Once upon a time, waaayyyyy up in the snowy Swiss Alps, an intrepid skier wearing a bright red jacket with a snow “riding” hood, stood peacefully with a group of friends on the side of a steep mountain slope. As he caught his breath after chasing his ski pals through some sick fresh powder, he heard a deep, rolling, rumbling, thundering sound creeping closer and closer.

Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, an orange streak of light shot past him like a bolt of lightning, letting out a blood curdling howl as it hurtled through air like a beast on the hunt!

“What the heck was that?” the startled skier asked his friends, his voice cracking in a high warbled pitch.

“Well you’re dressed like Little Red Riding Hood today, so we’re guessing that was the Big Bad Wolf, and he wanted to get a closer look at you,” his friend said with a chuckle.

This tale is true – with photographic proof as I was able to capture a shot of the “Big Bad Wolf” launching into the air on his orange Black Crows (skis) right next to me – and it’s only fitting that it happened at one of the most gorgeous fairy tale ski towns on the planet – breathtaking Grimentz, located in Switzerland’s striking Val d’Anniviers alpine region.

Grimentz, if you’ve not heard of it before, is a little medieval mountain hamlet nestled high above the clouds in Switzerland’s jaw dropping Valais canton. Grimentz together with Zinal, its neighbour on the other side of the mountain separating them, are two of the most stunning ski resorts you’ll ever lay your eyes and skis on. Nearby you’ll also find the picturesque villages of St. Luc and Chandolin, which are just as amazing, especially if you’re into skiing at resorts with incredible snow and mind blowing panoramic views of the Swiss Alps.

Located in Switzerland’s mostly French speaking Val d’Anniviers region, these spectacular ski resorts sit in the shadows of five 4,000 metre (13,000 foot) peaks, a high alpine winter sport paradise with very reliable snow conditions if that’s something that is on your mind when picking places to ski in the Alps.

I had the good fortune of spending 48 hours exploring this fabulous part of Switzerland in early December when it was decked out for the holiday season. Here’s what my time there looked and felt like…

Itinerary

Home base for my stay in Val d’Anniviers was a very sporty hotel called Alpina Swiss Bike & Ski Lodge that I shared with some of the world’s best female alpine ski racers who were in Grimentz-Zinal for a weekend of Europa Cup events (the ski racing tour one step below the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup tour). This wonderful hotel sits in a prime location right across the main gondola station that accesses both the Grimentz and Zinal ski areas. Alpina has a true “ski lodge” vibe with cozy rooms, and one of the best restaurants in the area, helmed by Chef Massimo Bertela who is a true culinary master and visionary!

Simply put, the food at this amazing hotel restaurant is 5-star, and I was blown away by the gastronomic originality of every single course prepared by Chef Bertela and his incredible team each night I dined there. Guests who stay at the hotel can add dinner “half board” for an extra CHF 38 for adults, and CHF 20 for children, but you must do so when you make your booking, and trust me when I say it’s worth it!

Alpina’s restaurant has a wide assortment of Valaisan regional specialities, but there is a distinct Italian vibe the staff calls “della mamma” (like mom’s cooking) throughout the menu that is fabulous if you love Italian cuisine. On my first night Chef Bertela sent out a magnificent bruschetta as an appetizer topped with a dollop of basil sorbet – pure genius. For my main course I devoured a mouth watering “Cachouko du poisson” (fish and scallops) done in a buttery St. Jacques sauce. For dessert, a delicate and very scrumptious “Tarte aux poires et chocolat” (pear & chocolate tarte) which was unforgettable!

After a very easy ski rental pick-up at Do Sports – a 30 second walk across the street from the Alpina – I met Grimentz ski school director Guillaume Salamin and his colleague Guillaume Rochet (Grimentz-Zinal commercial & marketing manager) for a day out on the slopes with a couple of super ski savvy locals.

Fortune was smiling on us as the skies had opened up the night before and dropped a few inches of fresh powder on an already ample base of beautiful corduroy which made ripping very delightful despite a lack of sunshine on our day out.

Val d’Anniviers is a vast, high altitude (skiing between 1570m-2900m) ski area with 210 kilometers of slopes serviced by 46 very modern lifts –  21 of which are located on Grimentz-Zinal’s 115 kilometers of skiable terrain, that truly has something for everyone, from cruisers, to freeriders, to ski racers. Because of its lofty location at the top end of the Anniviers Valley, and the fact that it sits like a pearl surrounded by five very majestic 4,000 metre peaks known locally as “The Imperial Crown” (Bishorn 4,135m, Weisshorn 4,505m, Zinalrothorn 4,221m, Obergabelhorn 4,063m, and Dent Blanche 4,357m), snow conditions in this part of the Swiss Alps tend to be very reliable.

“We really have something for everyone here,” Guillaume Salamin (the ski school director) told me as we were zipping up a chairlift to one of Grimentz’s highest points.

“We’re high so we get a lot of snow and it sticks around a long time. Our season usually begins at the end of November and lasts well into April, and we have something for every kind of skier here. If you just want to cruise on wide open slopes, we have that. If you want a bit more of an extreme experience, we have tons of terrain for freeriding. If you’re a ski racer, we’re a bit of a mecca for that too as we have a very active ski racing community here, and one of the best skiers in the world, Camille Rast is one of our athlete ambassadors,” Salamin added.

“I actually skied with her in Zinal two days ago when she was here doing some training,” the other Guillaume (Rochet) added with pride. “She’s an amazing ski talent, but an even more amazing human being. We’re so proud to have her representing Grimentz-Zinal on the world stage.”

Editor’s Note: A few months after this ski day, Camille Rast turned the Grimentz-Zinal community upside down when she skied two very speedy slalom runs to capture a gold medal at the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria. One can only imagine the party in Grimentz-Zinal, and the entire Val d’Anniviers region the night she won! The photo below of Rast with her medal was taken the night of her victory at a party in Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

After a morning of slaying pow on the slopes in Grimentz, I hopped on a sparkling, state of the art gondola that whisked us up to the Zinal side of the resort for lunch at Espace Weisshorn – which the good folks at prestigious French restaurant guide Gault&Millau just (February 2025) called “The Best Restaurant on the Slopes” in an article by Siméon Calame.

Located at the arrival point of the Grimentz Cable Car, and the Zinal-Sorebois Gondola at 2700m above sea level (that’s almost 9,000 feet), Espace Weisshorn is under the creative supervision of one of Europe’s most decorated chefs Didier de Courten, with a menu created by young rockstar chef Vincent Lehner (he’s 28) and his incredibly talented culinary team.

The building itself is a vast open space, with an open kitchen, and tables spread so wide apart you feel like you’re dining alone, despite being in a restaurant that can seat up to 180 diners. In fact, Espace Weisshorn is so impressive, I would encourage the producers of the next James Bond 007 film to send a few location scouts to check it out, because the structure itself is a magnificent example of modern, minimalist, eco-conscious, high altitude architecture – and could easily double as a Bond villain lair with a few cosmetic tweaks by the right cinematic art director!

Opened in the autumn of 2023, Espace Weisshorn (named after the colossal  Weisshorn peak you’ll be gazing at through this ravishing restaurant’s 360-degree panoramic window views) is an absolute must-dine if you’re in the area. Oh and I haven’t even mentioned the food, which simply put, was heavenly. If you’re a gourmet pizza lover, Weisshorn will be pizza paradise for you. If you love a nice steak, they have that too. I took a pass on pizza and steak for a change, and opted for food I’d never seen before at a mountain restaurant while wearing ski boots!

But before ordering any food, we decided to partake in a little vino – and with that in mind, let me say this – Swiss wines are incredible, but unfortunately supply rarely meets demand (because the wine here is so good) and very little is ever exported – so whenever I’m in Switzerland I love to indulge. So, before we even crunched on a cracker, we ordered a delicious bottle 2022 Humagne Rouge from the Maison Gilliard winery, a high end Valais region wine producer since 1885. My goodness it was a thing of beauty, so much so that we had to order a second bottle before our lunch was over…okay, now onto the ridiculously delectable food offerings at Espace Weisshorn…

For a starter I chose a “Terrine de Foie Gras Mi-Cuit” (semi-cooked Foie Gras terrine, with a pistachio crust, passion fruit and coffee jelly, and homemade Focaccia toast) by far the best Foie Gras I’ve ever had in my life! For my entree – “Raviolis au Fromage à Raclette AOP” (ravioli filled with raclette cheese, served with herb cream from the mountains) – it was exquisite! For dessert “Pomme Rôtie aux Épices de Noël” (roasted apple with Christmas spices) which was beyond perfection and tasted like Christmas – sweet, fragrant, and tangy all at once. OMG this restaurant blew my mind, I can’t wait to go back some day!

After a bunch of post-lunch dream laps on hero snow on the Zinal side of the resort, where 2025 world slalom champion Camille Rast has been honing her incredible ski racing talent for years, we made our way back down to Grimentz for a little rest and some spa time at the Alpina.

By 5pm, feeling refreshed and rejuvinated, I ventured out for a little “cave exploration” on the advice of a friend from New Hampshire (Campbell Mattiello) who is one of the biggest foodie/wine connoisseurs I know – but the caves in Grimentz are not the kind of caves you might be thinking exist in a mountain setting.

“Cave” in French is another term for wine cellar, and there is a very old “cave” called Le Grenier in Grimentz that should not be missed if you’re a lover of 500-year-old buildings with subterranean wine cellars dripping with incredible ambiance, and incredible vintages!

I love Swiss “Fendant” white wines (produced in the Valais region since 1870 using “Chasselas” grapes) and the two glasses of Fendant Excelcisus I coiffed at Le Grenier were the perfect way to wind down after a great day on the slopes. Unfortunately this wonderful little “cave” is only open at certain times during the summer and during the Christmas period when Grimentz’s old part of town celebrates “Les Féeries de Noël” (which literally translates to Fairy Christmas…quite fitting for a fairy tale Swiss ski town!), so if you’re ever strolling past it and it looks open…dive right in!

After another spectacular dinner at the Alpina, I wandered back into Grimentz’s unbelievably ancient “Old Village” which had been done up for the town’s annual “Les Féeries de Noël” Christmas market, which usually only happens for one weekend every December.

The old wooden buildings and iconic Swiss chalets in this part of town go back hundreds and hundreds of years, and are extremely well preserved and maintained. They are gorgeous to look at all year round, but seeing them lit up by firelight and candlelight, and meticulously decorated with all the colorful trappings of the Christmas season, is undoubtedly a bucket list experience. There is a definite Harry Potter Diagon Alley vibe here, albeit with a Swiss flavour, which I’m sure would be pleasurable to all, whether they’re muggles or wizards!

You can go shopping for all kinds of seasonal food, as well as gifts like chocolate, clothing, jewelry, toys, and even handmade Christmas ornaments at the 30 or so stalls found along the main street. Whenever I think of “Fairy Tale Town” for the rest of my life, I’ll have the sights, sounds, and scents of this truly magical little mountain hamlet in my heart and mind, a definite must-visit when you’re in the Valais region, especially during the holiday season!

For some folks, church is a place to go on Sundays, but for me, church has always been anywhere I’m skiing, anytime I’m skiing, as it’s where my spirit lifts up most. So on a quiet Sunday morning, I hopped into a taxi and took a 25-minute ride down the valley to St. Luc/Chandolin, one of THE MOST beautiful “churches” I’ve ever skied at!

My spiritual ski guides on this divine day would be Nathalie Studer, who works as a press relations manager with the local tourism office, and Camille Kauffman, an ex-ski racer who also works at the same office in a similar capacity – both badass skiers, both extremely knowledgeable about every nook and cranny of the resort, so I knew we’d be clocking a lot of vertical in a short span of time, especially since Saturday’s clouds were gone and the resort was basked in sunshine!

With 60 kilometers of slopes, and 15 lifts, St. Luc/Chandolin also has the fabulous snow its neighbours at Grimentz/Zinal enjoy, and in fact is slightly higher in elevation. Like Grimentz/Zinal, there is something for every level of skier here, and lots of elbow room on the slopes.

After shredding what felt like a million miles of perfectly groomed corduroy, we ventured off piste within the boundaries of the resort where there was still some very pristine snow ready to get tracked up. Oh my goodness, slope conditions were perfect on this day, and we knew the snow gods were happy we were enjoying their bounty!

After a morning of unbelievable soul skiing in what felt like a dreamy panoramic mountain snow globe, we decided to take a break for lunch at 2400 metres above the clouds, at a fantastic little self-service, cafeteria-style restaurant called Le Tsapé at the top of the Tsapé chairlift in Chandolin.

If you’re a lover of Gorgonzola cheese, and fresh, homemade pasta, then Chef Roberto who runs Le Tsapé’s kitchen has got the dish for you (and me because I luuuuuuuuuv pasta with Gorgonzola cheese). Cooked to al dente perfection, with a very generous amount of Gorgonzola on top, this was the ultimate carb injection I needed after a morning of crushing lines, and ripping laps! Do not miss this great restaurant if you’re skiing in St. Luc/Chandolin, you will regret it! Oh, and did I mention they had ice cold beer too?!?!

1:00 p.m. – Go Mountain Peak Hunting on Skis

If you love looking out at endless, boundless, seemingly limitless oceans of snow-capped mountain peaks, St. Luc/Chandolin will definitely be your kind of ski resort.  The panoramic alpine views at this magnificent “station de ski” as our French speaking friends would say, are pulse-stopping – as I quickly discovered when Nathalie asked me if I was up for a little mini-hike to hunt down some of the most famous peaks of the Swiss Alps after lunch.

After accepting her offer, we popped back into our skis, and made our way to the bottom of a snowy ridge that Nathalie swore had THE BEST views at the entire resort. From there we clicked out of our planks, and hiked up to the top of the ridge, where I quickly realized my spiritual ski guide was not hyping the sheer enormity, vastness, and soul affirming grandeur of the alpine panorama on the horizon. Suddenly our eyes were bathed in a brilliance of white, an endless sea of jagged ivory towers made of rock, snow and ice pointing up the heavens. I’ve had what I thought were spiritual experiences before while skiing, but truth be told, I’m not sure I have ever been as moved as I was on this little snowy plateau perched high above Val d’Anniviers.

I finally snapped out of my insanely-gorgeous-panorama-induced-trance-like state when Nathalie asked me if I could spot the famed Matterhorn on the mountain-rich horizon directly ahead of us. After a couple failed identifications on my part – thinking the iconic Matterhorn would be one of the pointier peaks – she pointed to what looked like the flat top of a blacksmith’s anvil.

“Yup, that’s it straight ahead, the least pointy peak,” she said with a smile. “From this angle it’s very flat, but very cool to look at from a perspective not many people are familiar with,” she added with a smile.

I definitely felt Nathalie “got” how moved I was, and probably thought it was a “good day at the office” for her as a tourism press officer who got to play the role of spiritual guide to a journalist who is clearly moved by mountains…and if she didn’t, I hope she does now as she’s reading this story!

MORE INFO ON VAL D’ANNIVIERS:

To find out more about Val d’Anniviers, go to: https://www.valdanniviers.ch/en/

Val d’Anniviers has a wide assortment of hotels for every budget. For my visit I stayed at Alpine Swiss Bike & Ski Lodge. For more info about this hotel go to:

https://alpina-grimentz.com/

Grimentz-Zinal and St. Luc/Chandolin are four-season resorts which are ideal locations for hiking, mountain biking, and other outdoor pursuits when the snow is gone. One attraction not to be missed in Grimentz during the summer months is “Alpine Top” a one-of-a-kind, floor-to-ceiling glass cable-car with 360-degree panoramic views, and two open air balconies that take riders from Grimentz to Espace Weisshorn! For more info go to:

https://alpinetop.ch/en/

GETTING TO VAL D’ANNIVIERS:

Val d’Anniviers is easily accessible via bus, train, car and is only a two-hour drive from Geneva Airport. I purchased Travel Switzerland’s all-in-one Swiss Travel Pass and traveled to Val d’Anniviers via train and bus which was super easy. The Swiss Travel Pass lets you use trains, buses, boats with one ticket for 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 days. This pass will also get you into over 500 museums in Switzerland for free, as well as get you discounts on other travel related excursions in Switzerland. For more information on the Swiss Travel Pass, go to:

https://www.swissrailways.com/en/buy-swiss-travel-pass