Fantastic resort. Combined with the Italian terrain of Bruil-Cervinia and Valtournenche, it is an enormous alpine area that is completely connected. You can ski from the Rothorn Paradise to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, over to the Italian side and all the way to the Schwartzsee Paradise without ever going all the way back to town/base area. The on-piste terrain is moderately challenging. The Stockhorn area is the most notable exception, but it is more of a mogul field than off-piste terrain. There are obviously some extremely challenging lines off-piste, but the existance of crevases, cliffs and the glacier makes hiring a guide a necessity. If you are looking for challenging on-piste terrain, I would head to Chamonix, Courmayeur, or St. Anton, but for me part of the overall experience of a European ski resort is experiencing the culture.

Zermatt is wonderfully vibrant town. Downtown is filled with bustling shops, exquisite restaurants and lively pubs. The town is fun, but bring your cash as it is truely the Aspen of Europe pricewise. The vacationers come to Zermatt to eat well, and they pay heavily to do it. Despite a favorable exchange rate for Americans, the price of goods are still very high in Switzerland. The cheapest small margarita pizza that I found was about $17. A pint of lager is going to cost you $5-$7, but the dinner crouds are more likely to buy a bottle of wine. Overall, a very wonderful alpine town.

In a nut shell: Take your family to Zermatt, but there are more challenging European choices for you and your diehard ski buddies.

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Zermatt is the most incredible place I have ever riden. The runs are long, wide, and offer incredible views of some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen. Sometimes zermatt doesn't get alot of snow, but if you can catch it when it does get fresh snow, its a powder dream. There are three separate ski areas. I recomend the Gornergrat area which is where I experienced the best day of riding in my life. Dont plan on driving there because the whole city is vehicle free. You must park your car at the next village and take a train to Zermatt. I recommend staying at a private house and get the full Swiss experience. And the nightlife in zermatt is excellent.