Tschiertschen sits at the end of a single mountain road from Chur, at 1,340 m, with 26 km of piste on Furggabüel and a quiet cult reputation among Graubünden freeriders. Wooden Walser farmhouses, no apartment blocks, five lifts, and a powder field on the Schalfegg side that the locals would prefer you forget.
Tschiertschen is a ski resort in Switzerland, in the Swiss Alps. The village sits at 1340 m and the lifts top out at 2100 m, with 26 km of pistes and 5 lifts. Its BestSnowHotels snow score is 76/100, and the season usually runs Dec 14 → Apr 7.
How we score and classify resortsRun counts and piste kilometres are indicative. Green runs only exist in France, Spain, Andorra, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Japan, the United States, Morocco, Algeria, Lesotho, South Africa, Egypt, Canada, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Chile; Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany start at blue. Indicative average snow depth near the top of the resort, in cm.
A handful of well-rated hotels in and around the resort. Pick one, then compare live prices across Booking, Expedia and Hotels.com.
Excellent · 320 reviews
One of the highest-rated places to stay in Tschiertschen, with guests singling out the service and comfort.
Guests rate this hotel as excellent (4.7/5 from 320 reviews). A upper-scale option for Tschiertschen, with live nightly rates shown for your exact dates so you always see the best price.
Very good · 75 reviews
A dependable, well-reviewed choice for a stay in Tschiertschen.
Ratings from Google, prices indicative per night. Live availability and rates via our booking partners.
Tschiertschen is small enough that almost everywhere in the village is walking distance from the Furggabüel chair, but few hotels actually open onto a piste: this is foot-from-the-lift skiing rather than door-to-piste. Carry your skis the last 100 m.
The road into Tschiertschen does not lead anywhere else. It climbs out of Chur, switchbacks up through the forest, and ends at a 1,340 m balcony where 250 people live in dark wooden Walser houses. There is no through traffic, no apartment block built in the 1970s, no second cable car running into a neighbouring valley: this is one of the last small Graubünden villages that still feels like a village, and the ski area has been left in proportion to it.
The lift-served terrain is concentrated on the Furggabüel above the village, 26 km of piste served by five lifts, topping out at around 2,100 m. The pistes themselves are honest: blues that flatter intermediates, reds that turn serious in poor light, two or three blacks that justify the colour. But that is not really what people are here for. Tschiertschen has a reputation, quietly held by a small constellation of Zurich and Chur skiers, as one of the best lift-served freeride mountains in eastern Switzerland. The Schalfegg face, the Geissamatta couloirs and the back-of-the-mountain itinerary down toward Praden absorb fresh snow beautifully and are tracked out far more slowly than at famous resorts: a midweek powder day here, with a 9 a.m. first chair and lunch in the village, is something the regulars guard carefully.
The village answers in kind. There is no resort centre, only a handful of inns, a tiny grocery, ski racks leaning against 400-year-old Walser barns. You stay in a wooden room with thick walls, you walk to the lift, you eat where the locals eat, and you spend nothing on lift-queue cafes because there are not any. For a certain kind of skier this is the best ski-resort formula in Graubünden, and they would rather you did not write about it.
Hotels and apartments around the lifts. Compare prices on Booking, Expedia and Hotels.com.
Everything on our site connected to Tschiertschen: its area, the lists it makes, head-to-heads and trip guides.
Tschiertschen offers 26 km of pistes across 5 lifts, from 1340 m to 2100 m. Whether it suits beginners depends on the dedicated learner zones at the base of the slopes, so check the local ski-school options for green and blue run access.
The season runs from Dec 14 to Apr 7, with a snow score of 76/100. Snow is usually most reliable in the heart of that window, deep in winter, while the closing weeks bring longer days and softer afternoon snow.
Tschiertschen is small enough that almost everywhere in the village is walking distance from the Furggabüel chair, but few hotels actually open onto a piste: this is foot-from-the-lift skiing rather than door-to-piste. Carry your skis the last 100 m.
Tschiertschen has 26 km of marked pistes served by 5 lifts, between 1340 m and 2100 m of altitude.
Tschiertschen counts about 23 marked runs in total. The colour breakdown above shows how they split by difficulty, a good guide to whether the resort fits your level.
The closest alternatives, an easy switch if dates or hotels are tight.
Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps
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