Among the most beautiful places I've been. A purely personal trip with my youngest son, Sam, who is graduating from high school in a few months. Having three adult children, all boys ages 22, 21 and 18, I learned from my oldest two that once they graduate from high school it is really hard to get them back. You raise them to be independent, contributing members of society, and then they go do that and you can't turn back the clock. My oldest, Will, 22, is a member of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division jumping out of perfectly good airplanes ("Point Break" reference) and keeping the country safe for a living. My middle son, Alex, 21, is a firefighter here in Texas and Sam, my youngest, 18, graduates from high school in May. I recognize with Sam, my window is closing so we are going to make the most of this ski season before he graduates and goes off to live his life.
So with that background, I decided after last season to purchase the Epic Pass with the goal of getting at least ten days on the mountain during the 2024-2025 ski season. First stop, Andermatt, Switzerland in January with the Swiss Alps in the background and amazing food at every turn.
While Sam and I have never been to Switzerland specifically, we have only heard good things. Having said that, had it not been for the Epic Pass and the fact that Andermatt-Sedrun was one of the included resorts I'm not sure this resort would have ever been on our radar. Andermatt has been transformed over the last few years as Vail Resorts along with Andermatt Swiss Alps AG ("ASA") made a combined investment of CHF 149 into the operations. ASA also earmarked another CHF 349 into it's primary business of real estate, hospitality and infrastructure over the next three to five years. Needless to say, Sam and I were in for a treat with amazing skiing, incredible cuisine and ideal accommodations.
For starters, Sam who is a snowboarder and I who feels best with two skis under my feet, are mostly familiar with mountain ranges in the U.S. including the Sierra Nevada's and the Rocky Mountains. Both are great places to ski as they both get great snow in the winter and both have lots of trees at elevations ranging from 7,000-10,000 feet. Neither Sam nor I were prepared for what we would find in the Swiss Alps, which as we learned are very steep mountains with nearly all runs in the blue or black category (though the color coding is different in Europe). The Swiss Alps also have very few trees and lots of narrow catwalks as you traverse across the various parts of the mountain.
I was prepared for the types of dining and cuisine I had experienced at other mountain resorts in the U.S. While the types of places I have been, which include Tahoe along the border of California and Nevada, Breckenridge in Colorado and Killington in Vermont are certainly nice, I don't remember the dining options to be much more than home cooking and American food. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy all those options, but that's just what I was familiar with on previous ski trips.
Andermatt was anything but. Sam and I were on the ground in Andermatt for four nights and five days and had several meals that we will remember for the rest of our days. More important, Sam tried food and drink that at 17, only about 60 days shy of 18, had never tried in his life. The most memorable experiences were the Michelin star restaurant up on the mountain called The Japanese at Gütsch where we dined on the best sushi and drank several varieties of sake over the course of an hour up on the mountain while wearing Chedi Andermatt slippers (setting our ski boots to the side, but still in our ski gear). The second most memorable experience was actually at the the nicest accommodations in the village called the Chedi Andermatt, a 5-star luxury hotel that has earned every star. The meal was amazing, but the cheese room tour and curated cheese selection experience was the highlight. Sam and I also had amazing dining experiences at Igniv in the Andermatt village and Biselli topping off one of the most amazing fine dining experiences we've had.
Our accommodations could not have been more perfect. We were a ten minute walk (even carrying ski and snowboard gear) to the gondola and right in the Andermatt village. Our apartment was two stories and just enough room for the two of us. Very nice and new accommodations with a small, modern kitchen and bathroom with a waterfall shower. Everything we needed to enjoy our stay and rest up for the next days ski runs without any hassle.
Overall, the experiences we had dining at Michelin star restaurants and skiing in the Swiss Alps did not disappoint. However, the father-son experience was the highlight for me being able to spend time with Sam before he graduates from high school. The first beer we had together at the Chedi bar, getting our first Swiss Army knives engraved together and our first Aperol Spritz at Après-ski in the village. These are the memories I will cherish for a lifetime.