The story so far: Steve Westlake and Patrik Lundin’s mission of visiting six ace resorts from St Moritz to Zermatt (travelling by Swiss Rail) has had its ups and downs so far.

- St Moritz: Fantastic skiing, amazing views, posh as anything
- Davos: Zero vis, broken rib, great hospital
- Disentis: Friendly and fun freeride heaven, we have to steal our own kit back
- Andermatt… the next instalment
- Bettmeralp
- Zermatt
 

Day 7& 8: Andermatt

Our extended après-ski and wire-cutting antics at the Swedish bar (Nangijala) last night means the first hangover of the trip coincides with a 6.30am start. My ski bag and case are frantically stuffed with gear and seem far more reluctant than usual to close. Patrik on the other hand is smug that after a week of resort hopping he’s “sussed this packing lark” and ambles down to a relaxed breakfast. Git.
 
(Little cook-your-own-boiled-egg machines are the order of the day in Swiss hotels it seems. Take note Mr Holiday Inn.)

It’s a crisp morning and we’re actually looking forward to the Andermatt journey, hangovers and all. This is the highest bit of the trip where the amazing Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn climbs its way over the Oberalppass at 2033m and then plunges on a snaking path into Andermatt. With drooping eyelids and the gentle, soothing rocking of the train, we fear we’re in danger of sleeping through it - but the majestic views and impressiveness of the engineering are compelling. Can you imagine an utterly reliable rail service in Britain which goes way higher than the highest peak (Ben Nevis 1344m)?

Stupid faces aren’t compulsory, but staring out of the window is because the view is stunning. We’re on a train in the middle of the mountains completely surrounded by white. Every so often the train slows to a halt at remote stations that are little more than wooden huts, and a handful of skiers climb on or off the train. It's a little surreal, and a fantastic way to arrive in a ski resort.
 

After 90 minutes on the train, we’re at our snowy home for the next two days: Andermatt, and the station seems dedicated to skiers. We drag our bags and cases for 15 minutes through the very pretty town and idly notice that the minibus passing us is the one we ignored at the station. It’s a free service that drops guests to hotels. Oh well, it’s good to see the town by foot.
 
Our hotel - Hotel Aurora - is right next to the Gemsstock lift, and also semi-detached to a filling station. In fact, thanks to it sharing the same name, at first we think the filling station is our hotel. As it turns out Aurora is a charming and friendly little gaff. And it’s about 30 paces from one hell of an impressive ski lift.

Gemsstock. Those familiar with it will nod knowingly. The telecabin is full of hardcore skiers. Touring bindings, shovels, transceivers and helmets seem to be the essential uniform. We exit the top station at a shade under 3000m and the views are breathtaking. Patrik is mesmerised by the tracks dropping immediately in front of us into a fearsomely steep and enticing white wonderland. He’s still taking pics and exclaiming 5 minutes later. If only there was fresh snow, if only we had a guide, if only I hadn’t broken a rib three days ago…

We take the red run down and it’s a delight: steep and challenging, with views to die for (a definite possibility if you went off the edge of the piste). Next time up we head to the black, with Patrik eyeing the vast off-piste offerings. Thanks to the single-minded nature of this lift’s clientele, plus the fact that the last proper snow was two weeks ago, the snow is pretty run up. After a few clumsy attempts at forcing my skis through the crud, I head back to relative safety of the icy piste.
 
Patrik’s darting off in every direction, hitting kickers, seeking the odd pocket of remaining powder, and returns raving about how amazing it would be with fresh snow.
 
And that pretty much sums up the Gemsstock lift. You need fresh snow and you need a guide. Get those two in place and there would be no better place to be.

Up bright and early for day two in Andermatt, we meet our guide Lara at the station and head to Sedrun, Andermatt’s sister resort. To get there we take the train for 20 minutes back up to Oberalppass (the journey’s covered by the lift pass. Sedrun is a friendly family resort, with gently-sloping well-prepared pistes and enough off-piste to keep the freeriders happy.
 

A T-bar to ourselves on the way to Sedrun…
 

Surprisingly, the broken rib is more of a psychological rather than physical limitation - right now this is about as far off piste as I’m prepared to go at the moment.
 

Fresh tracks? Not really, this railway has been around for more than 70 years.
 

Caution, the station platform can be slippery.
 

In the afternoon we hop back on the train to check out Natschen, which provides the more accessible slopes for Andermatt’s skiers, in contrast to the hardcore Gemsstock mountain. It’s not a huge area and again, the impression is that it would be superb for freeriding after a dump, with a whole mountainside of powder fields.
 
There’s also an amusing tunnel entrance on the way back down to Andermatt…
 
This place is quiet, pretty and challenging. Without fresh snow though, we’re ready to hop back on the train for our next destination… Bettmeralp, and the longest glacier in Europe.
 

All pics by Patrik Lundin. www.patricklundin.com
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Read some of Steve's earlier blogs from Switzerland