The Zermatt Bergbahnen is rethinking its summer ski strategy
As part of the strategic orientation with 365 days of ski operation, the Zermatt Bergbahnen would like to focus on their national and international guests in the summer ski area in the future.
With an improved offer, the high demand should be given the necessary focus. The Zermatt Bergbahnen is also concentrating on making a number of glacier training slopes available exclusively to young skiers from ski clubs, regional associations and national performance centres from summer 2024.
Training operations for elite athletes of all snow sports will be suspended and reassessed for the summer of 2025, analogous to the decisions of the FIS and the two national associations Swiss-Ski and FISI regarding the World Cup races in Zermatt/Cervinia.
Summer skiing is still popular. Last but not least, climate change and general warming mean that guests are looking to cool down in summer. This is shown, as an example, by the pleasing number of ski guests from northern Italy who have taken advantage of the summer skiing offer in recent years. This positive development is confirmed by an increasing number of skiers from international markets. The new beginners’ park “SnowXperience Plateau Rosa”, which operates on Testa Grigia, offers guests not only various activities on snow and ice, but also their first experiences as skiers or snowboarders in the summer ski area.
Promoting young skiers is a central point in the Zermatt Bergbahnen strategy. Ski clubs, junior teams from regional associations and the national performance centres (NLZ West, Central and East) offer important foundations for young people and their sporting activities. The large number of children and young people who dedicate themselves to skiing with great commitment result in many good skiers who are denied a career as skiing professionals. It is precisely these ski enthusiasts who form an extremely important basis for winter sports destinations for the future recruitment of ski instructors, mountain guides and winter sports promoters. It is therefore extremely important for the Zermatt Bergbahnen to support young people in their winter sports activities and thus make a contribution to the further development of skiing. This also means that children up to the age of 9 are generally transported in Zermatt free of charge.
For years, the Zermatt Bergbahnen have been investing a lot of money and human resources to offer ski athletes from Switzerland and abroad a perfect infrastructure for their training and preparation for the World Cup or European Cup season over the summer months. By hosting the World Cup downhill races in Zermatt/Cervinia, the Zermatt Bergbahnen, in collaboration with the partners from Cervinia, offered the ski elite innovative and unique downhill races as well as training opportunities in the run-up to these races. This offer was assessed differently by associations and athletes. Therefore, the four World Cup downhill runs were removed from the 2024/25 Alpine Ski World Cup calendar – despite the five-year contract with the FIS. The annual investments to prepare the slopes for top athletes will now be invested in young skiers who value the training conditions in Zermatt. This is accompanied by a waiver of federal contributions as part of the national sports facility concept. Elite athletes can use the Zermatt summer ski slopes (21 km) just as guests can for free skiing.
The decision will take effect as early as summer 2024.
Franz Julen, VRP and Markus Hasler, CEO of Zermatt Bergbahnen, said: “Elite ski teams will no longer find any training slopes in Zermatt from this summer. The situation will be reassessed in a year. As a result of the strategic decision, young athlete teams from ski clubs, regional associations and NLZ will immediately be provided with a generous, adapted infrastructure with training times throughout the summer months. In this way, the Zermatt Bergbahnen continues to do its part in promoting young winter sports enthusiasts. These decisions can also expand the offering for guests and offer more varied summer ski days in Zermatt. Free skiing on natural snow in summer is becoming more attractive.”
