snowingplaces

Zermatt vs Verbier: which has better snow?

Verbier gets snow more often than Zermatt: about 50 snowy days across the four core winter months against 44, at mid-mountain, averaged over 2016 to 2025. Zermatt goes higher, with a top lift at 3,883 m (12,700 ft).

Zermatt and Verbier side by side

Snow record figures are for mid-mountain, 2016 to 2025, from ERA5 reanalysis.

Zermatt compared with Verbier
ZermattVerbier
Top lift3,883 m (12,700 ft)3,330 m (10,900 ft)
Village1,620 m (5,300 ft)1,500 m (4,900 ft)
Snowy days a year93101
Snowiest monthNovemberJanuary
Snowy days in the four winter months4450
January temperatures−15 to −8 °C (5 to 18 °F)−11 to −4 °C (12 to 25 °F)
Snow on the ground on Christmas Day10 of 10 years10 of 10 years
Snowiest recent winter2023/24, 41% above average2023/24, 36% above average
Forecast, next 7 daysNo snow this weekNo snow this week

What the numbers can and cannot tell you

Both resorts are measured the same way, which is what makes this a fair comparison: the same climate record, the same ten years, each at the height halfway between its village and top lift. It compares how often it snows and how cold it is, not total snowfall in centimetres, which the record underestimates in the mountains. It is also not a comparison of the skiing. Terrain, lift systems, crowds, price and how well a resort holds its snow on the slopes that matter are not in this data.

For the full picture of each, see the Zermatt snow forecast and the Verbier snow forecast, which include month-by-month records and every winter since 2016.

More comparisons