Resort information for Saas-Fee

Saas-Fee is a high altitude mountain village centred on narrow streets lined by attractive old chalets and free of cars – a sort of miniature Zermatt without the conspicuous consumption. Depending on where you’re staying and which way you want to go up the mountain, you may do a lot of marching through the village - it’s a long walk from one end to the other. The biggest lift starts from a more central location and your hotel may run a courtesy taxi, as there are now little public buses.

The mountain area is a strange mixture of powerful modern lifts and a lot of old-fashioned T-bars (there are only two chair-lifts). Blame the glaciers, which move too quickly for chair-lifts, one of which runs through the slopes. The upper slopes are largely gentle, while the lower mountain, below the glacier, is steeper and rockier, needing good snow-cover. There is very little shelter here in bad weather: during and after heavy snowfalls you may find yourself limited to the nursery area. Most of Saas-Fee’s slopes face north and many are above 2500m/8,200ft, making this one of the most reliable resorts for snow in the Alps. The glacier is open most of the year. There has been a gradual improvement in getting on top of its queuing problems, but crowded pistes can be a problem below Morenia at the end of the day, and when bad weather closes lifts and runs higher up.

There is a fair choice of mountain restaurants here, and the ones at the main lift stations are functional with the best places slightly off the beaten track. There are some very smart hotels (plus many more modest ones) and plenty of restaurants and drinking places in Saas-Fee itself, providing a good variety for eating out. The après-ski too is varied and excellent, with the little snow-bars near the lifts all pretty lively, especially if the sun’s shining, and other bars and discos livening up late.