Tickets · Planning

How to buy a Swiss ski pass online

Nearly every Swiss ski area checks a chip card at the gate, and 109 of the 304 areas in Skiboard’s catalog sell the adult day pass online, where the shop writes it onto a keycard or your SwissPass. Which areas sell online, which gate system their lifts run and whether the SwissPass works there was read on the operators’ own pages and their shops’ data on 30 Oct 2026: the steps first, then every area in one table.

Step by step

1. Check whether your area sells a day pass online at all

   109 of the 304 areas sell an adult day pass in a shop, read on 30 Oct 2026; 154 sell at the ticket window only, and for 41 the operator’s pages do not say. Among the 65 areas with 20 km of pistes or more, 61 sell online: Evolène and Grüsch-Danusa sell at the window, and Obersaxen and Elm say nothing about a shop. The table lists every area and links its shop.

2. Know what the ticket goes onto

   A Swiss lift gate reads a chip card, not a phone screen or a printout. Two companies make nearly all the gates, Skidata (65 areas here) and Axess (23), and the table names the maker wherever a shop or its data says. The shop writes your day pass onto a keycard of that system or onto your SwissPass. A keycard from another area usually works again where the gates come from the same maker: the shop asks for the number printed on it.

3. Use your SwissPass where it is accepted

   83 areas load the day pass onto the SwissPass, the red card SBB issues with the Half Fare travelcard and the GA. Choose it as the card in the shop and type its number; the gate reads the physical card, not the SwissPass app. 6 areas say no and 215 say nothing: bring a keycard there.

4. No card yet? Buy one with the ticket, or collect it

   Most shops sell a new keycard with the first pass for a few francs and post it, or hold it at a pick-up point, a machine or the counter; Aletsch Arena, for one, prints a code for its pick-up machines. The post takes days: Davos Klosters accepts an order with a new card by post only until five working days before the pass is valid. The card stays yours afterwards; its price is a purchase, not a deposit.

5. Buy for a date, and look at the price before you do

   42 of the areas that sell online ask a price for the date you pick, and at those the price only rises as the day comes closer: the ticket window on the morning is the dearest. The January price guide says which shops price by date and which charge one tariff all winter, and the guide to paying less says when to buy. An online pass is usually active within minutes, so buying on the train still beats the window.

6. At the 154 areas without a shop, pay at the window

   Nearly all are small: one tariff, a window at the bottom station, cash or a card, sometimes a deposit on the keycard that the window gives back. Arrive before the first lift on a sunny Saturday. At 5 areas nothing is checked at a gate: Rigi’s ski lifts are free with a fare for the cog railway and cable cars, and Les Giettes, Lourtier and Schafmatt ski for free or on a donation box.

Online sales, gates and SwissPass at 268 Swiss ski areas

Last reviewed 2026-10-30. Catalog facts from OpenSkiMap; this is not a live snow report.

Questions

Can I buy a Swiss ski pass online?

At 109 of the 304 Swiss ski areas Skiboard lists, as read on 30 Oct 2026, among them 61 of the 65 areas with 20 km of pistes or more. The shop writes the pass onto a keycard or, at 83 areas, onto your SwissPass. 154 mostly small areas sell at the window only.

Do I need a keycard to ski in Switzerland?

At nearly every area, yes: the gates read a chip card from Skidata or Axess, or the SwissPass where the area accepts it. The shop sells a keycard with the first pass, or you reuse one from an area with gates from the same maker. Where you have neither, choose pick-up at a machine or the window when you buy.

Can I load a ski pass onto my SwissPass?

At 83 areas, by their shops, Ticketcorner’s card types or SwissPass’s own partner list as read on 30 Oct 2026; 6 say no and 215 say nothing. Choose the SwissPass as the card in the shop and type its number. The gate reads the physical card; the app on your phone does not open it.

Which large Swiss ski areas do not sell the day pass online?

Among the 65 areas with 20 km of pistes or more, Evolène and Grüsch-Danusa sell at the window only, and Obersaxen and Elm name no shop on their pages, as read on 30 Oct 2026. Every other large area sells online.

Can I buy the ski pass together with the train ticket?

For 40 areas, through SBB’s Snow’n’Rail: train and day pass in one purchase on sbb.ch or in the app, loaded onto your SwissPass, with a discount on the pass at many of them. The Snow’n’Rail guide lists the offers. Elsewhere, buy the pass in the operator’s shop and the train ticket separately.

Sources

• SwissPass: partners that load their tickets onto the card
• Ticketcorner Peak: the ski areas it sells for, with each area’s card types
• Davos Klosters: buying tickets online, keycards by post and pick-up
• Aletsch Arena: where to get the ticket after buying online
• Zermatt Bergbahnen: booking FAQ, activation and the SwissPass

Related guides

• How to pay less for a Swiss ski pass
• How to get to the Swiss ski areas by train
• What a ski pass costs in Switzerland in 2026/27
• Dynamic ski pass prices: what moves them, and how to pay less
• Snow’n’Rail: the ski areas, how it works, and when it pays
• How to choose a Swiss ski resort