I must confess that I did not go to Zermatt entirely of my own volition. I had been once ten years ago and not been particularly impressed.

1. Heli Skiing And Hot Chocolate- Skiing The New Way
I must confess that I did not go to Zermatt entirely of my own volition. I had been
once ten years ago and not been particularly impressed. As a resort it seemed to
thrive off the amazing view of the Matterhorn and well... not much else. The hotel we
stayed in didn't seem to quite understand the idea of service and I remember lying in
bed and freezing my socks off before going out onto the slopes and queuing for
extremely long periods of time and freezing my socks off some more. The joy of
looking at the Matterhorn wares slightly thin when you are close to hypothermia and I
decided it was an experience I wasn't keen to repeat.
My husband has a friend at work who is one of those people who can't just lie on the
beach in Portugal once a year and be done with it. He is the keeping up with the
Jones' of holidays. If he's not kite surfing on the Mexican coast then he's
photographing almost extinct species from his tree top boutique-hotel in Africa. His
latest adventure had been heli skiing in the Alps and my husband was gripped by the
idea. Heli skiing is basically being flown by helicopter to the top of an otherwise
inaccessible mountain and then skiing down it. It is skiing heaven and as an avid
skier he was desperate to try it.
I like skiing but since the frosty reception at Zermatt I had always played it safe and
opted for the overly cheery 'have a nice day' staff at Whistler. But, according to all

2. reports Zermatt had changed. Apparently they have realised that although the
Matterhorn is a definite draw it does not guarantee tourists and therefore after five
decades they have upped their game. And upped their game they certainly have,
with a new ski lift system, and ski area to rival the top five resorts in the world. It has
worked hard to capitalise on it's good points, such as it's quaint traditional
architecture and pedestrian only town, as well as provide all the ingredients of a
great ski location including guaranteed snow, great nightlife and fantastic
accommodation.
The Zermatt chalets of today may be traditional on the outside but are anything but
on the inside, with uber glamorous features such as cinema rooms, hot tubs, and
services such as private chefs and chalet hosts often being offered as standard. Far
from being chilly I felt as though I was living in the lap of luxury. Heli skiing was
pioneered in Europe at Zermatt and the skiing we did was as breath taking as it was
exhilarating. I would do it again in an instant. Specialist companies such as Ski in
Luxury and Oxford Ski can help you find the best operators. The teams at Scott
Dunn and VIP ski are also experts in Heli skiing breaks.
There is no escaping the imposing Matterhorn wherever you are in Zermatt, and with
everything else so perfect, admiring it from the hot tub on our balcony made our
holiday complete.
I don't know if I fancy kite surfing on the Mexican coast any time soon, but i'll
definitely be open to suggestions!