Verber - Les 4 Vallees

Verbier has it all: a huge ski area, cozy chalets, amazing nightlife, and this resort is rightfully considered one of the best in the Alps. Prices for hotels and everything else are on average higher than in other resorts. Nightlife can be very interesting and intense. This resort has a wonderful ski area and legendary freeride.

At first glance, Verbier appears to be a jumbled collection of wooden chalets nestled in a sunny alpine meadow at 1,500m, but despite its ancient appearance, the village was built specifically as a ski resort. Until 1925, the site of Verbier was just a pasture. 

Verbier ski area

The Four Valleys (Les 4 Vallées) - this is the name of the ski region above Verbier and neighboring, smaller resorts - the largest ski area connected by slopes, located entirely in Switzerland (Portes du Soleil, uniting 650 km of slopes, is half located in France). This region offers 412 km of pistes served by 88 ski lifts. About 300 km of slopes and 50 lifts are located directly above Verbier and the neighboring villages of Savoleyres, La Tzoumaz and Bruson.

But this resort is known not only for good trail skiing - Verbier gained its popularity thanks to its amazing freeride opportunities.

Verbier and the 4 Valleys (Les 4 Vallees)

The Four Valleys (Les 4 Vallées) ski area is quite complicated, and it can be difficult for people who find themselves in these places for the first time to navigate without the help of an instructor. Mont Fort and Mont Gele offer a wide range of skiing opportunities, especially off-piste. As is often the case in French-speaking resorts (and Verbier is located in the French-speaking part of the canton of Valais), the route layout is quite complex and confusing. Even if you constantly check the map of the Four Valleys, skiing on the first day without a guide or instructor, it is easy to find that you have just passed the required lift, and now you have to either make another circle or practice climbing up. All Four Valleys are not visible from any one point, and the ski area itself is quite stretched. Moving between the sectors of Verbier and Nendaz, not to mention other, even more remote areas, it is worthwhile to calculate the time very meticulously (and with a margin): getting out of the neighboring villages without skis is quite expensive and long.

You can get to Verbier from Geneva by ordering a transfer.

Verbier - Mont Fort

The skiing area over Verbier, La Tzouma, and Bruson is great: it is 195 km of slopes and 2 famous peaks from which you can ski - Mont Fort, literally - a "strong" mountain and Mont Jelly, as well as three ridges that separate the Cheryre Valleys . Apart from these two main peaks, the slopes at Attelas, La Chaux and Chassoure form the main ski area above Verbier. The center of "civilization", more precisely, the main cabin, which throws up - Medran. You can get to it either by a free bus (or, if you have chosen the right accommodation - on foot), or by cab from Le Chable. The way up from Le Chable, where the train arrives, to the center of Verbier (Medrane lift) takes only 9 minutes, and this avoids a rather tedious serpentine. The gondola is open until 19.30 (one lift - CHF 10), you can also get to Verbier by bus (the last one leaves Le Chable at 20:50, it is better to check the details on the sbb.ch website.

But back to the mountains. From the top station of the gondola, throwing at Mont Fort, a magnificent panorama opens - Mont Blanc, Matterhorn, the impressive four-thousanders of the Swiss and French Alps. Along the northern slope of Mont Fort there is a long, steep black track, which at the beginning of the season and in snowless years is more reminiscent of an ice mogul. In December, when the ski area is not fully open, this slope is often closed, but even if the slope is open, skiers at an average level (and worse) should think a hundred times before heading down.

There is always a plan "B" - a huge cab-wagon runs with enviable regularity, and of course, in both directions. All other slopes from the famous peak are off-piste, and many of them are familiar to professional freeriders. The picturesque peak of Mont Jelly also offers plenty of opportunities for off-piste skiing, there are no prepared slopes on this mountain, both of the most popular routes are patrolled by lifeguards, but are quite difficult. Verbier generally "assumes" by default that tourists know how to ride at least well, which, however, is not surprising for a resort known as one of the best places in the world for freeriding.

Savoleyres - La Tzoumaz

Verbier in general is not the best resort for beginners: although there are wide blue pistes in all sectors of the Four Valleys, they still have to be reached.

The Savolière sector is a pleasant exception. Its only, but its main drawback: most of the tracks are located quite low, and even on the sunny slope of the mountain, so at the very beginning of the season the tracks there can be closed, and in spring the snow melts quickly. However, during the high season, this sector, which offers 55 km of pistes, is the best place for beginners and families with children. Savolier is located at the other end of the village, which can be reached by bus that runs throughout the resort. On the north side of Savolière there are more interesting red pistes leading to the La Tzouma sector, about 1/3 of all pistes in this sector (62% of the pistes here are blue). Literally 30 meters from the Savolière ski lift, there is one of the two five-star hotels in the resort - Chalet d'Adrien: the first "five" of the resort, cozy and habitable, like an old expensive cottage, with an excellent restaurant and a beautiful pool in the spa. Like many similar hotels in Swiss and French resorts, Chalet d'Adrien is in need of renovation. However, in terms of service and comfort, it still quite confidently competes with the expensive (too expensive for many), stylish and completely new W Verbier, which opened in December 2013 (this is the first W hotel in the Alps).

Thyon

This is the furthest (and usually the least busy) sector of the Four Valleys from Verbier. It will take quite a long time to get to it from Verbier - go down to Sivier via Tortin, in order to then move to Thyon. You can get there much faster from the village of Veysonnaz, which, together with the neighboring resort of Nendaz, although other valleys are much better suited for piste skiing: the slopes of Thyon abound with drag and "authentic" lifts. The main reason why many people prefer to go to such a far corner early in the morning is a beautiful and rather difficult off-piste route, starting at 2700 meters, from the top of Greppon Blanc. At the end of the trip, you can go down to Les Collons, from where you can try to get back on the lifts and skis / boards. The taxi ride from Le Collon (or the neighboring village of Le Mass) to Verbier (and this, for a minute, 80 km) takes at least 1 hour 40 minutes and costs a lot even by Swiss standards. If you are not too lazy and take a guide with you to the company, then the issue of return delivery will be resolved by itself: as a rule, you either return "home" on skis, or a car picks you up at the end point of the journey.

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