Ski Areas in Verbier & the 4 Valleys

Ski Areas in Verbier

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 Swatch Snowpark 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, accessible from Médran via the 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 Swatch Snowpark 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!

La Tzoumaz/Savoleyres Ski Area

Situated right behind Savoleyres’ south-facing slopes, La Tzoumaz’s pistes quickly plunge into the tree-line, offering a large choice of runs with ok visibility to those who want to ski, regardless of the bad weather.

While Le Nord (6-man high speed detachable chair) services a short but sweet, moderately steep ridgeline speckled with trees, Le Taillay (4-man chair) on the opposite end gives access to very mellow terrain which starts off very open and gradually enters the tree-line. With both, you have the option of either staying on the piste or wandering off, without ever having to venture too far to the sides to find fresh powder. Be careful however when skiing off-piste to the skier’s right of Le Taillay, not to go too far right, as you will miss the cat road bringing you back to the lift & will be on your way to the bottom of the resort through a mess of tight, annoying trees.

The Les Etablons (2-man chair) can offer some great turns when the snow is good lower down. The second half of the red slope which starts directly to the left or skier’s right of the lift has a good moderate pitch and can be quite fun. What more, with the brand-new 8-man La Tzoumaz gondola, great “top to bottom” runs can be enjoyed, knowing that line-ups are now a thing of the past!

Bruson Ski Area

This lovely little ski area situated opposite to Verbier in the Val de Bagnes is an absolute local’s “rendezvous” in bad weather. Given its low altitude, 95% of its terrain is tree-lined which means that even in foggy conditions, you can actually see something!

Getting over to Bruson is a bit time-consuming but well worth the effort. From Verbier, download the bubbles to Le Châble, where a yellow postal bus (included in your lift ticket price – check with the office at Médran for schedules) will take you to the base of the ski area. In all, if you time your connection right, expect to spend 45mins getting there.

Mt Fort & 4 Valleys Ski Area

The Mont Fort sector of the 4 Valleys Ski Area offers, without a doubt, the largest array of easily reachable advanced/expert terrain of any ski resort in the Alps. When combined with the Verbier sector’s Mt-Gelé and Tortin itineraries, the possibilities are simply endless.

The Mont Fort sector can either be accessed via La Chaux (2260m) by loading onto the Jumbo, or via Tortin (2050m) by taking the Col des Gentianes tram. The Col des Gentianes tram was recently (2009) upgraded to provide cabins similar to Jumbo, meaning greater comfort and smaller queues.  Both lifts converge at the same spot…the Col des Gentianes, at an altitude of 2950m!

From there, you can either choose to drop down towards Tortin via the Gentianes – Tortin itinerary (see Off Piste in Mt Fort/4 Valleys) or take a more mellow route down towards La Chaux taking the Gentianes red run (see Intermediate Runs in Mt Fort/4 Valleys).

From the Col des Gentianes, there is also the possibility of remaining in the high alpine area and skiing the Glaciers 2 red runs, which are serviced by the Glacier 1 & Glacier 2 drag lifts. Due to the glacier’s heavy recession these past few years, this area necessitates lots of natural snowfall to operate, and therefore, is not always open.

Those seeking the awe-inspiring panoramic views from the top of Mont Fort, as well as the challenging and often mogulled-out black run on its front face, can head up to its 3330m summit via the Mont Fort 2 tram. From there, you can also drop off the backside for some adrenaline packed descents (see Off Piste in Mt Fort/4 Valleys) but it is unadvisable to do so without the accompaniment of a certified mountain guide.

A word of advice for all of you venturing up there: If the weather is threatening to come in and you don’t know the sector well, it is preferable to make your way down the mountain ASAP as the high alpine environment and pea-soup fog do not mix very well. The lack of trees and recognizable features can quickly give you an impression of vertigo, not to mention how easy it is to become lost amidst such a vast area. Even following the piste markers to avoid falling off the run can be a difficult task for someone who knows the slope layout well. Better to save your high alpine adventures for nice sunny days!

The rest of the 4 Valleys, namely Nendaz, Veysonnaz and Thyon (which, together combined, go by the name of “Printze”) are also well worth the visit. Spanning North, North-East from Tortin, the Printze area offers a great choice of blue and red runs, as well as a few blacks for the more intrepid skiers and boarders.