If I was Brad Pitt then I too would choose the Swiss ski resort of Zermatt as the best place to hit the slopes and escape the paparazzi. I came to this realisation as I sipped a delicious glass of champagne in a bubbling hot tub in the shadow of the Matterhorn after a hard day’s skiing at the weekend, mere days after Brad had flown town (damn). This resort really is the last word in chi-chi, an alpine mountain paradise where super glamorous ladies and gents take horsedrawn carriages around the car-free village centre sporting the Euro-trash winter uniform of big hair, big sunglasses, big fur coats and small dogs.
Our party of five arrived in a snowstorm at the privately owned Chalet Zen just in time for tea on Friday, complete with superlative Swiss roll. Pedro the chef is a genius: do not come here if you are on a diet. This was followed by a deep tissue massage from a therapist with the Zermatt Massage Centre in the chalet’s own treatment room. Nothing is too much trouble here. You will become so attached to Steffi, the chalet manager and personal concierge who anticipates your needs before you even know about them yourself, that you’ll wonder how you can possibly go forth from here without her and her mastermind ways.
Saturday morning is sunny, and last night’s snow means the conditions are powdery perfect — although thanks to the glacier skiing in Zermatt is possible 365 days a year. An extensive lift system means the skiing area is vast — Cervinia and Valtournenche are just over the Italian boarder should you fancy a pizza for lunch, and the scope for all levels of skier and boarder is huge. New for the 09/10 season is the extension of the Matterhorn Express bubble from the Schwarzsee Paradise, right on the doorstep of Chalet Zen, through Furgg and onto Trockener Steg.
We spend a fabulous day being guided by the charming Christian Meier who runs the seriously cool ‘Stoked’ ski and board school. I’ve skied all over the world and Stoked definitely has the edge on other ski companies — Christian pulls fine wines and collapsible glasses from his souped-up rucksack complete with iPod speakers and we enjoy a glass or two in the sunshine as we get our breath back.
Zermatt is also home to a number of world-class mountain restaurants. Chez Vrony is Robbie Williams’s favourite, but we headed to the Zum See, famous for its mille feuille and seafood — it comes in by chopper every day! There’s nothing like a long lunch on the side of a mountain you’ve just skied down, and we don’t hold back: sea bass, giant prawns, tuna carpaccio, foie gras, various pastas, that mille feuille — all served by waiters with straight As from charm school.
We ski off lunch and hear the Hennu Stall bar before we reach it. What a great place for aprés! A few gluhweins and cheesy pop remixes warm the heart and the hands before we ski right back down to where we started, the doorstep of Chalet Zen and another evening of Champagne, fine wines and a five-course dinner. I can’t find a bad word to say about Zermatt itself, the skiing or the incomparable Chalet Zen — go go GO!
Chalet Zen, Zermatt, +41 (0)27 967 17 27; (chalet-zen.com)
