Hoch Ybrig ski resort near Zürich • Tips for families

Hoch Ybrig ski resort is a fun, affordable mid-sized ski resort near Zürich with fantastic views. Since even the blue runs are a bit steep, we prefer Hoch Ybrig for at least advanced beginners that can confidently control their speed. Experienced skiers and boarders will love the off-piste rolling hills that are fantastic for powder days. Kids and teens will like the racing course and fun park with big jumps. 

Location

Hoch Ybrig is located in eastern Switzerland, south of Zurich and east of Luzern. See on Google Maps. The ski resort is accessed by a cable car from the parking and bus stop. 

Winter piste map

Here is the Hoch Ybrig winter map. The main part of the ski resort is on the left, accessed by the Weglosen-Seebli cable car. This part of the resort has three chair lifts: Sternen, Heisbol and Spirstock. On the right side of the resort, there are two more chair lifts, but they feel quite separate from the rest of the resort and we never ski over there.

Our family’s review

We love Hoch Ybrig because it’s so close to Zurich and is relatively affordable with the family discount. Our kids love the “racing track” which is a curvy trail with jumps. As parents, we love the wide open slopes with ungroomed powder fields between the groomed pistes. This means that the kids can stay on the groomed intermediate slopes, while the parents can ski parallel to them on untracked powder. It’s not our favorite for absolute beginners because even the blue runs are quite steep and can be difficult for beginners that can’t reliably control their speed. But after you master the snowplow or “pizza,” the mountain is all yours.

Getting there

The Hoch Ybrig ski resort is at the top of a cable car in Weglosen. At the gondola station, buy your tickets and ride up the big gondola to access the main resort. There can be a long line on weekend mornings but the crowds spread out a bit at the top.

By car: Drive to Weglosen (Waagtalstrasse 126, 8842 Unteriberg) and park the parking garage next to the cable car. Parking is free.

By transit: take a train to the Einsiedeln train station, then a bus to Hoch-Ybrig, Talst. Weglosen. The bus drops directly in front of the cable car station.

Lift ticket prices

Slopes for beginners

Hoch Ybrig has a small learning area near the top of the Weglosen-Seebli cable car. It has two magic carpets, one very short and longer one that is covered. The ski school uses this area but as far as I can tell, anyone is welcome to use these magic carpets.

Here is the shorter magic carpet, right next to the longer one.

There is another beginner’s area with a magic carpet and drag lift at the Oberiberg part of the resort. But since this area is not easily connected to main part of the Hoch Ybrig resort, you’ll need to drive directly to Oberiberg to use those lift for beginners.

Photos of the ski pistes

When beginners are ready for the next level up, we think the blue runs at Hoch Ybrig are a little too steep for beginners (shown below) who are still learning to stop and control their speed. Here is one of the blue runs accessed by the Sternen lift. We like that the run is wide, but it is quite steep and by the afternoon can be full of mogels.

When I took my five year old on the blue runs, I had to help him a lot, especially at the top of the blue run. Then we had some scary crashes when he couldn’t stop because it was so steep and sped down the mountain until he crashed.

Another view of the blue run when my son was 10 and learning to snowboard.

We like the wide pistes at Hoch Ybrig, which makes it easier to avoid other skiers. 

However since there are no trees, it can be difficult to navigate on foggy days since you only have the poles on the sides of the pistes for reference. I’d avoid this place during a whiteout.

Here’s a view of the resort from the Spirstock run. 

On the second half of the blue runs, there are a few narrow trails that connect the pistes.

On weekends, Hoch Ybrig often hosts races, which can close down some of the runs. You can see the race course on the side of the slope in the picture below. If that bothers you, check their event schedule before you go. 

Powder fields

One of my favorite parts of Hoch Ybrig is ridgeline view, best seen from the top of the Hesisbol lift.

As shown in this pic, you can ski along the fenced ridgeline to reach the off-piste areas that are really fun on powder days.

We love this area, but it’s for advanced skiers only at your own risk. This area is not maintained by the resort and there may be unmarked dangers. Make sure to check the avalanche bulletin and don’t ski in these areas on high risk days. 

Where to eat

They have several restaurants scattered around the mountain, as indicated on the piste map. Some of the restaurants (like the one at the top of Sternen) are full service and are sometimes booked out with reservations at lunchtime.

So we usually end up at the self-service restaurants, like at Spirstock shown here, which has great views with comfortable indoor and outdoor seating. 

The food is typical Swiss self-service fare, but fine. They usually have Älpermagronen (Swiss mac & cheese), soup and meat stews, and sausage with fries. We found that they will also make you a sandwich on request, a nice inexpensive option.

There is a bigger self-serve cafeteria at the top of the Weglosen cable car.

They have an outdoor picnic area with tables at the Weglosen-Seebli cable car station.

Winter hikes

Hoch Ybrig has four groomed winter hiking trails, as described on their website. I’d suggest walking around the frozen Seebli lake, then up to the Füederegg restaurant.