VERBIER
Ski & Snowboard Resort Review
Located high in the Swiss Alps Verbier, SWITZERLAND has first rate skiing and snowboarding terrain, spectacular scenery and a charming village.
Verbier Skiing and Snowboarding Terrain
The skiing and snowboarding terrain in Verbier is fantastic. It has 400 kilometres of terrain spread across four valleys. Verbier is interlinked with the resorts Thyon, Veysonnaz and Nendaz.
The off piste skiing and snowboarding opportunities are endless with open wide powder fields, naturally rolling terrain and glacier heli skiing. On the pistes there are steep mogul runs, long linked groomed trails and gentle beginner areas.
Verbier introduced new Hands Free ski passes in the 2008/2009 winter season. The hands free passes automatically enable lift access without staff manually checking passes ensuring less crowd congestion.
Advanced Skiing and Snowboarding at Verbier
Advanced skiers and snowboarders are in heaven at Verbier. Basically if you can see it and get to it you have first rights to deep virgin powder.
There are endless cliff drops and open powder fields, hair raising chutes and narrow gullies. You could spend a month skiing and snowboarding at Verbier and still keep discovering untouched naturally rolling terrain.
From the top of the Mont Fort Cable Car head off piste staying on the right hand side of the Col des Gentianes Cable Car towards the Tortin Area where the terrain is steep and very challenging.
The Lac des Vaux 3 Chairlift gives great off piste access to the Tortin Area. Just turn left at the top of the chairlift and follow the path of the Chassoure Gondola down to the Tortin Area.
Head to the Tracouet Area for some massive mogul skiing and snowboarding under the Plan du Fou Cable Car. After big snowfalls the moguls are covered in fresh powder making the run steep, deep and awesome.
Intermediate Skiing and Snowboarding at Verbier
Intermediates can happily access the entire skiing and snowboarding area at Verbier on wide groomed extremely long linking trails.
From the La Chaux Area at 2,260 meters catch the Jumbo Cable Car to the top to access the Les Gentianes-La Chaux trail. The trail leads underneath the cable car before breaking off to the left and heading all the way down to the Verbier Village area. It is one of the longest trails at Verbier.
The Cheminee trail at Thyon is great first thing in the morning; it is fast and wide just right for giant carving GS turns.
Located below the Cheminee Chairlift the new Veysonnaz Gondola gives access to another long winding trial the Veysonnaz trail.
Beginner Skiing and Snowboarding at Verbier
Le Rouge and Les Esserts trails just above the Verbier Village are wide and gently sloping perfect for first timers to learn on.
Once confidence grows turn left at the top of Le Rouge Chairlift onto the long, fun and winding Savoleyres trail leading all the way down to the base of the La Tzoumaz Area.
In the 2007 winter season the family friendly Savoleyres Area introduced a new eight seater gondola La Tzoumaz which transports 1,600 passengers an hour. This has eliminated a lot of congestion on the slopes.
The Medran 1 Gondola rises up from the Village to the Les Ruinettes Area at 2,200 meters. From the top take the Medran 1 trail back down to the Village. In the lower sections the groomed trail winds its way through the trees.
The Joc and Trabanta Chairlifts on the lower slopes of the Thyon Area access more open wide beginner slopes.
Verbier has eight Ski and Snowboard Schools with bilingual instructors offering group, private and day long lessons for all ages and ability levels. Experienced mountain guides and off piste powder lessons are also available.
Verbier Terrain Park
The large 1936 Neipark Terrain Park in the La Chaux Area has kickers, jumps, rails and boxes for intermediate level and above free riders. It also has a separate boardercross course.
With the many natural off piste obstacles on offer at Verbier the terrain park rarely gets crowded.
Verbier Heli Skiing and Snowboarding
Verbier has heli skiing and snowboarding tours lead by professional guides on the surrounding mountain peaks through endless acres of deep untouched powder snow. Helicopters leave from the Tracouet Area heading directly to the peak of Petit Combin. The tours are usually only in small groups of four to six advanced skiers and snowboarders.
Other Activities at Verbier
Other outdoor activities at Verbier include hiking, ice climbing, snowshoeing, paragliding, paraskiing, tobogganing, horse riding, dog sledding and cross country skiing.
The indoor Verbier Sports Centre has a heated swimming pool, saunas, Turkish bath, squash courts and an ice skating rink.
Massage and beauty therapies are available in the Verbier Village. The Verbier Tourist Office has free 15 minute internet sessions available during opening hours.
Shopping at Verbier
The Verbier Village has many ski and snowboard shops stocking the latest equipment and rental gear, fashion boutiques, children’s fashion shops, jewellery shops, gift and souvenir stores, photography shops and art galleries.
The Village also has pharmacies, beauticians, well stocked grocery markets, butchers, patisseries and delicatessens.
Verbier Restaurants
There are 18 restaurants and self service cafeterias on the slopes. La Cabane du Mont Fort Restaurant built in 1925 serves local Swiss specialities all day with full table service inside and out on the sun terrace.
The views from Restaurant La Marmotte’s sun terrace are sensational; the restaurant serves fondues, salads, sweet desserts and warm drinks.
The Verbier Village has more than 55 restaurants and cafes serving delicious Swiss, French, Italian, Mexican, Japanese and international cuisine.
The lovely Au Vieux Restaurant serves traditional French meals complemented by an excellent wine list.
The small Café in the Au Vieux Valais Hotel has sensational local Swiss cheese fondues and raclette.
The meals at Le Millenium Restaurant are a combination of Japanese and French infused cuisine. The restaurant has a set menu and an ever changing specials menu.
The El Toro Negro steak restaurant serves huge grilled steaks American or French style.
The Italian Le Borsalino restaurant is very popular serving gourmet pizzas, pastas and barbequed ribs.
For a quick snack go to Harold’s Hamburgers for the freshest and best quarter pounders in Verbier.
The Verbier Village also has takeaway outlets selling pizzas, baguettes and hot sweet and savoury crepes. Don’t bypass the patisseries also serving sweet and savoury delights.
Verbier Nightlife
The nightlife at Verbier is big! The bars and pubs fill up for après ski drinks remaining full with guests from around the globe until closing time – often just as the sun is rising!
Pub Mont-Fort is one of the most famous pubs in Verbier. It is over two stories with bars on both levels serving cocktails, shakers and shots. The pub has wild party nights and happy hour every night.
The Central T Bar opens early serving cooked English breakfasts remaining open until late. In the evenings the busy bar has quiz nights, party theme nights and live band performances.
Murphy’s Bar in the Garbo Hotel is a small but popular bar with a wide variety of wines, whiskies and champagnes.
Verbier has four nightclubs with DJs playing the latest funky music. One of the trendiest and most expensive is the Farm Club attracting international celebrities. The candlelit Casbah nightclub in the Hotel Fairnet has a North African theme with tents, low tables and cushion seating.
For a quiet drink go to the King’s Lounge it has an open fire place comfortable couches and delicious cocktails.
More About Verbier
Your Verbier Ski & Snowboard Resort Reviews
Alison Liddell, Australia. March 2006 We have had a trip to Verbier and were somewhat disappointed. Because of the strict Swiss environmental rules, the lifting system is not good. There are some fast cable cars and gondolas but also a lot of very old double chairs and some pomas. There are a lot of boring tracks which need to be used to connect different areas. The season was poor which meant that many areas were almost unskiable. Some slopes are so difficult in icy conditions that we had to use the cable car to get down a slope in order to access another area! Accommodation is nearly all a long way from the main lift so it means quite a trek in the morning and evening. If you leave your boots in the lockers near the lift, make sure you have boot warmers as the heating in the building is inadequate.
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