Ski Resort Guide: Verbier

Back from Verbier after a week long Warren Smith course - conditions amazing and the course was fantastic. I seriously wished I had done one of these courses years ago. You learn more in a few days than with weeks of "traditional" ski schools. Stayed in the Hotel Vanessa - great location off Place Centrale only 5 minutes walk up to Medran Lift but a short stagger from the fantastic apres at the Fairinet. The friday session - complete with Champagne spraying topped even the Moosewirt in St Anton. The Hotel is due for renovations at the end of this season which should smarten it up. Verbier has a great upmarket feel, has an amazing variety of skiing especially off piste and is so easy a commute from Geneva. Apart from a bit of a queue(only on Sunday, Thursday & Friday) I could not recommend Verbier (and the Warren Smith course) enough!

Verbier was good. Big, buzzy, plenty to do. Great sun and snow.

Just been in Verbier for New Year. First time I have ever skied at peak time. Could have been busier, (was expecting it to be so), but was not the best time to go for actual skiing. Bar the odd day, such as the changeover Sunday, when conditions were good and the mountains fairly empty. Snow was good, and skiable area is extensive and well sign posted. Mountain patrol is lacking. There is no clear control tower, something which such a large and renowned resort, should have well marked and indicated. Some lift staff need to do a customer relations course, and the insolence of some is an accident waiting to happen. Would say, Verbier is good, but is in many aspects not trying very hard. It has had it good, and expects this to continue, which it may well, but nothing is 100% guaranteed. So the council would do well to go to some more progressive resorts in France and Spain and see why they are taking some of Verbier's pie. In summary, mountains and access by train is great. Staff and service is good to ok, but sometimes very poor. Which is a shame, as some of the mountain people made a major effort to please, and this is dis-coloured by the rude (and uneducated) few. Good for intermediate, advanced and expert. Not so great for learners. Lastly, Verbier is very hilly, so take sturdy hiking boots/trainers! Expect to walk with skis, pretty much wherever you stay. Municipal pool is good, and will be better after a refurb. Swimming, sauna and steam room, 20 CHF.

Off Piste – wow!, pretty easy to access as well. (but get a guide and be safe) Beginners – Its really bad for beginners, nursery slopes are few and busy with sledging as well ! lifts seem to break down over an hour a day ! Intermediates– good place for you. Not much in the way of on mountain restaurants all of them pretty average. Apres very buzzy in town good fun !

Stayed in Verbier during mid-Mar 2008. The town is busy and buzzy. The nightlife is good but downmarket. The slopes were green down low but white up top. The on-piste skiing is surprisingly average and unchallenging. In contrast, the off-piste is outstanding. Steeps, couloirs and huge moguls can be found around every corner. The lift system is wholly inadequate for such a famous resort. Huge lines and long waits were commonplace during weekends and peak times.

In summary, Verbier comes highly recommended. It has some of the best lift-served skiing on the planet. Just avoid the crowds during weekends and public holidays.

Verbier rocks! We stayed with SkiArmadillo in their Belette apartment. Fantastic location near the medran lift and Camilla the chalet host was brilliant. Food was excellent and the accommodation was very comfortable.

The skiing is some of the best in Europe. To get the best of it I definitely recommend hiring a local guide (try La Fantastique). I skiied with Jo Morelli who is a well known guide and seems to like his helicopters. Fun but not cheap! Some of our group had lessons with the European Snowsport and found them to be very good and they all speak English.

The nightlife can keep you up till dawn but make sure you get some sleep so you can experience the vast skiing available.

If you want to know what's going on in Verbier, pick up a copy of Verbier Life magazine. It's in all the shops and bars and supermarkets and is free.

Another good tip is to invest in the new Verbier Entertainments book. Ski Club members can buy it up at the T bar (as well as in other venues) and it gives you savings in shops, restaurants, deals on meals, etc, throughout the village.

If you want to avoid the crowds in the evening, try Croc no Name above the bakery, Bar Jos, or Cosy Bar... all are very sweet, with wonderful staff....just not as hectic as some of the more popular places listed in all the guide books.

Just returned on 10 March 2007, excellent ski area for off piste and on piste people, We had some trouble with the links between the various resorts in the Four Valleys area and would probably not recommend skiing all the way over to Thyon, as there are lots of T-Bars and buttons to contend with. However the amount of skiing in and around Verbier is very good. This was my third ski trip and as an intermediate and whilst I could not understand the attraction to off piste skiing (had not tried it) - I am well and truely converted now! By the end of the holiday we were searching for off piste mogul fields, and there are lots too!!!! This is a very good resort for the confident intermediate to advanced skiers for sure. We used Altitude Ski School which is based in the No1 Sports in the town, cannot recommend private lessons highly enough. We would not have done half of what we achieved without the private tuition we organised. Ask for Mikey at Altitiude.

14 - 17 Jan 07

Just back from Verbier after staying in a private chalet. We flew in to Geneva, then train to Martigny, which is really easy and very efficient, followed by taxi from Martigny to Verbier. The taxi is a complete rip-off and instead I recommend you change trains at Martigny and get on the local service to Le Chable, which takes about 30 mins. It's then 100m to the gondola which whisks you up into Verbier.

The daytime temperature in Verbier was +3 but snow conditions were generally good above Les Ruinettes. Good, well-groomed red runs on La Chaux, Attelas and from Col des Gentianes; and here the lifts were quick and queues small. These are justifiably the most popular areas in the resort but will be busy at weekends. Black moguls from the top of Mont Fort were interesting and the ski tour from Chassoure down to Tortin worthwhile.

Further on, going towards Siviez and on beyond above Veysonnaz and Thyon I wouldn't bother with. The skiing is not great and the majority of lifts are painfully slow T-bars. Also there is only one skiable route back when you get bored. In this day and age you would expect better.

There are many other more attractive and better orgainised resorts to enjoy in Europe, where the skiing is just as challenging. I'm taking the family to Courcheval in March - much better!

Was one of Ski World's first guests at chalet Savoleyres week beginning 16th December

fantastic food and attention from Matt!

Verbier is one of only resorts with snow and we even got in a bit of off piste skiing above Siviez and the back of Savoleyres

The bus service has been extended from 8am to 8pm around Verbier - still no late evening buses though.

If you are a decent skier it isn't a problem getting over to ski the whole area even with restricted lift system last week we got over to Les Masses and back in a day and had a lovely lunch on a balcony by the lift station there (Last April I did the off piste route over the back from Greppon Blanc and the bus back to Les Masses - that was an incredible day with the Ski Club group too!)

La Tzoumaz, the 4 valleys extending?

We have just returned from a glorious location just a short ski from Verbier, La Tzoumaz.

Quiet, stunning views, beautiful chalets, a direct lift link to the main Verbier ski area and a fraction of the cost of Verbier. Sion airport is taking winter flights from the UK and is just 30 minutes drive to the resort. The drive from Geneva takes an incredible route with vistas of the lake and all in an hour and 20 minutes.

The village is worth a mention, it is certainly a place to look out for in the future.

We had an absolutely brilliant week mainly skiing off piste in powder in the middle of April!! Ski Club Rep Andrew Murphy was a great guide - my powder technique improved condiderably following him! We were well looked after by Ski World at chalet Savoleyres just above the Savoleyres lift station with amazing views from the balcony and fantastic food cooked by Martyn the chalet host.

All the knocks are true: Verbier is expensive, crowded and snooty. I should qualify my review by mentioning that I never made it to the top of the main mountain, where three gondolas meet. Judging from the piste map, these look like the best runs...if you're up to the task. This is the most challenging mountain I've been on since Snowbird, Utah. Unless you are able to ski down black runs at full speed despite chugging a bottle of cognac and having fully-blown glaucoma, you will not be able to exploit the extreme terrain.

Just returned from a great week in Verbier (25th Feb - 4th March). There was a large group of us (14) and we all enjoyed ourselves, despite mixed weather including the heaviest snow I have seen over the last few days. We stayed at Hotel Chamois with Inghams which was basic, but superbly located near the Medran and all the main shops and bars; of which Verbier has plenty. In fact I have never seen so many nice ski equipment shops! Travelling with Inghams was ok, but to be honest, they didnt add anything at all. The nightlife is good, centred around a very London like Farinet bar and the Mont Fort pub. Now the skiing, the first thing to say is that some of the lifts are very old and slow, the Q's are ok though, we were there during the local areas half term but the Qs were still ok, but many of the lifts need updating, NONE have covers and when you venture over to the other side of the area there are many long drags. Verbier has a wide variety of pistes, most of the ones in the mian area are a bit boring, short runs along slow lifts, meaning more time spent on lifts than skiing. The best runs are the skiroutes - long and challenging. The most important tip I can give is that if you are not a good or expert skier then dont bother with the 4 valleys pass. To get to the other valleys you need to ski down a fairly tricky skiroute, akin to the trickiest black I have seen, great fun, but you need to be quite experienced. You can also get the lift down, but thats a bit boring! We probably managed only 60% odd of the 4 valleys, and we were skiing hard all day every day. Overall I would say Verbier is a great place but not as slick as say St Anton or 3 valleys in France, Val D'Isere etc.... Also, the Medran lift is the ugliest building I have EVER seen in a ski resort, when you arrive back after a long day its like skiing round the back of a dirty NCP car park! shocking!!! Graffiti the lot !

Just finished 7 days in Verbier 4th -11th Feb. Most slopes in good condition, recent snow fall Thur/Fri helped to freshen them up, but still hard groomed surfaces in places with icy patches catching a few people out. Outside of peak holiday weeks, place is pleasure with little queues and improved lift systems all around. Time your skiing if you can to early morning on lower slopes as they are empty and great condition. Take early or late lunch and ski higher. End of day go to top, have a drink and then have most of slopes to your self on way down. Question need for 4 valley lift pass, if you get a lot more snow, it can make sense but right now, would not bother.

Christmas 2006: Even at Xmas queues were minimal, new Medran 1 and Funispace lifts excellent. However, when snow cover is not perfect and itineraries are closed, the links between valleys are poor (slow lifts & pole work on flat tracks). In these conditions the main ski pistes become horribly crowded as the total amount of skiing is limited Vs other top ski areas. - Not a patch on Val D-Isere/3 Valleys. If I go again it must be mid season when snow cover should be better and off piste available.

We just returned from Verbier and although I agree that it is naturally very beautiful and has lots of off piste potential, I was shocked how little investment in infrastructure there was - especially as the lift tariffs are amoung the highest around. The lift system outside of Verbier proper is still very old and very very slow. I've never been on so many T bars! To call the 4 Valleys 'llinked' is misleading -- you wouldn't have time to get to Thyon and ski for the day there for example, you're lucky to get a few runs in; the slow numerous lifts required mean the return trip is too long for that. Also the resort bus stops around 6pm! with Verbier being a steep and sprawling resort, walking back to your chalet can easliy bea 30 minutes hike. There's no excuse for not offering guests a bus throughout the evening. I enjoyed my skiing in Verbier but overall it felt that I was spending more time on lifts than on the snow and that's not really a good thing.