Elite Athletes Return to Zermatt, Switzerland, for Summer Training Following Strategic Partnership Between Zermatt and Swiss-Ski

One year after banning World Cup alpine ski racers from training on its glacier, Zermatt, Switzerland, has reopened its high-altitude slopes to the sport’s elite skiers, following a new long-term partnership with Swiss-Ski announced in February 2025. The Theodul Glacier, a coveted summer training ground for speed specialists, is once again hosting some of the world’s best, including last year’s Overall Season Title holder Marco Odermatt from Switzerland, and his teammate Thomas Tumler, who posted “we are back” to his Instagram account this week alongside photos of the Swiss team training on the glacier.

• Related: Zermatt, Switzerland, Announces Changes to Summer Operations: No Training for Elite Athletes

The return marks a significant reversal from April 2024, when Zermatt Bergbahnen AG abruptly ended elite summer training access. At the time, the resort cited a strategic shift toward developing young talent and expanding tourist offerings, following the cancellation of the cross-border Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening races for two consecutive seasons. However, cynics argued that the ban was a knee-jerk reaction to the cancellation of the Zermatt speed-opening by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS). FIS had signed a contract with Zermatt Bergbahnen AG for five years to hold four races in October and November each season, but pulled the contract after two subsequent cancellations of the planned first-ever cross-border race in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.

• Related: The Race That Never Was: FIS Scraps Cross-Border Race from Switzerland to Italy at Matterhorn Ski Paradise

As a result, Franz Julen, who is both the head of the Local Organization Committee (LOC) as well as the president of Zermatt Bergbahnen AG, announced in April 2024, that elite ski teams would not be allowed to book training pistes on the glacier during the summer. Instead, Zermatt opened the glacier ski area for regional clubs and youth athletes as well as recreational skiers only. The decision was met with frustration by international World Cup athletes, who accused Julen of retaliation. Swiss-Ski, the Swiss Ski association, called the decision “extremely regrettable” while the head of the German Alpine Team referred to the decision as “blackmail.” Zermatt is one of very few summer ski areas where speed events can be trained due to the sheer size and gradient of the Theodul Glacier. Most speed athletes instead went to nearby Saas-Fee for summer training, but capacity on the Fee Glacier was naturally limited.

In February 2025, Swiss-Ski and Zermatt Bergbahnen signed an agreement under which the organization of the summer training will fall to the Swiss association, while the mountain operations company will maintain and groom the ski runs. The framework agreement has a validity of 10 years and will give each side more planning security. The training slopes on the Theodul Glacier will be available not only for Swiss national teams but also for other World Cup nations, with Swiss-Ski handling the booking system. Young athletes will continue to train alongside the sport’s elite, with Swiss-Ski emphasizing the agreement’s potential to reduce the need for costly and carbon-intensive training trips to the Southern Hemisphere. “The new agreement between Swiss-Ski and Zermatt is groundbreaking,” said Walter Reusser, co-CEO of Swiss-Ski. “Zermatt is the highest glacier ski area with the best conditions for speed training in Europe. The fact that we can ensure the use in partnership and in the long term is of immense value, especially for the global downhill racing and the training of young talent.”

In addition, assurances were made that Zermatt will host World Cup races in the second half of March on the newly constructed Gornergrat run. The Gornergrat run will be a new ski run that will need to meet FIS guidelines before World Cup races could be held, however, the construction of this run will occur for winter-sport guests at the resort irrespective of any approval by FIS. The resort is planning several new projects in that area, including a new gondola from the Gornergrat at 3,089 meters (10,103 feet) to the Stockhorn at 3,532 meters (11,588 feet) to replace the previous gondola which ceased operations in 2007, however, no date for construction has been set yet. The Gornergrat run is scheduled to be completed in time for racing from 2027 and could hold a men’s and women’s speed event at the end of the World Cup season.

For now, peace has been restored and the glacier reopened for elite athletes like Marco Odermatt and his teammates. Hopefully, a resurrection of the plan to hold ski races at Zermatt will set a strong foundation for the future of ski racing at the foot of the Matterhorn.