Everything you need to know about skiing and other Alpine winter sports
This family-friendly resort has a surprisingly good range of slopes for all abilities and styles, albeit in modest quantities. Famous for being where Sherlock Holmes met his demise, it makes a good day out from Interlaken or Luzern or a pleasant destination for a short break.
Full details on the resort can be found at my database of Swiss Winter Resorts under the entry for Meiringen.
The main ski and snowboard area near Brig is Belalp, although Rothwald and Rosswald each provide about 25km of additional piste. As well as 60km of piste at Belalp, from the Hohstock at 3112m you go through a 160m long tunnel out to a fabulous area for freeriding. The resorts can all be reached quite quickly by bus from the town. In addition a number of the major resorts in Switzerland are within an hour of Brig by public transport.
| Ski Area | Brig |
| Resorts | Belalp, Blatten b. Naters, Rosswald, Rothwald |
| Ski Region | Valais |
| Piste (km) | 60 |
| Top run (m) | 3100 |
| Bottom (m) | 1501 |
| Max Drop | 1599 |
| Snow’n’Rail | Y |
| Black (km) | 20 |
| Red (km) | 34 |
| Blue (km) | 20 |
| Lifts (#/hr) | 9870 |
| My Rating | 4 |
| Alpine | 3 |
| SnowPark | 3 |
| Nordic | 5 |
| Hiking | 2 |
| Family | 4 |
| Apres Ski | 4 |
| Free Ride | Y |
| Snow making | Y |
| Fun park | Y |
| Snow park | |
| Half pipes | |
| Spa |
Brig is an elegant small town at the start of the Simplon pass, high up in the Rhone Valley. The town has excellent rail and bus links to a number of winter sports destinations including the Aletsch Arena (e.g. via Fiesch), Belalp, Goms, Saas-Fee, Andermatt, Lauchernalp and Zermatt. There is also a thermal spa nearby, but it is only open in summer – however the wonderful spas at Leukerbad are only one hour away.
The nearest significant ski area to Brig is Belalp, reached by cable car from the pretty village of Blatten b. Naters. Blatten (not to be confused with another Valais village in the Lötschental of the same name) has regular buses from Brig station that cover the breathtaking 8km journey in less than half an hour.
Belalp is a small jewel of a ski area, with two bowls under the Hohstock (3226m) and Sparrhorn (3020m) providing acres of relatively safe and accessible off-piste as well as perfectly groomed pistes to suit all abilities. See the separate post on Belalp for more details.
Useful links:
Aletsch Arena,
Belalp,
Brig,
Rosswald.
Family-friendly, sunny Brigels (Breil in Romansh, the local language) consistently scores well in assessments of small resorts, for instance winning the 2009 ADAC “Klein und Fein” award. The facilities are excellent, the pistes are beautifully groomed and there are plenty of long runs and off-piste areas for all standards of skier and snowboarder. For daytrippers, the best lift is at Waltensburg/Vuorz, about 45 very scenic minutes by train from Chur or about 2 hours by car or train from Zurich. Courtesy ski buses link Brigels and Waltensburg with the chairlifts from the valley stations. Lying halfway between Flims and Andermatt and not covered by the Snow’n’Rail scheme (although the ski pass is relatively inexpensive, especially for families), this is one resort where you will rarely wait to get on a lift or ever worry about crowded pistes.
| Ski Area | Brigels |
| Resorts | Brigels, Waltensburg, Andiast |
| Ski Region | Graubünden |
| Piste (km) | 75 |
| Top run (m) | 2418 |
| Bottom (m) | 1100 |
| Max Drop | 1318 |
| Snow’n’Rail | |
| Black (km) | 5 |
| Red (km) | 55 |
| Blue (km) | 15 |
| Lifts (#/hr) | 6680 |
| My Rating | 4 |
| Alpine | 3 |
| SnowPark | 3 |
| Nordic | 1 |
| Hiking | 2 |
| Family | 4 |
| Apres Ski | 1 |
| Free Ride | Y |
| Snow making | Y |
| Fun park | Y |
| Snow park | |
| Half pipes | |
| Spa | Vals (37km away) |
Scuol, where the official language is Romansh, lies in the valley of the Inn river, majestically set below the peaks of the Silvretta and Lower Engadin Dolomites. It has been a well-heeled spa town since the 19th Century. With it’s range of beautiful, south-facing slopes, suitable for all levels, and ample off-piste it is a resort well worth a visit, although quite a hike from any large metropolitan areas. Fortunately Scuol station is next to the gondola, which takes you to the pistes and off-piste terrain over 2000m, and from where there are runs down to Ftan, Scuol and Sent. Note that the wonderful 14km run down to Sent requires you to take a courtesy bus back to Scuol to get you back up.
| Ski Area | Scuol |
| Resorts | Scuol, Ftan, Sent, Motta NaLuns |
| Ski Region | Graubünden |
| Piste (km) | 80 |
| Top run (m) | 2783 |
| Bottom (m) | 1250 |
| Max Drop | 1533 |
| Snow’n’Rail | Y |
| Black (km) | 13 |
| Red (km) | 37 |
| Blue (km) | 30 |
| Lifts (#/hr) | 17000 |
| My Rating | 4 |
| Alpine | 3 |
| SnowPark | 3 |
| Nordic | 4 |
| Hiking | 5 |
| Family | 3 |
| Apres Ski | 3 |
| Free Ride | Y |
| Snow making | Y |
| Fun park | Y |
| Snow park | |
| Half pipes | |
| Spa | Y |