Zermatt Ski Resort

Zermatt is undisputed as one of the world’s top 10 ski resorts – both in altitude and in importance – attracting more than two million visitors each year to its car-free village beneath the iconic Matterhorn.

The resort is Europe's highest ski destination, with two top T-bars that are among the 10 highest lifts in the world. They're so high that Zermatt only opens them through the summer, as it continues to offer skiing 365 days a year, on its eternal glacier snows.

This great height means Zermatt ski resort is one of only nine ski areas in the world to offer top to bottom skiing in excess of 2,200 vertical metres (7,120ft). Amongst a long list of other remarkable facts is the resort's participation in the International Pass with Cervinia and Valtournenche, lift-linked resorts over in Italy's Aosta Valley. While there are a few other cross-border ski areas, Zermatt and Cervinia are linked by a six-seater chairlift, which actually crosses the border – a unique way to enter another country.

Besides its remarkable ski area, Zermatt's success can be put down to the ambience of its car-free village. Zermatt has grown dramatically since its early years as one of the pioneers of winter sports in the 1920s, but without the construction of ugly buildings – the blight of some other famous Swiss resorts. But most famously, the spectacular domination of the mighty Matterhorn mountain on the skyline is totally synonymous with the resort.