Someone described to us recently that powder days at Verbier were like a 'Hunger Games-style battle for fresh lines ....'. Whilst I couldn't have agreed more, even with firsthand knowledge of this we would still contend that a visit to Verbier on a powder day is ALWAYS worth it. When the snow is fresh, the terrain accessible from the lifts is second to none. And then with a little bit of a push, the possibilities expand massively. You just gotta start early, understand the mountain (do some reconnaissance!) AND avoid peak holiday times and weekends! During these times there are many smaller, nearby ski areas that will be grateful for your custom instead (i.e. the Pays du St Bernard resorts, Crevacol, Ovronnaz, Anzère, Nax Mont Noble, Arolla Evolene).

So, regarding the Hunger Games. There are a serious number of powder-hungry fiends at Verbier, but the same can be said about any 'mega-resort'. Many of them know the hill intimately, others are being led by the nose by guides. And then there are the likes of us, that know our business and have been here enough times to understand how it all works. Skiing here on a powder day is way better and less hectic than at an equivalent US or Canadian resort, or even some French (i.e. Grands Montets!), Swiss (i.e. Engelberg) & Austrian (i.e. Ischgl) resorts. And despite not being 'locals', we find it easy to stay ahead of the pack most of the time. Sure the snowboarders in our group can cause some timing issues, but such is the price we pay for riding with a great group of friends. The only major lift line whilst skiing on this visit was at the Tortin-Gentianes cable car (caused by the snowboarders of course!). This is typical of the mountain. The cable cars are not in Verbier per say, they are part of 4 Vallèes, however they do cause line-ups, but also allow a better distribution of skiers across the sometimes gnarly terrain above it; which is a good thing. Some lifts require patience for them to open. Mont Gele is the classic example. those that are prepared to wait it out for first cabin will reap serious rewards.

The biggest lift line of the day was a little surprising. It was for the download on the tiny gondolas to Le Chable. Those tiny gondola cabins are amusing at such a high-falutin ski resort.

If skiing here during a storm, many of the upper mountain lifts will be closed. Despite there being loads of below tree line terrain to plunder between the village and Les Ruinettes, on the worst storm days head away from the crowds at Verbier and ski at Bruson. Its on the lift pass and is seriously good fun.

Is Verbier great for skiing on piste? Whilst OK, it is definitely not the best reason to come here. Spending some time across at La Tzoumaz & Bruson adds to the piste offering and diversity for sure, but it’s worth remembering that there are NO groomed piste trails linking the Verbier sector to the broader 4 Vallèes. If you cannot ski off-piste, downloading on cable cars/gondolas toward Tortin/Siviez is your only choice. Oh the indignity! So the first rule of visiting Verbier is to come here when you can ski off-piste in all sorts of conditions. But each to their own own.

If you are day-tripping to Verbier, I rate it 5-paws for value based on the superb terrain accessible for the price of a lift pass. Bringing your own lunch and with an Epic Pass, its 6 paws, because skiing here for 'free' is mind-blowing!! If staying on the hill, due to the high-cost of accommodation & food, 3-paws is the best we could go (given it is in Switzerland!), hence we rate it midway between the two at 4-paws for the sake of this review. The better value accommodation is (naturally) in the valley at either Le Châble, further up the Val de Bagnes in the hamlets of Versegeres or Lourtier, or back toward Orsieres. If intending staying at either Versegeres, Lourtier, or Orsieres having access to a car to get to the gondola base at Le Châble is essential.

We adore skiing Verbier and all its neighbours in fresh snow. So will you. And if you have the cash to splash; staying, eating, partying & skiing here will be one of your life’s best memories.

See our thoughts on the resort’s pros & cons via the Verbier overview page.

See our video here

Undoubtedly there are days at Verbier that are just ordinary, however I was lucky to experience an extraordinary day. I only had a small taste of the skiing at Verbier, but in just one day I was ridiculously impressed, and now I have a hefty appetite for more of the same. It was one of the major highlights of a 3 week sojourn to Europe.

We were fortunate enough to strike Verbier at the end of a great snow cycle, although fortune may have come about with some good planning a.k.a. storm chasing. After a 2 day entree of storm skiing at neighbouring Bruson, we hit up Verbier on a bluebird day. An abundance of fresh snow had piled up because the upper lifts had been closed for the few days prior, and it was an awesome day of fully lift-accessed powder. It’s easy to overuse the word “awesome”, yet this day was most definitely worthy of the awesome status.

SNOW
I’m probably a snow snob (actually most definitely, not probably) and I didn’t have super high expectations for the snow quality at Verbier, particularly after the somewhat heavy snow at Bruson the prior days, yet the snow was dry and ego-enhancing thanks to the higher elevation and cold temps. Surprisingly most of the faces were not wind affected either.

The storm cycle had brought a big dump (no idea how much, but it was BIG) which was well received because the tide had previously been low. Undoubtedly the locals know where all the sharks lurk, whereas we found some of them in a couple of zones where we were lured by freshies. Oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained.

UNCROWDED
I thought that Verbier would be absolutely frenetic, with powder hounds elbowing each other aside, especially considering it was a Sunday and the upper lifts had been closed, yet the crowds didn’t seem too bad at all. Perhaps it was my low expectations, some good choices made by my colleague, and a little powder hound luck. We stayed ahead of the pack on a few lift openings and got plenty of fresh powder almost straight off the lifts before we had to start sniffing around. There were small lift lines for the openings of lifts, otherwise we didn’t stand in a queue (except to get down to Le Chable at the end of the day).

LIFTS
I’m used to the slow crappy double lifts of Japan (which are often called romance chairs because they are so slow that you can fall in love with the person sitting next to you that you’ve just met) or the pizza box single chairs (where the only romance is with yourself), so the lift infrastructure at major European ski resorts seems phenomenal to me and Verbier was no exception. The only possible limitation might be the cable cars, as I’m not a great fan of them due to general jostling and inefficiency. Any shortcomings from the cable cars are made up for with plenty of high speed gondolas and chair lifts.

PISTE TRAILS
Cruising around the small sunny Nendaz area was nice, otherwise I confess, I wasn’t paying too much attention because the off-piste was the focus. For such a large ski resort, it seemed that there weren’t many options for intermediates, and limited fall line groomed options to get back down to the village without ending up on that painful meandering blue run.

OFF-PISTE
This is obviously where Verbier comes to the fore. There was plenty of easy to access off-piste as well as more challenging off-piste lines without the need to bootpack or skin that day, and I was thankful that we had full visibility plus a coworker with a general gist of the terrain layout. As a finale we headed up Mont Fort to check out the impressive vistas and skied down the mostly tracked frontside whilst avoiding the avi rubble. Perhaps I’ll return one day to play on the back.

CHILD-FRIENDLY
Nendaz (at Siviez) seemed to be a good spot for families with young children, otherwise I can’t comment as I wasn’t paying much attention because I was distracted by the powder.

VALUE
Verbier is renowned for being expensive and even if there had been availability for a last-minute storm-chasing booking, staying in the Verbier village was probably not in our budget. Thankfully in just doing a day trip to Verbier, we didn’t find it particularly spendy.

We stayed down in Orsières which had some major pros such as being a cute Swiss town with plenty of old buildings, affordability, and a handful of good dining options. The jewel in the crown was the restaurant at the Hotel Terminus where we stayed. The town also made a good hub to visit the Bruson sector of 4 vallees, and the Pays du St Bernard ski area trio.

Our lift tickets were covered by the Epic Pass, which we’re sort of fortunate (depending on your perspective) to have because our home ski resort is owned by Vail Resorts.

The only time the credit card got a beating was lunch. If I had a sugar daddy, I would have had the fondue lunch at the top of Mont Fort that came complete with to-die-for views. Instead I had to settle for the high-priced Black Tap at Col Des Gentianes. The views were nice, which were in juxtaposition with the unnice burgers.

NIGHTLIFE
We didn’t stay into the wee hours to experience the full vibrance of the night life, yet après ski beers on the sunny deck of Lumi was certainly the icing on the cake to a very fun day.
See our video here

Arguably the best big mountain skiing. A system of interconnected off-piste peaks rises above a central valley. An enormous amount of intermediate terrain, mixed with very extensive world class off-piste terrain accessed via gondola/cable-car or short boot packs.

Charming village, great apres, great food, good nightlife. Main runs can be crowded, but for advanced skiers this place is spectacular. Light can get very flat or challenging given primary resort is all alpine terrain, however, there is a sneaky and charming alternative included in the lift pass across the valley called Bruson, with super fun Vermont-like tree skiing if visibility is poor.

Comment Moderator's Note: That's letting the cat out of the bag Charles .... Bruson tree skiing is supposed to be kept top secret :-)
See our video here

I spent a week at Verbier/4 Vallees. It was one of the best weeks of my life. The views are incredible, the lifts are very efficient, groomers are immaculate, off-piste bowls are otherworldly, and on-mountain dining is amazing. A bluebird powder day at Verbier is to date the best skiing experience I've ever had. The only reason you shouldn't go is if you're new to skiing. I think to get the most out of the trip you should at least be able to handle steeper groomers (red's in Europe, double-blues in the USA).

This is also the most expensive ski trip I've ever been on. I stayed in La Tzoumaz instead of Verbier and the accommodations are more reasonable. You do miss out on Verbier apres, which I've only heard great stories about.

Do this trip before you die. If I ever come into generational wealth my vacation home will be in Verbier!
See our video here

The mountain is MASSIVE when including the entire 4-valleys area. Lift system is very modern and up to speed which makes lift lines manageable. Verbier is a classic alpine ski town and a very popular vacation destination, which shows in the the large crowds. Visited Verbier for a week together with some friends and we had a great time cruising from valley to valley, and stopping for a drink here and there. Most groomers are ideal for intermediate skiers, while plenty of advanced terrain can also be accessed. Recommend getting a guide if going off-piste.
See our video here

If you want to have a good meal, european style this is the place.
Groomers are boring.
Off piste lacks of quality snow, the terrain is huge but in the same run be prepared for all kind of snow conditions.
Not coming back.
See our video here

Always risk in week before xmas but we had a good base, then two days of heavy snow to give some good powder. No lift queues at all. Good guides from Mountain Air. Beautiful town, but very expensive to eat out in restaurants.
See our video here

The skiing in Verbier is fantastic. It is an awesome ski area with so much terrain above 2000m. The options are endless across the 4 Vallees, truly mind-boggling. The thing to do here is tour, get off piste and explore with numerous famous 'itineraries' to choose from. We stayed there a week and probably skied 25% of the place. On the food front, best mountain options we found were Chez Simon at La Tzoumaz and Restaurant de Moay in Bruson, where the locals gather to watch ski racing on a Sunday afternoon. Both are very good value. Lift prices at Verbier are reasonable. In town we liked to eat at Fer a Cheval, and had a good meal in the tapas bar in the W Hotel, which is a design nightmare. Overall Verbier is without doubt one of the world's great ski resorts. Make the effort. (Moderators note: Oh to spend a week here - such fun!)
See our video here

Hanging out in the Aosta Valley waiting for fresh snow, we finally made the journey to Verbier via the Grand St Bernard tunnel in March 2018. Aside from the extortionary nature of the tunnel fee and a car search by Swiss border guards for illegal immigrants (didn’t think anyone could hide in my skibag!), the drive to Verbier from Aosta in Italy is straight forward. Not as straight forward as a train ride from within Switzerland, but good enough. The carpark at the Le Châble gondola base near the train station is blissfully free of any monetary charge [Pleasant Surprise Number(PSN) 1]. The train station is being re-built in time for next winter, so will be perfect to receive us next time we journey to Verbier by train (PSN 2). Despite a fullish car park, there was no line at the gondola (PSN 3).

The Le Chable base area has 2 gondola options. One up to the Verbier village and one in the opposite direction to the small Bruson ski area. Both areas are covered by the Verbier or 4 Vallees ski pass, but it is possible to buy a cheaper local pass just for Bruson. In good snow, it is possible to ski to Le Châble from Bruson, but no official route exists from the Verbier side. Shame, cos it looks like it could be fun. Regardless, being March and only at 821m elevation, the snow was boney down low.

Heading to Verbier the widespread village appears over a rise and is reasonably pleasing on the eye (PSN 4). Predominantly wooden clad 4 to 6 storey buildings in a traditional swiss alpine chalet style the village appears sprawling but attractive.

In Verbier, at 1531m the ski area starts to appear. The open slopes of the Savoleyres are obvious to the left and the Medran gondolas head up through thick forest toward the tantalising peaks above. Much of the beginner terrain at Verbier is in & around the main village and up to Savoleyres. For a large ski resort it is somewhat limited.

A quick transfer to another gondola and up again and again and again and again. From Le Chable to the top of Mont Fort at 3330m is three gondolas and two cable cars. The cable car rides are jam packed full – we despise cable car rides for this reason alone. The views are exceptional though, glorious even (PSN 5).

After what seemed like an eternity, putting skis on seemed a novelty. Soaking in the stupendous panorama of mountain peaks, we scoped the way down, plunging in vile moguls on a steep pitch. Reasonably unpleasant. What one quickly understands about Verbier is that this is an off piste experts paradise. The beginner runs are limited, the intermediate and advanced pistes will please the majority for many a day, but it is the freeride terrain that holds the infinite possibilities. Loads of short bootpacks and skin tracks allow for fresh tracks to be gained easily and for days after snowfall (PSN 6).

Mont Gele has possibilities in all directions, but getting back to it after one run is no simple task. Local knowledge here is king.

Popular freeride routes (i.e. from Chassoare or Col des Gentianes to Tortin) and some advanced pistes (like the top of Mont Fort) quickly get bumped and skied out in Verbier. Whilst there was some unsullied snow still around during our visit, to be here on a fresh snow day would be sheer pleasure.

Whilst there are 5 lift ticketing options in the 4 Vallees ski area, thankfully it is near impossible to end up somewhere outside of your lift pass area. It is possible to be disappointed when you find that the cable car leading up to 1300m of pristine vertical is not on your lift pass! So, worth knowing. The standard Verbier ski pass does NOT include the big 3 cable cars (Jumbo, Mont Fort & Col des Gentianes). Only a 4 Vallees pass includes these major lifts.

Skiing down to Siviez one wonders whether it is indeed the place to stay for the serious skier. Just a few hotel and apartment buildings, restaurants, bars, three chairlift bases, some rope tows and beginner ski area, Siviez has the quickest access to all the best terrain with the least crowd prospects. Tree skiing options line the valley’s flanks for poor visibility days and pistes for all levels are one or two chairlift rides away. Was a great place for lunch, delicious and good value (PSN 7) - even though not technically in Verbier!

Back to Verbier via extensive and fast pistes plus some interesting freeride rounds out what is a great ski resort. Après ski options are everywhere and, unusually for Switzerland, quite vibrant. (PSN 8).

Scoring 8 Pleasant Surprises, Verbier surprised even me. We shall return.


See our video here

Verbier is famous for many reasons but the scenery should be the main reason. Set in the Alps, the verbier 4 valleys ski areas are vast and provide terrain for everyone.

We skied the Tortin and Chassoure areas and with fresh snow you couldn't ask for better free riding terrain for advanced skiers. The lifts were a bit busy, but with so much area to ski crowds were so much of a problem.

For families there were beginner options right out of Verbier and at Les Masses.

Pros: Free ski terrain at its Swiss best, huge area
Cons: Expensive even by Swiss standards
Best for: Anyone, free skiers will really enjoy.
See our video here