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Verbier Skiing Area
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Verbier is one of the world's most popular winter resorts covering an enormous area for skiers and snowboarders of all ablities to explore. The skiing in and around Verbier can be broken up into 4 areas, namely: Verbier, La Tzoumaz/Savoleyres, Bruson and Mt Fort/4 Valleys. All areas are quite distinct one from the other, offering different types of terrain of varied difficulty. We aim to give you the advice and tips you need to make the most of what the area has to offer! |
| Verbier Ski Area |
From the nursery slopes of Les Esserts to the sun-drenched beginner area of La Chaux, and from the mellow pistes of the Lac des Vaux to the wide, cruising boulevards of the Attelas and the Combes, Verbier has everything to please the beginner/intermediate crowds. Add to that the “Neipark 1936” snow park and challenging ski itineraries of Chassoure-Tortin and of the Mont Gelé, and it becomes clear that the Verbier ski area has something for everyone!
Boasting three nursery slopes/beginner areas in the resort itself (see Beginner Ski Areas in Verbier), the Verbier ski area also offers great beginner terrain up at La Chaux, now accessible directly from Médran thanks to the recently built La Chaux Express Combi-Mix lift. Also serviced by a 4-man chair, this sun drenched area is a great place to practice & progress as there are nice, easy runs which tend to soften up in the afternoon given its south facing orientation.
La Chaux is also home to the “Neipark 1936” snow park which has a multitude of kickers, boxes and rails designed for freestyle skiers and boarders of all abilities. Whether you’re a beginner, advanced or pro level rider, you’ll find your happiness at the “Neipark 1936”!
Serviced by a high-speed detachable quad as well as a triple chair, the Lac des Vaux area is perfect for intermediate skiers looking for easy runs. What more, thanks to its northern orientation, this little area is usually blessed with great snow conditions.
Those seeking long uninterrupted “boulevards” on which to cruise down need to look no further than the Attelas 2 & 3 and the Combe 1 & 2 pistes. These runs are serviced for the most part by state of the art lifts such as the Funispace, the Les Attelas (a 6 man, high-speed detachable bubble chairlift) as well as the La Chaux Express (6-man chairs and 8-person gondolas alternating on the same line) ensuring that lift queues are kept to a minimum even on the busiest days!
Skiers and boarders in search of steep, adrenaline packed descents will either want to head straight over to the Col de Chassoure to test their skills on the Chassoure-Tortin “wall” (a ski itinerary which takes you down a steep, often heavily moguled face) or, if the tram is running, head straight up to the peak of the imposing Mont Gelé, where, from its 3023m summit, a multitude of ski itineraries will give even the most hardened experts a run for their money! |
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last updated 26-Feb-2008 |
| Leisurely Runs in Verbier |
Other than the nursery slopes/beginner areas which are in the resort itself (see Beginner Ski Areas in Verbier), there are 4 marked blue runs awaiting beginners and low-intermediate skiers and snowboarders. From top to bottom, these are:
Lac des Vaux 1 : From the top of the Lac des Vaux quad chair, exit left and follow the slope until an intersection where you can choose to go left (Lac des Vaux direction) or right (Ruinettes direction). Take a left and continue in that direction until another intersection, where you can either go straight or slightly right. Either way you choose, the slope eventually makes a final left turn and follows the Lac des Vaux triple chair line to the bottom of both Lac des Vaux lifts.
La Chaux 1 : From the top of the La Chaux Express, head towards the area of Les Fontaneys. From there, continue across the top of the bowl, traversing the whole thing along the flat road until you pop over back on the La Chaux side of the ridge. This run, also marked as ‘Grenier’ on the piste map, will eventually take you back to the bottom of the La Chaux Express lift, via the tail end of the snow park. Because it is slightly more out of the way, it isn’t rare to have parts of this slope entirely to yourself.
La Chaux 2 : From the top of the La Chaux quad chair, exit right and take the piste directly to the right. This run winds its way down for the most part on the skier’s left or directly below the lift line, eventually ending up at the bottom of the lift. Some sections are marginally steeper in places but overall, the descent is quite mellow; perfect for learning!
Médran 1 : Starting at the Ruinettes, this run is an endless cat road which switchbacks its way down a number of times all while crossing numerous red runs along the way, until it reaches the Médran lift station in town. It is also possible to take the run from the top of the Mayentzet double chair, from which it is a much shorter journey down. |
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last updated 26-Feb-2008 |
| Intermediate Runs in Verbier |
There are a good number of marked red runs awaiting intermediate skiers and snowboarders. Here is a description of a popular few:
Attelas 3 : From the top of the Les Attelas 6-man chair, exit right and take the piste directly to the right. This run follows the fall line for the first part to the skier’s left of the lift, making its way down a second, steeper pitch before a flat section and a bit of a left leads to yet another steeper section. You then pass the Chalet Carlsberg to the right before the slope flattens once more before a final pitch leads you straight to the bottom of the 6-man chair. An alternative start & finish to this run is to take it from the top of the Olympique station at Attelas and to end up at the Ruinettes station.
Médran 2 : From the Ruinettes station, exit right and head straight down towards the treeline directly below, to the beginning of the old Les Ruinettes double chair. From there, a left turn will take you down through the forest in a succession of switchbacks until you eventually reach the pretty little hamlet of Clambin. At this point, a cat road leads you to an intersection where you can join up with the Médran 1 blue run and make it all the way down to the village. This piste is also known as the run to “Chez Dany”, as it leads to the famous restaurant situated in Clambin, which is well worth the fondue stop!
La Combe 1 : From the top of the Combe 1 double chair, go straight for 20m and then hook a left, eventually making a 180 degree turn past the bottom of the Les Attelas 6-man chair. From there, the run narrows through a section which takes you left, until you reach the lift line. From there, a right turn takes you to the bottom of the lift, straight down the fall line Alternatively, you can hook a right turn after the first pitch under the lift, and then a left will take you onto a wide open, slightly flatter piste running parallel to the other, which eventually ends up at the same place. |
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last updated 26-Feb-2008 |
| Advanced Runs in Verbier |
Although they are technically marked as ski itineraries, the Chassoure-Tortin and Mont-Gelé routes see so much skier traffic that they might as well be marked as black runs. Here is a description:
Chassoure-Tortin : The itinerary starts at the Col the Chassoure, where the Lac des Vaux triple chair and the Chassoure 8-person gondola meet. From there, you can either drop straight in and tackle the moguls down the “wall”, or traverse towards the right along the face and drop in wherever suits you. Traversing is oftentimes worthwhile as the slope tends to be less bumpy the further you go, but be careful when doing so as the traverse can get quite rutted out and catching an edge or making a mistake here could result in an uncontrollable fall due to the slope inclination. From the bottom of the face, the run funnels to the right onto a flat cat road which eventually winds its way down to the bottom of the Chassoure gondola. Alternatively, you can drop off towards the right and follow the lift line to the bottom through a beautiful (but quite flat) landscape.
Mont-Gelé : Although the skiing possibilities off Mont-Gelé’s summit are endless, two official itineraries do exist, one which takes you down the south face to La Chaux, while the other takes you off the back, and eventually ends up at Tortin.
For the south face descent, drop in on the right as you exit the Cable Car at the summit. On this first pitch, make you way diagonally left to avoid the impassible rock bands below. From the choke point, the face opens up in a big open bowl which continues all the way down towards the bottom of La Chaux. You can either continue straight (and eventually meet up with the Col des Gentianes-La Chaux red run), or progressively cut diagonally right to finish up on the La Chaux 2 blue run.
For the backside descent, go straight ahead as you exit the Cable Car at the summit. This will naturally take you left around to the back of the mountain, from where you can pretty much drop in wherever suits you. After a long, moderately graded descent, the slope inclination mellows out & the tracks funnel into a line which eventually gets quite flat, so try and keep your speed up to avoid pushing too much. From this point, you’re essentially on the final portion of the “Stairway to Heaven” off piste run. (see Off Piste in Mt Fort/4 Valleys). |
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last updated 26-Feb-2008 |
| Off Piste in Verbier |
Col de Mines Access to this very popular off-piste run is gained exactly the same way as for the Vallon d’Arbi (see description in La Tzoumaz/Savoleyres section).
Once you’ve reached the Col and dip back onto the “sunny” side, Verbier pops into view and you’re at the start of your run. From there, you can either go straight down, or traverse left or right. Wherever you go, the slope inclination remains a very nice moderately steep grade. If it’s a powder day and you’re amongst the first ones to get there, going straight down is the best & safest bet. As things get tracked out, you can traverse to the skier’s left to get your own fresh track, but the further over you go, the bigger the slope overhead gets, so be very weary of that.
If it’s spring corn you’re after, then you can play with the slope exposure. Depending on how early (or late) it is you might want to traverse left or right. If things are still a bit crunchy at the Col, then you’ll want to head to the skier’s right, as the further over you get, the more south-facing the slope gets, and you’ll find the better transformed snow there. If it’s a bit later in the day, you might want to do the opposite, to avoid overly transformed “soupy” snow. Going straight down is fine too, but if it hasn’t snowed in a long time, you might find it to be a bump run!
No matter which way you choose to go, you will eventually funnel onto the Médran 1 cat road, a blue run which will eventually get bring you all the way down to… Médran!
Col de Mouches Referred to by the locals as “la Mouche”, this area is easily reached with a high traverse along the top of the Chassoure-Tortin slope. From the top of the Chassoure gondola, go towards the slope everyone calls “Tortin” and remain as high as possible, traversing it to the right (an absolute calf or thigh burner for all you boarders!) When you’ve traversed above the whole face, you’ll cross over into the “Mouche”; a huge open bowl of moderate, consistent steepness. Careful when crossing over as it is often quite rocky there.
From there, you can either drop straight in (that tends to be tracked out), or traverse the bowl all the way over until you find your own line to carve, which will eventually join up with the flat section at the very bottom of the Gentianes-Tortin itinerary. While doing this, DO remember to keep an eye on the slope above you. Once on the flats, hook a left & you’re minutes away from the lifts at Tortin! Because of its north-eastern exposure, great snow can be found during the winter months, but come the springtime, beware of the “melt-freeze” effect, which can sometimes leave a wicked, very unpleasant crust on the whole bowl. |
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last updated 26-Feb-2008 |
| Mountain Restaurants in the Verbier Area |
La Chaux (opposite the Jumbo lift station);
L’Olympique (Attelas – top of Funispace lift);
Les Ruinettes (opposite Ruinettes lift station);
Powder Spirit Bar (Attelas – top of 6-man chair).
All have large terraces with panoramic views; perfect to soak up the rays on those warm spring days!
For "a la carte" dining try:
Au Mayen (just below the Combe 1 chair, next to Mayentzet chair);
Chalet Carlsberg (halfway down the Attelas 3 piste);
Chez Dany (in the hamlet of Clambin);
Le Carrefour (at the Carrefour);
L’Olympique (Attelas – top of Funispace lift).
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last updated 26-Jun-2008 |
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