Like its neighbour Grimentz, Zinal ski resort is renowned for its epic freeride terrain. The traditional Swiss Village offers incredible charm and extensive off-piste terrain that will keep the most avid snowboarders in search of fresh lines.

ZINAL FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Accessing Zinal for the first time from Grimentz I took the Grimentz-Espace Weisshorn cable car. Not only does this cable car offer great views back over Grimentz village, it also gives you an incredible view down the Chamois off-piste run. The cable car ride was an eye-opener to everything that was possible in Zinal.

ZINAL SKI AREA

The combined Grimentz-ZInal ski area in the Val d’Anniviers region of Switzerland offers 115km of slopes, some insanely good freeride terrain and two authentic mountain villages. Popular with advanced skiers and snowboarders for high altitude skiing and an exceptional reputation for powder skiing. Getting between the two ski areas is easy via modern lifts.

In line with the freeride aspect of the resorts, you will find an avalanche training area to practice your beacon work that I hope you will never have to use for real.

BEGINNERS TERRAIN AT ZINAL

Zinal is less beginner-friendly than Grimentz although there are a couple of places for beginners to learn their turns. A magic carpet is situated near the base of the gondola next to the Swiss Peaks Resorts hotel. This area is small but well designed for your first ski or snowboard lesson. In the resort itself, there is no green graded terrain and all blues lead into reds. This can make Zinal a daunting place for beginners to learn.

INTERMEDIATE TERRAIN AT ZINAL

Intermediates will find plenty of fun blue and red graded pistes to enjoy in Zinal. L’arēte leads down from the Corne De Sorebois which has some great views across the valley. Intermediates looking to enjoy the off-piste should head to the Durand surface lift where options are aplenty either side of Crête and Durand pistes.

ADVANCED TERRAIN AT ZINAL

Zinal has a couple of nice steep black runs with the best pitch perhaps being Col. The Chamois run and the Dam run can be considered exhilarating with the freeride area offering some great off-piste options.

FREESTYLE TERRAIN AT ZINAL

Freestyle isn’t really a reason to head to Zinal. There is a small park with some ride on boxes and features.

LIFTS AT ZINAL

In the Grimentz-Zinal combined area you will find a total of 21 lifts. Zinal has a mix of modern lifts combined with older surface lifts. The village of Zinal is linked to the resort by a modern 8 seater gondola whereas the ski area is linked to Zinal via cable car. Within Zinal the Durand surface lift is long but offers some of the best runs in the resort. Corne 4-seater takes you to the top of the resort at 2896m.

ZINAL PROS

• The terrain at Zinal offers plenty of easy access off-piste.

• The village of Zinal has everything you would expect from a ski town.

• There were no lift queues in Zinal despite visiting during the holiday period.

• Zinal is part of the Magic Pass giving you access to other great Swiss ski resorts.

ZINAL CONS

• Beginners don’t really have good options for learning to ski in Zinal.

• Getting from Zinal to Grimentz feels more work than getting from Grimentz to Zinal. I would choose Grimentz as my base to explore both resorts.

TRAVEL TO ZINAL SKI RESORT

ZINAL BY CAR

Travelling to Grimentz-Zinal by car is fairly easy. It is likely that you will have arrived at one of the main airports. Geneva would be the closest option at just over 2 hrs drive to the village. The mountain road is well-maintained but you will have to look out for local drivers. I wouldn’t define myself as a slow driver and yet there was some mad overtaking happening around blind corners. If you plan to visit Grimentz-Zinal by car be sure to carry chains with you as this is a requirement for some roads.

ZINAL BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT

There are not many things in life more efficient than the Swiss transport system so why not try and reach Grimentz-Zinal by public transport. From Geneva to Sierre is the easy part, jump on the train and let it do the work for you. From Sierre, you will have to first take a bus to Vissoie before changing onto a bus to ZInal.

Honestly, although I am a big fan of Swiss public transport for me Grimentz-Zinal is a drive to resort.

ZINAL SNOW RECORD

The Grimentz-Zinal ski area is known for its freeride terrain and quality of snow. Surprisingly OnTheSnow list the average snowfall for Grimentz as 233cm per winter. 2m of snowfall in the area doesn’t seem like a realistic statistic so I would take that with a pinch of salt.

ZINAL LIFT PASS PRICES

In Zinal you have two main options in terms of lift passes. The first and my preferred option was to use The Magic Pass. The Magic Pass is a pretty sweet lift pass that combines 52 Swiss ski resorts on one lift pass. Buy it early enough and your Magic Pass could be available for as little as 399CHF.

Option number two is to purchase a local area pass for the Val d’Anniviers. The local area pass includes Grimentz-Zinal, as well as nearby St Luc and Vercorin. These local passes are available as 1 day, 2 days or multi-day options. A 6 day Val d’Anniviers pass will cost you 295CHF.

ZINAL SKI RESORT VIDEOS

ZINAL GALLERY

ACCOMMODATION AT GRIMENTZ-ZINAL

During my stay in Grimentz, I stayed in this pet-friendly rental apartment. It was a perfect location with a short walk to the Bendola gondola and the Zinal cable car. Located within walking distance of the supermarket, ski rentals and a great bakery it’s an ideal spot. Negatives… be careful not to get stung on paying for sheets etc which was added on at an additional cost. The village of Grimentz has lots of varied accommodation to choose from. Although I rented my apartment through Airbnb there are lots of locally run hotels that offer luxury stays or more budget-friendly options.

ZInal village has a Swiss Peaks Resorts hotel. Although I did not stay in Swiss Peaks in Zinal I did stay in their Vercorin location and was very impressed.

ZINAL SEASON DATES

The ski season in Grimentz-Zinal can begin as early as November with the season running through into mid-April. In the 2021-22 season, it is expected for the season to run until April 24th. In general, Grimentz-Zinal elevation at 1500m with skiing possible at near 3000m is a good guarantee of a suitable snow cover.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON ZINAL

I would love to revisit the Grimentz-Zinal ski area as I feel there is still lots of terrain left to ride. The terrain is more suited to advanced skiers and snowboarders with little in the way of beginner terrain. If I was to revisit the area I would probably opt to stay in Grimentz over Zinal. I feel a base in Grimentz gives you the best access to both resorts.