.
Zürs: if it is the off piste, and more of it
- VillageVillage
- 1,720 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,811 m
Zürs: 75 km of piste we measure. 31 km blue and easier 42%38 km red 50%6 km black 8%
Plus 40 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Of the Austrian resorts we cover, our matching puts Zürs closest to Andermatt, and on the snow beyond the markers it simply gives you more. Zürs has 40 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the fourth most of the 55 resorts we cover and almost twice Andermatt's 21.
The size will feel familiar: we measure 75 kilometres of piste around Zürs, against 61 around Andermatt (the Arlberg's total is not classified in our data, so the measured figure is the one to go by). The village is higher, at 1,720 metres, 276 above yours and the second highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. And you can fly to the same airport, Zurich, or to Innsbruck.
It is also steeper on the piste: 33 percent is steeper than one in four, against 27, and the reds average 24.2 percent, against Andermatt's 22.0 and an Austrian average of 23.4. Only 21 percent is gentler than 15 percent, the smallest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, so a nervous skier will find little to settle into.
The trade is the top. Zürs's skiing stops at 2,440 metres by our measurement, 482 below Andermatt's 2,922. Seventy four percent of its piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 76, but the top sits near the line we use for snow sure, and we have not called it either way. There is less black, 6.0 kilometres against 8.3, and our read of the village is exclusive and quiet: upmarket, where Andermatt is up and coming.
Val d'Isère: if it is the snow and the steep, on a bigger mountain
- VillageVillage
- 1,850 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,456 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 300 km
Val d'Isère: 158 km of piste we measure. 90 km green and blue 57%46 km red 29%22 km black 14%
Plus 29 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Our matching ranks Val d'Isère only third in France, but it carries over more of Andermatt than any other pick: the off piste, the share of steep piste, the share of gentle piste and the expert trait. What it changes is the scale.
The height first. The village is at 1,850 metres, 406 above Andermatt and the joint fifth highest of the 55 resorts we cover. All of the piste we measure, 100 percent, is at or above 1,800 metres, the joint highest share of the 55 resorts we cover, and the skiing reaches 3,205 metres, 283 above yours. It is snow sure on our measure with a margin, and the season runs from late November to early May, longer at both ends than Andermatt's December to April.
The skiing carries over closely. Twenty nine percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 27, and 28 percent is gentler than 15 percent, against 29. The blacks average 29.9 percent against your 30.7. There are 29 kilometres of marked itinerary, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, against 21, and the longest runs 4.9 kilometres with 917 metres of vertical.
And then the size. We measure 158 kilometres of piste around Val d'Isère, more than twice Andermatt's 61, and Espace Killy, which it shares with Tignes, is 300 kilometres of linked skiing. There are 21.8 kilometres of black against 8.3, and 90 kilometres of green and blue for the less confident.
The trade is the sleeper feel. Val d'Isère is lively and upmarket, with evenings that run late. You fly to Geneva, not Zurich.
Cortina d'Ampezzo: if it is the mountain you know, in an Italian town
- VillageVillage
- 1,224 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,939 m
Cortina d'Ampezzo: 86 km of piste we measure. 38 km blue and easier 45%38 km red 45%9 km black 11%
Plus 9 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Across all 55 resorts we cover, our matching puts Cortina d'Ampezzo closest to Andermatt, and the reason is on the piste. Cortina's blues average 15.3 percent against Andermatt's 15.5, its reds 21.9 against 22.0, and 25 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, against your 27. On the blues and reds, the change of country will barely show.
What changes is everything around them. Cortina is stylish and scenic, known for the Dolomites and long lunches, and a host of the 2026 Games. There is more piste, 86 kilometres measured around the town, about 24 more than Andermatt, and more of it gentle: 36 percent is gentler than 15 percent, against 29. Cortina is quoted at 120 kilometres, a figure we have not checked, and the Dolomiti Superski pass reaches 1,200 kilometres across twelve areas, only four of them joined by lift.
The snow holds up. Sixty seven percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, and the lifts reach 3,028 metres; the highest piste we measure starts at 2,724, which still clears our line, so it is snow sure on our measure. The village is lower, at 1,224 metres, 220 below yours.
The trade is the off piste. Cortina has 9.2 kilometres of marked itinerary, the second most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, but less than half Andermatt's 21, and we do not tag it expert. Fly to Venice or Innsbruck.
So, which one
the marked off piste is the whole point, you like a quiet village and a Zurich flight, and nobody in the group needs gentle piste or the extra height at the top.
you want Andermatt's off piste, steep share and snow with far more mountain and a longer season, and a livelier village does not put you off.
you want the piste to ski the way it does at home, and the scenery, the style and lunch to matter as much as the skiing.
Bormio if you want the same snow line in a quiet Italian spa town and can live with very little easy ground.
It keeps more of what makes Andermatt worth the trip than any other pick, the itineraries, the steep share and the expert label, then adds a higher village, a higher top and more than twice the piste. What you give up is the feeling of having found somewhere first.