Our latest visit to Glacier 3000 at the end of the first week of February 2025 exposed us to the full force of the ski area's greatest weakness - the wind. Thankfully, unlike last time when we skied only off-piste, we got to sample the majority of the piste trails before a ferocious zephyr shut down the chairlifts.

Glacier 3000 is certainly not a conventional ski resort. All aspects feel extreme, and a late morning wind closure on this visit only re-inforced the notion. The novice/beginner terrain on the glacial plateau is above 3,000m and whilst perfectly groomed with dry packed powder, is at the mercy of any changes in the weather. And getting to and from it is not the most forward exercise.

Other pistes are limited to extremely long, 1,000m vertical plus descents. As per the new trail map, the main intermediate 'Red Run' ends with a bootpack up the 50m vertical back to the Cabane cable station. In reality though intermediates can easily continue all the way down to the Oldenegg chairlift and return that way. The re-designation of the piste before the entrance to the Tunnel is baffling. And on that subject, despite appearing to be in very good condition, the Tunnel piste was closed for the entire day. It is extremely steep at the top, and we reckon it would be like a honeypot to all skiers on the mountain, regardless of ability level. It does make sense to only open it if it is in excellent shape, but it looked fine, so we wonder why it was closed. Having skied the 'Tunnel' zone in powder prior to the opening of the official opening of the Tunnel, we can attest to this being a fantastic way to return to Col du Pillon. Sadly on this day, returns were by cable car only. Any thoughts of entering the zone via the freeride terrain from Scex Rouge were quashed due a lack of snow below the cliffs on the traverse around the fringes of Cabane. Such a contrast to our last visit when it was deep powder all way around. The wind had clearly played havoc here in the previous weeks.

From the novice terrain one needs to point the skis to get to a short rope tow that eases the climb up 20m of vertical to the top of the incredible advanced pistes down to Oldenalp. Worth knowing is that despite being '8km long', part of it is interrupted by this rope tow! With the off-piste quite wind-impacted & cruddy, the piste was the only option and despite being a tad plocky (bits of flint rock groomed into it!) up high, got better and better as one descended. When the piste splits, the best fall-line is the skier's right option. It plunges beautifully down toward the chairlift. Keep your speed up down low to make it across the flat to the chair.

It was on the chair from Oldenalp to Oldenegg that, despite a benign forecast, the wind started with a vengeance. Loading onto the chair at Oldenegg it was downright dangerous, and we were not surprised to see the ‘Piste Closed’ banner at the top when unloading at Cabane. Bummer. Day ended at 1130am ish, so was glad we had a Magic Pass. Always feels like we are skiing for free with a Magic Pass. You should get one too!

Was great to check out the refurbished top cable car station on Scex Rouge. The upper levels were a charred ruin during our last visit due to a pre-winter fire in one of the kitchens. Was a miracle the lift was even running that season. The new viewing platforms and multiple eateries are superb, and, like the incredible upper mountain suspension bridge are probably worthy of a visit even if not skiing.

A few other things to note. Even if the cable car is fully loaded from Col du Pillon, skiing here feels utterly deserted & incredibly quiet (assuming the wind isn’t roaring!). Also, the cable car from Reusch to Oldenegg rarely runs on winter. The ski route down to Reusch requires a skin/bootpack up to the road & then (as the cabe car rarely runs), a PostBus back up to Col du Pillon. Of course you could preposition a car at Reusch if you have one.

Glacier 3000 is a high adventure mountain. On still sunny days up high it can be a novice’s dream come true, with wide open deserted pistes to learn to carve on high-quality snow. Any other days they should stay away and ski Gstaad or Les Diablerets. Similarly for intermediates, when the weather is questionable, this is not a mountain for you. For advanced riders, head up and give it a crack regardless, it’s awesome. And when it has powder, it is awesomer. (New word and I'm claiming it!)

With a bit of time to kill that afternoon, we drove across to Leysin for a sneak peak preview. Despite being within line of sight from Glacier 3000, there was not a breath of wind on its summit. Cursed local winds…….
See our video here

We made our own luck at Glacier 3000, specifically coming here when the forecast loaded up with snow. The mountain closed for a few days, then re-opened to cold, bluebird excellence. Our visit didn’t happen by accident, and in skiing, flexibility & timing is everything. And because of it, Glacier 3000 will always be remembered for one helluva of a big mountain powder experience.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, but for some reason I didn’t expect the Glacier 3000 to be as accessible to off-piste powder hunting as it is. But there you go, I was wrong. Even if all of the piste terrain is closed (which during our visit it pretty much was due to a huge volume of wind-driven snow being deposited the previous 3 days!) there is a whole range of off-piste freeride, 1400m+ vertical descents that can be accessed via the cable cars from the Col du Pillon & Cabane. What a fantastic place for a crusty old powderhound to ski.

Whilst to the uninitiated, the freeride descents can appear daunting, with the usual discreet reconnaissance from above on the cable cars, and then on the snow itself, most of it is quite approachable. However, one rule is definitely worth noting. Never blindly follow ski tracks here (the same applies in all places but particularly in locations such as this!). There is a healthy cohort of parasail skiers at Glacier 3000 that love nothing more than to lay down an awesome powder run then disappear over a cliff to sail off down the valley, leaving any track followers in their wake wondering how to get down…

The beauty of the mountain is that the portion of the terrain accessible during our visit was visible from the cable cars, allowing an effective scoping exercise before tackling it. If the new ski tunnel under Cabane isn’t open, the easiest (but not easy!) descent is via a long traverse on the intermediate run number 112 (no sign of a piste during our visit!), then dropping into one of the bowls or short couloirs to skier’s left at the start of the main piste descent. Down below the cliff that surrounds much of the Cabane area. A traverse to skier’s right below the cliff line gets one to just below the tunnel exit where choices are plentiful. The new ‘Black Wall’ run was only groomed in the lower section. A ski patroller informed me that they were trying to groom it fully for the first that season and were still working out the kinks in the process. Due to the winch-grooming being attempted lower down the slope, we went far skier’s right between gorgeous rock spires & down a series of fine powder filled gullies, before traversing back left through forest and ending up on the road a few hundred metres from Col du Pillon. A short walk up the road and the process started again, but this time from the very top of the Scex Rouge, by jumping over the barrier below the entry to the amazing Peak Walk …… And so it goes. Jelly legs will (and did) eventually ensue. Pawsome!

Worth remembering that the cable car from Col du Pillon, and hence from Cabane to the summit at Scex Rouge, are the two main lifts of interest to any freeriders. These lifts in combination with the local buses (free for skiers!) are all one needs to access every bit of the terrain at Glacier 3000. So if the mountain shows lift closures but these are running, its game on (assuming you know the lay of the land)!

Travelling by train from Champery (Portes du Soleil) via Aigle is a quintessential Swiss Alps ski travel experience which we highly recommend. Stayed in the gorgeous village of Les Diablerets, set superbly with backdrop of 3,000m+ peaks. Skied endless powder in the lower resort of Diablerets to Villars Gryon whilst Glacier 3000 was closed during, and a day after, the storm. Accommodation midweek in January was easy to get at short notice. Hotel les Sources provided simple, affordable rooms with great food a short stroll from the village centre, and a skate across a snowy field to reach the Les Diablerets gondola lift base. There are a few other well-priced alternatives to this hotel. The village has several nice bars & restaurants, plus all the services one could require. Whilst relatively low elevation at around 1,200m, it was lusciously draped in snow during our visit. An Instagrammers wet dream.

Used the free local PostBus from Les Diablerets village up to Col du Pillon in the morning for the first cable car. Shared it with probably 20 other freeriders – all of whom knew where they were going. Suffice to say that with cable car journeys limiting numbers on the hill, there was no pressure felt to frantically harvest face-shots, which is another great feature of this mountain (particularly given a middling avalanche rating).

We only scratched the surface of the skiing potential here, and with Gstaad, Villars-Gryon-Diablerets & Leysin all closely connected by trains, lifts & buses, a return visit is guaranteed next season. We might even a bit of on-piste skiing when we return. You should check it out too. And make sure you help Protect Our Winters by taking the train. Oh, and all the resorts here are skiable on the Magic Pass - the cheapest most amazing lift pass in the world!

Check out our thoughts on the pros & cons and other info on the Glacier 3000 Overview page
See our video here