Beginner Skiing in Switzerland

Crans’ ‘Snow Island’ beginner’s area is a golf course in the summertime, which gives you an inkling of how gentle the slopes are here. Newbies can use the magic carpet to get to grips on the snow, which is a moment away from a snack bar, deckchairs, snowtubing and sledding when it calls for a break. It doesn’t end here – hop on the gondola from Montana to the ‘Discovery Area’, home to another gentle snow garden with a magic carpet and a rolling blue that’s separate from the rest of the ski area. All in all, 40% of pistes here are blue, with some brilliant trails around La Toula and Petit Bonvin, and a winding descent through the treeline and back to Crans to end the day on.

More and more British Ski Schools are popping up in the Swiss Alps, and Saas-Fee’s no exception: Optimum provide private and group tuition in fluent English, whether you’re starting off on two planks or one. And what a place to learn – this resort has the most snowsure nursery slopes on the continent, and better yet they’re separate from the rest of the area to let you practice at your own pace. When you’ve found your ski legs, lap up the blues from Felskinn for some of the most scenic first week descents we’ve ever skied.

Over 30% of Grindelwald’s pistes are classified easy, and if you’re going to learn to ski, you might as well make it one of the most scenic resorts on the planet – the views of the Eiger and other peaks set a high standard for ski holidays to come. There are a number of learner zones – including a gloriously high one at Kleine Scheidegg further out – but closest to home, Bodmia’s your base for conquering the snow plough. Served by an easy-to-use drag lift, it has fun features for sprogs and an unintimidating slope to learn on, all floodlit on certain evenings if you want to squeeze in some extra practice. We love that you’re not thrown straight into the deep end here – the geniuses behind the blue from Oberjoch have made it a ‘slow slope’ where you can do the rounds before linking up to another blue down to Schrekfeld.

It’ll be hard not to get hooked when you’re learning under the eye of the mighty Matterhorn. The beginner park at Sunnegga is state-of-the-art, with rope tows, magic carpets and fun features for children. You’ll find more novice-only lifts further out in Täsch and Randa, serving lovely nursery slopes. There are also five ‘Slow Slopes’ dotted across the valley, including one in Gornergrat, three in Rothorn and another in Schwarzsee. And that’s just the start of the many more blues here, the best of which can be found around Gornergrat. With such fabulous provisions, it’s no surprise so many ski schools have made these mountains their home, including the marvellous British school Summit and European Snowsport, who have a fine range of age-specific group lessons.

A resort fit for royals, the jewel in Klosters’ crown is Madrisa-Land above the village, where young beginners will love combining their first turns on skis with added fun features like a bouncy castle and tubing slope. For the rest of us, three short nursery slopes are served by an easy to use drag lift, with the longer ‘Barnet’ blue nearby to progress onto. There’s more over in the Parsen area, where favourites include the lovely long route from the Parsenhütte, which has chairlift links to three runs from Gotscnagrat.

Just under a third of the pistes here are blue, several of them connected by easily mastered T-Bars. Tschuggen - little hill - is as its name suggests, a gentle incline painted with sprawling blue trails. They’re all terrific for developing the basic skills, but #15 is a SNO favourite for cruisy curves, winding its way back to the village for a relaxed end of day ski. The hub of all activity for youngsters is the Kid’s Land in Inner Arosa, with games and magic carpets easing them into skiing in the most fun way possible. Confident first-weekers should set course for Hörnli, where a seriously long, broad, high altitude blue leads all the way back to Inner Arosa, and blue #11 is another lengthy descent from the Brüggerhorn all the way back to base. The gentle corners and steady steepness here keeps even those with two left feet firmly upright, and we can’t get enough of those views over glorious Graubünden.

Once you’ve graduated from the Bolgen nursery slope at the foot of the Jakobshorn, Davos makes easing onto the bigger slopes a wonderfully unhurried experience. Introducing ‘Slow Mountain’, the very first ‘slow and easy’ area in Europe: the Schatzalp is tucked away from the rest of the ski area on the north side of the valley, where you’ll find a set of steady blues. They’re just above treeline for an extra dose of sun and snow and link back to Davos Platz through the trees on the easy-going blue 7. For pint-sized ploughers, Rinerhorn Children’s land has a number of simple pistes to potter about on, as well as a mini course through a ‘witch’s forest’ that’ll drive imaginations wild.

Villars has upped the ante with its beginner programme, with easy-going groomers making the jump from bunny slope to blue even more of a breeze. For starters, there’s a short nursery run in the village – do the rounds with the drag lift there, before taking the mountain railway to the Bretaye area, where a bowl of cruisey blues served by more drag lifts await. The local ski schools (like British New Generation) use this as a meeting point – and when you’ve conquered the Bretaye blues, they’ll lead you onto slopes further afield (we love the one from Croix des Chaux above Gryon). At the end of lessons, the journey back from Bretaye is the broad, looping blue that winds its way over to Col de Soud, all the way to Villars – and nothing beats a confidence-boosting home run.

Learners are in for a treat here - the beginner zone at the Tracouet Lake is high, roomy and beautiful and they’ve put major investments into its magic carpets and child-sized lifts. When thighs need a break, little ones will have a hoot on the tubing slope here, while grown-ups opt for a vin chaud at the neighbouring Lake Bar. Over at Siviez, you’ll find more gentle terrain and a mini slalom, served by another novice lift. When the time comes, both beginner parks have nearby blues to roam and you can head further out to the pistes of Veysonnaz and Thyon, which are covered by the same Printse ski pass.

This gorgeous ski area’s made up of 3 mountains, with 40% of their slopes classified ‘easy’. In previous seasons, lift passes have been free for under nines (music to the ears if you’re bringing young learners), but those over the age limit can still save some pennies - Isenau has a charming cluster of sunny beginner runs, and there’s often cheaper ski pass available that covers just these if you’re spending your first days getting familiar with the area. Up here, above the tree line, the runs have a record of being sunlit and snowy - a combo which helps make the learning experience as smooth as possible. Bar Floriettaz and Restaurant Isenau are at hand when legs need a rest, and short gondola ride or a curvy blue (check if they still do torchlit descents there for a fabulous first week experience) take you back to the village. Elsewhere, the lengthy blues from Meilleret give you a taste of the treeline, with twists, turns and gradual drops or the glacier pass will take you up in the world to Scex Rouge, for short, high altitude slopes and gob-smacking views.