Up & down conditions in Verbier

I spent most of Tuesday skiing some awesome snow conditions around Mont Fort, Attelas, and Chassoure. First, we traversed right from the top of the Lac des Veux 2 chairlift until we found a nice, relatively untracked area to drop in. The snow was incredibly light and just above boot deep, which meant for a good balance of being able to kick up a decent amount of fresh powder, but also not too deep that it was hard to turn.

With the considerable depth of snow, there were a few very nice rock drops which would seem intimidating if the landing wasn’t so soft, but instead were awesome to play around on.

After this run, and the long Chassoure gondola allowing our legs time to recover, we then skied down the Lac Rouge piste to the bottom of the Lac des Veux 1 chairlift. Conditions on piste were fantastic, with the recent snowfall creating great grip and no ice whatsoever. It was a pleasure to put in some large carving turns at high speed, knowing that there was no risk of hitting a sudden ice patch.

We then caught the lift up and turned right at the top, again traversing right down the backside of Attelas. The snow at the top had become quite bumpy from the high volume of skiers heading down this popular off-piste route, and it was also quite heavy due to spells of sunshine hitting the south-facing slope during the day. We eventually arrived at a large bowl looking down into Verbier town, with a few tracks already winding their way into the village. We had another great run here on some amazing terrain, not too steep but the perfect steepness to allow fast and aggressive freeride skiing. It’s worth noting that we all had transceivers, and I also carry an avalanche ABS bag. This doesn’t mean that you can’t ski these runs without such equipment, but to give yourself and others piece of mind, I highly recommend it.

This off-piste route joins the top of the La Rouge piste, which was in perfect condition. The last time I skied down this run it was very icy, however, this time the snow was excellent. We finished the day with another run down the same route, which was enjoyable once again but perhaps becoming a little heavy in the relatively mild mid-afternoon.

Since then, we’ve had a lot of snow up top and very high winds throughout Wednesday and Thursday morning. Due to the high winds and possible large snowdrifts, there will likely be a high avalanche risk for the next couple of days. It’s currently at level 4 but would not surprise me if it went up to level 5.

The forecast is saying heavy snow above 2300m, potentially amassing up to 60cm over Thursday, with heavy rain lower down. Later in the week, we could possibly see another 20cm on the way, but with high temperatures still predicted, it’s not clear yet whether it’s likely to be rain or snow at resort level.

Either way, there’s still a great atmosphere in resort and, with January and February usually being colder months, this awkward weather pattern should fade away and leave us with a snowy winter wonderland.