Don’t let this beautiful, quiet Swiss village trick you into thinking that the mountain above is soft. Expert skiers are attracted to Andermatt because it’s hard. When you check into your hotel and haul your skis to the ski room, you will instantly be struck by the amount of fat powder skis and touring equipment. Swissies with an appetite for powder, loosely strewn across steep chutes and killer pitches, nurse their beers at night in order to be stellar when the lifts open first thing in the morning.
Take the giant cable car to home base on the mountain and you will see that Andermatt is very welcoming of families and skiers of all levels. Head up even higher and you will leave the smiling children behind and find yourself in a whole other zone. A lot of the locals head off to the backcountry but you don’t have to stray out-of-bounds to find tasty terrain.
The storms like to visit the top of Andermatt and you get a sense that everything is hunkered down on the top of the mountain in anticipation for the wind and snow. A very open mountain, when the clouds invade, it can be a bit of a challenge making you way around. But with all the powder under foot, you can just cruise along the lift line and feel satisfied.
The ski hill seems to have invested their developed efforts on the lower, more intermediate terrain while leaving the top half pretty much alone. This gives you huge open runs and bowls with few skiers, lifts or lodges to get in the way of your line.
The town, though quiet, has a lot of chill bars that I would call funky. Woody, homey and candle lit for beers and pizza or mirrored and classy for martinis. Most of the places foster conversation in a relaxed and skier-hip atmosphere. There are a few dancing places but they seem to be more for teenagers than a rowdy Apres ski crowd. Most Andermatt guests seem content to take it easy after a long dinner making for a chill night out on the town. This however, is a good thing, because you’ll need your strength for the day ahead.
