Well, I am blown away.
There are LOTS of ski resorts within reach of Sion, all using public transport if you wish (taxis will cost you somewhere between SFr 100 and 300) – using a combination of trains and buses (which go to virtually every tiny village).
To list just the larger ones, roughly from west to east:
To see how to use public transport use https://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html
This will show you the scheduled service to get from any point in Switzerland to any other using a combination of trains, buses, telecabines and ferries, I kid you not! The country runs a vast interconnected public transport service, with everything running to a scheduled service for easy interconnection. No need to prebook tickets.
OK, yes, many thanks. Most of these came up in this thread years ago. Personally, I had only just started then so now may be looking at things differently so need to look again. I still like long wide slopes, and definitely the ability to start when the lift opens (impossible in some places due to required transport so by the time you get there it is always a big queue) so of the 10-15 places I have been to I would do only Madonna or Cervinia. On the above list, I’ve done only Zermatt. One needs to carefully look at piste maps and watch a load of videos. Most people are very good skiers so recommendations are tricky 
I tried to organise a ski to fly meet-up a few times but there was clearly zero interest I suspect despite all the talk over the years, very few people actually do that, and when they do, it is at very short notice and they go just with their friends/family.
Living in Switzerland I can confirm the reference above that most countries are off the ‘black list’ as of now.
Switzerland has applied strictly the policy of contaminations above 60/100 000 inhabitants per 2w on a rolling basis triggered the country getting blacklisted, since June (or May or so). Lately this was done on a regional basis, so eg several of Frances ‘régions’ were causing 10 days quarantine when returning to Switzerland as well as a number of regions in Italy/Germany/Austria, some countries like BE, DK, UK etc blacklisted completely. In practice, most countries/ regions were getting blocked lately. However, in the second wave across Europe, with also an high and increasing positive cases in Switzerland, the Swiss ministry of health has adopted a more pragmatic approach (thumbs up), and realized it’s a relative game and hence have for the first time determined if any other country is ABOVE the Swiss current level with 60 positive cases / 100k inhabitants on a rolling 2w basis THEN the country or region gets blacklisted. This new approach was only published 2 days ago.
Today only Belgium, Czechia, Armenia, Andorra and regions of Ile de France (Paris) and Haut denFrance (bordering Belgium) is on black list.
For latest news check here:
Let’s all keep flying, keep flying, and keeping living life! Staying safe.
By the way, keep a regular look at the list, it gets updated every 2 weeks, normally on Fridays (except for this week).
Silvaire wrote:
It makes sense for the Swiss given that e.g. the per capita rate of new infections for yesterday in Switzerland is 10 times higher than the US state in which I live, and climbing rapidly versus being flat.Unfortunately, all US-citizens are still blocked from entry into the Schengen-Zone, including a lot of other nations. So far as I see, you can only enter the Schengen-Zone when you’re a resident/citizen of the following countries: All Schengen-Member-States, Andorra, Australia, Bulgaria, Georgia (the country), Vatican, Irland, Japan, Canada, South-Korea, Croatia, Monaco, New-Zealand, Rwanda, Romania, San Marino, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay, Cyprus and the UK of course. (Source)
Frans wrote:
Unfortunately, all US-citizens are still blocked from entry into the Schengen-Zone, including a lot of other nations.
That’s an interesting point. I had assumed that the incoming travel restriction was an EU-wide issue not a Schengen-wide issue. It being a Schengen-wide issue would seem to contradict the Swiss national website which does not now list the US as being restricted, when it did last week.
Frans wrote:
But if you manage it to enter the Schengen-Zone from the US, you can now enter Switzerland without the need to quarantine yourself.
My interest, although not for some months, would be entering the Schengen zone via Switzerland with CH being the point of entry not the destination. I also have European citizenship but do not travel on a non-US passport. For right now I’m happy where I am, I’m not a huge fan of cold weather.
Peter wrote:
I still like long wide slopes, and definitely the ability to start when the lift opens (impossible in some places due to required transport so by the time you get there it is always a big queue)
Peter, here is my hot tip of the day! The Alestch Arena in the Valais region of Switzerland – never heard of it right! Well I think this is just the place for you:
Please note that I haven’t been there to ski, but I lived nearby for 10 years, and have flown over many, many times and have researched it pretty carefully. I think it is definitely worth considering.
@Buckerfan great tip! And the Warrior might even make it in one hop if winds are benign
Thank you Buckerfan
You know the problem with getting old? One forgets things which one looked at not long before And it does look really great.
The scenery should be amazing (if there is enough snow) because the slopes are south facing.
At the time there was almost no accommodation, but presumably that was because the whole world was manically trying to get “the last ski trip” before the virus shut everything down. However, even now, a quick look on booking.com for mid Dec shows almost everything booked.
