Ski Klosters Parsenn • Tips for Families

Parsenn is a large ski resort in the Davos Klosters ski region in southeast Switzerland. It’s a good ski resort for advanced beginners and above, with lots of wide open blue and red runs with plenty of room to make your turns. However, those learning to ski and families with small children will be better off at neighboring Madrisa (also part of the Davos Klosters family) that has a beginners area with magic carpets.

Parsenn is close enough for a day trip from Zürich. But this region is probably better for a long weekend or ski holiday, where you can explore the multiple ski areas covered by the Davos Klosters regional ski pass. Although this large resort is more expensive and crowded than the smaller ski resorts we usually go to, we thought it was a real treat to ski at such a large resort with a variety of terrain. 

Location

Parsenn is one of the ski areas in the Davos Klosters region, located in southeast Switzerland.

You can purchase a ski pass for each area individually (like just Klosters Parsenn) or a regional ski pass for all Davos Klosters ski areas. Since the resorts are separated by a short bus/train ride (included with your ski pass), it is not really practical to ski at multiple areas in a single day. But if you are staying for a week, best to buy a multi-day regional pass so you can try different areas.

Here is the winter map for the Parsenn ski resort, which is pictured below. You can reach the resort by the Gotschna cable car from Klosters-Sernaus (we did this) or a mountain train from Davos.

Getting there

For a day trip from Zürich, it is best to drive or take the train to Klosters-Sernaus and access the resort via the Gotschna cable car.

By train: This is an easy trip from Zürich main station to Klosters Platz, Bahnhof, about 2hrs, changing trains once in Landquart. The cable car is adjacent to the train station.

By car: Drive to Klosters-Sernaus and follow signs to the parking areas. The main parking is located at Talbachstrasse, 7250 Klosters-Serneus, about a 400 m walk from the cable car. There is a small parking lot next to the cable car at Gotschnastrasse 21, 7250 Klosters-Serneus, but this fills up quickly and it can be difficult to drive on this one lane road with on-coming traffic.

Tickets & Prices

In 2023, a day ski pass at Parsenn costs CHF 77 adult, CHF 54 youth (13-17), CHF 31 child (6-12). They also offer morning and afternoon tickets for a discount.

If you are staying multiple days, you can purchase a regional ski pass that covers all resorts in the Davos Klosters area: Parsenn, Jakobshorn, Madrisa, Rinerhorn and Pischa. Since the resorts are separated by a short bus/train ride (fee included with your ski pass), it is not really practical to ski at multiple areas in a single day. But if you are staying for a week, it makes sense to buy the multi-day regional pass so you can try different areas. Note that the multi-day pass is for consecutive days.

You can prebook lift tickets online and have the ticket loaded on your keycard, assuming you already have one. You can also purchase keycards at any point of sale in the Davos Klosters region.

See more ticket options and current prices here.

Tip for Buying Ski Tickets at Klosters Gotschna

At Parsenn, lift tickets are purchased the base on the Gotschna cable car. There are two lines – make sure you are waiting in the correct one (we waited in the wrong one for awhile, sigh). On the left side of the entrance, people who already have tickets (prebooked, multi-day passes, season ticket holders) wait in line to get on the cable car. On the right side of the entrance, there is a separate line for the ticket office to purchase tickets. After purchasing tickets, you wait in another line to get on the cable car. You do not have to go back and wait in the ticket holder line.

Both lines are controlled by turnstiles to limit the number of people that get on the cable car. Make sure your group goes through the turnstiles together, to avoid having one or more of your party not make it onto the cable car together. That happened to us, with one of us separated from the group for about 30 mins as we waited in line and rode the cable cars up.

On a crowded day, it’s a bit of a rowdy mess, with lots of pushing and cutting in line and frustrated customers. We were determined never to come back after that long wait, but then we had such a nice time on the slopes that we forgave the line and decided to simply get up very early next time.

Ski Resort Overview

Parsenn is a huge resort with a lot of variety of terrain, best for advanced beginners and above. There are lots of easy, wide open blue runs for beginners and a variety of steeper red pistes for those advancing their skills.

However, it does not have beginners’ area with magic carpets and tiny T-bar runs. Instead, this is available at nearby Madrisa, which is more suitable for families with young children. Madrisa is a five min drive or 10 min train ride from Klosters Platz and is included in the Davos Kloster regional ski pass. We haven’t skied at Madrisa yet, so I’ll simply link you to their website.

Here is the blue run along the Totalp lift.

Here are the red runs under the Zipper lift.

There are also some steep black runs off the Weissjochgipfel, shown below, including big off-piste areas to catch some powder.

A few of the runs are very long, taking 20+ mins plus to ski down, which we found quite enjoyable but can also be tiring for some children (and adults). Pictured below is the Kreuzweg area leading to Obersäss (trails 18, 21, 22, and 24), which has an unusually long run and cable car.

Most runs had large open off-piste areas on both sides of the run, enabling more advanced skiers to enjoy some powder, while their children ski parallel to them on the groomed piste.

Most runs use chair lifts and cable cars. One run has an option to ride a mountain train. There are a couple T-bars that are easily avoided, using a parallel chair lift instead.

We found the resort mostly very well designed, easily handling large crowds without the pistes feeling overwhelmed. The runs are well-connected with trails, requiring very little walking on flat areas (a big plus for snowboarders).

The only downside was the single cable car that services the valley (shown below) to the ski area. All skiers must ride this cable car to reach the resort, which can cause a bottleneck on busy days. We arrived at 9:30 on a sunny Saturday during the February ski holidays and waited 1 hour in line to get tickets and board the cable car, then about another 25 mins riding two cable cars to the top. I’ve heard from Parsenn regulars that it is not always so crowded. But I would recommend getting there as early as possible to avoid frustration and wasted daylight.

At the end of your day, you can ride back down the Gotschnagrat cable car (shown below). Or you can ski all the way down to the valley on trail 21. We were exhausted, so we didn’t want to try this extremely long trail, which was in the shade by this time of day, getting icy and likely crowded as everyone is going home. But note that the cable car closes earlier than you might think, 16:52 the day we were there. If you miss it, you have to ski all the way down.

Special Features

Parsenn has a speed race course, where you can race around gates and see your time at the end. This is trail 5 serviced by the Rapid Dorftäli lift. There is also a Ski/Boarder Cross course along trail 15 near Totalp, where four skiers can race each other over waves and curves with a few jumps as well. There is no fun park or children’s area in this resort.

Ski School Klosters

Ski School Klosters services this area. They offer group and private lessons for children and adults at all ski levels. For children, they have half-day and full day classes and offer a supervised lunch for an extra fee (required for some classes).

Children aged 3 to 6 that are absolute beginners are taught in the snow garden in the Klosters village, near the overflow parking.

Classes for beginners and advanced beginners are held at the Madrisa ski area, across the valley from Parsenn. Fortunately, the class meeting point is at the Klosters Platz train station, next to the Parsenn/Gotschna cable car. So this makes it possible to drop off your kids for ski school and still ski at the Parsenn ski area.

Classes for intermediate and advanced skiiers are held at Parsenn, meeting point at the Gotschna cable car.

In 2018/19, rates are about CHF 79 for a full day, plus CHF 22 for lunch. The rates are lower if you book for multiple days. See https://www.sssk.ch/ for current rates and offers.

Sledding

Parsenn has a sled run from the Gotschaboden (the middle station) down to the Klosters village, about 3.5 km. You can rent a sled at the middle station for CHF 10. In 2021/2, you can buy a single ride on the cable car (CHF 18), partial day (CHF 35) or full day ticket (CHF 99) – adult prices. See current prices here.

See more sledding options in the Davos Klosters region.

Other options for absolute beginners

If you need something to entertain small kids, while the rest of the family kids, you might try Skilift Selfranga, a 5 min drive from Klosters Platz. This little ski area in the Klosters valley has a T-bar and a little ski hill suitable for absolute beginners. You can pay for single rides, which might be good if your child can only tolerate an hour or so.

Where to eat

There are restaurants all over this resort, mostly at the top and base of the lifts, some mid-piste. We didn’t eat at the resort this time because we got up the mountain so late, we skied through lunch to maximize our time. So I can’t make any recommendations yet. Hopefully next time.

See the Davos Kloster website for a list of mountain restaurants.

Ski Rental

If you need to rent equipment, there are several rental shops right near the Gotschna cable car valley station. There is even an InterSport shop at the top of the mountain at Weissfluhjoch, helpful if you lose or break some equipment. Some shops offer a discount if you reserve online before you get there.

Video of our Klosters ski day