Verbier

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‘Verbier Background’

Recommended for intermediate and advanced skiing, snowboarding and moguls, Verbier lies in a sunny, well sheltered position in the heart of Switzerland’s southern most Alps and is known for its sun and snow record.

Verbier has access to 410kms of piste, the longest being 13km and also offers limited year round skiing on the Mont Fort Glacier. Skiing is high and varied with off piste runs offering varied terrain for the advanced skier. Verbier also offers a terrain park with a half pipe for snowboarders and paragliding, ice climbing and ski trekking facilities.

Well known for its vibrant night life, Verbier has a cosmopolitan atmosphere, luxury accommodation and predominantly Swiss restaurants.

Review by editor World Reviewer Staff

‘Verbier’

For the advanced and expert skier this is a great resort with an excellent variety of slopes.

Review by expert member Andrew Lockerbie

‘Premier ski resort’

This is the premier ski resort of French-speaking Switzerland, with an unpretentious panache and a fun-filled atmosphere. Its restaurants serve some of the finest creative cuisine in the region; others make do with simple alpine fare for hearty appetites. If you don't speak French, you won't feel uncomfortable--many of the resort's nightlife options cater to Brits. (Throughout the town, English-style pubs compete cheerfully with French cafes.) Verbier lies at the heart of a sprawling, high-tech network of cable cars and gondolas that will connect you to such relatively unknown satellite resorts as Veysonnaz, Versonnaz, and La Tzoumaz. The resort is favored by world-class athletes for the difficulty of many of its slopes. [frommer]

Frommers

Review by press.

‘Excerpt from 'Our low-cost run at Verbier'’

By David Rose for The Observer,

First Published March 16, 2008

...Since the early 1980s, when the Duchess of York was a legendary Verbier party girl, the resort has had a deserved reputation for being posh. Nowadays, the Sloane tones of the expensively groomed gels queuing for the Mont Fort cable car have been augmented by a growing number of Russians.

And even if you can't quite afford to rent Richard Branson's new chalet in the resort at £35,000 a week, or the £5,000 cocktails in the Coco Club, ordinary package deals to Verbier are daunting enough. This year, a week in February half term at the Clubhotel de Verbier would have cost £3,552 half-board for a family of four - and that's before any essential extras, such as lunches, lift pass and equipment rental. There were only three of us, but the cost of single supplements meant we would not have paid much less.

Even when I investigated the do-it-yourself option, I came away with a sinking heart. Though I started to look for deals last October, I could not find weekend flights to Geneva in February for less than £200 return, and the cheapest Verbier apartment on offer would have cost more than £1,000. Transfers alone would have been a further £200.

It did seem a shame. Verbier, I was learning, has some of Switzerland's best and longest 'itineraries', partially regulated off-piste descents which offer the pleasures of free-ride skiing with much less of its danger - after snowfalls, the resort makes the routes safe from avalanches before they are reopened. On top of that, the 'Four Valleys' pass allows access to almost 450km of groomed slopes - the biggest area in Switzerland.

In the end, the solution to my problem lay in those two words - 'Four' and 'Valleys'. To ski the best Verbier has to offer, it isn't necessary to stay in Verbier - which sits at the far western end of this vast linked ski area - at all. From the internet piste maps, Thyon and Veysonnaz - the two principal resorts towards the valleys' eastern side - looked a little far from the gnarly action to be had up at Mont Fort and Mont Gele, the area's two highest lift-served summits. That left the village of Nendaz - bang in the middle.

Full Article from The Guardian

Review by press.

‘Verbier’

With great skiing, stunning scenery, a bustling nightlife and a pleasant setting, Verbier is one of the great Alpine resorts. There is an extensive array of challenging skiing with the variety of off-piste slopes, just one of the reasons why Verbier finds favour amongst advanced skiers. The main slopes can become hugely busy, though there are some under-exploited areas such as Savoleyres and Nendaz, which may be better suited for beginners and intermediates. The problem of lift queues has been reduced in revent years following improvements to the lieft system, though a significant number of the mountain restaurants reamin overcrowded, especially at peak times. Although improvements have been made to the signposting, Verbier has been criticized for being difficult to navigate once up the mountain. Verbier's aprés-ski is superb, with a wide choice of clubs and bars ensuring a fantastic nightlife.

Review by expert member David Holyoak

‘Verbier: the cool out in the cold’

By Clar Mann for The Telegraph.

First published 10 November 2008.

Last season Verbier was suddenly the hottest resort in the Alps. Its first VIP members’ club, the Coco Club, opened, causing quite a stir with its £1million makeover, gold-leaf walls and crazily priced cocktails.

Sir Richard Branson’s luxurious chalet, The Lodge, upped the ante with a lavish £3.5million refit and a £50,000-a-week rental tag, and the new minimalist Nevai hotel set about pandering to the needs of City boys out for a weekend of hardcore skiing, unfettered spending and tireless drinking.

And then…crunch. But are the hills alive with the sound of cancellations? You bet they’re not. Some of the City boys on corporate jollies may be absent this season but Verbier is not the sort of place for counting the pennies. Ski Verbier, which has operated exclusively in the resort for 16 years, says that it is fully booked for New Year and February half- term with Christmas and Easter following closely. You only have to look at the websites of other similarly upmarket ski operators to see that most of the choice weeks have already been snapped up...

See the full article in The Telegraph, 10th November 2008

Review by press.

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