That’s the way, ah huh ah huh, I liiike it, ah huh ah huh! Now repeat this ‘old school’ tune as you sashay off down the powder slope amongst open larch trees ......

It is not huge & not vibrant. It is unknown; has no ski resort village; no exciting après ski or nightlife & no modern ski lifts or even snowmaking. And yet, I love it. In fact coming to places like Vicheres Liddes makes me constantly question why we bother skiing the many 'industrial' mega ski resorts of the world.

We have driven past Vichères-Liddes on the Grand St Bernard Pass road so many times without skiing it that we should have been arrested for negligence whilst on duty! Having avoided the outstanding arrest warrants, we finally put them to bed by supping on its gorgeous, blissfully silent slopes during January 2026.

Liddes is by far the most approachable of the three Pays du St Bernard ski resorts. And by that we simply mean the skiing is on more open, gentler terrain that suits a wider cohort of the ski population. But gentler doesn’t mean less fun, its just not as potentially hair-raising off the piste as either Champex-Lac or La Fouly.

Wide open larch meadows and alpine bowls are Liddes best feature. You can charge straight into it via cat tracks that run both skiers left & right of the chairlift terminus. The surface tows will get you another 200m vertical higher up the hill. The pistes are great for intermediates, though just a touch limited in scope for an extended stay. Getting to and from the upper mountain novice area would be a huge drama and this ski area is best avoided by first-timers.

Driving up the last 5km is on a very narrow road that is thankfully reasonably bereft of oncoming traffic. The car park is splendidly located on the side of the mountain & is free of charge. Whilst it ski-in from the off-piste, it does require a short walk to get the chairlift base.

Whilst one can easily stay in one of the small villages along the main road leading to the Grand St Bernard road tunnel, we elected to stay centrally in Orsieres. We don’t regret it. Having a rental car allowed us to simply ski all the regional resorts (including Verbier et al) with only short travel times, and in amongst fabulous mountain scenery everywhere we went.

Sure the lifts are old & slow. And sure the hill is simple & quiet. But this is an oh so good ski area for fabulous stress-free turns with a few friends. And how good is it skiing in a ‘resort’ where the only sounds are the pleasing clunking of the few lifts and the laughter, whooping & yipping of you and your mates as you ‘dance’ your way down the hill for another lap. That’s just the way I like it.

See our thoughts on the resort’s pros & cons via the Vichères-Liddes overview page.

See our video here

After spending time at mainstream Verbier with its throngs and uber-modern lift infrastructure, it was refreshing to visit Vichères-Liddes to see that there are still peaceful little ski areas that are delightfully stuck in a time warp.

We’d based ourselves in the town of Orsières, which also had some old school character in the form of a historic church bell tower and antique wooden buildings, and then checked out Vichères-Liddes Ski Area enroute to Saint-Rhémy, just over the border in Italy. It was a 15 minute drive from Orsières to Vichères-Liddes, and the last part of the drive was particularly scenic as we drove past big rocky escarpments.

There were very few people at the ski hill, and it was immediately apparent that it had a charming local vibe. Lift tickets were cheap, yet for the output of francs there wasn’t a lot of infrastructure on offer.

The slow dinky chair lift and the T-bars would potentially have become tedious across multiple days, but they were OK for a day trip, and it was great to be reminded that old school lifts help to keep the crowds away.

The above treeline zone serviced by La Chaux T-bar offered wide expanses of mellow off-piste. The vertical was only about 200m, with one main pro being the impressive views of dramatic rocky peaks across the valley, and the other being the lack of tracks. There were plenty of fresh-ish lines to be had, despite it being a day and a half since snowfall. The snow thickened up a little and became like fondue in the afternoon. Mind you, I do love fondue! The well groomed red piste were also untrafficked and there were still fresh cords in the late afternoon. A little further down were sub-alpine and tree zones, where the fruit was ripe for the picking.

At La Vuerdette near the kiddies’ zone was a nice snackery to hang outside and enjoy the splendid views, and the finale of the day was a slick ski down the black run which would have been more fun on skinny skis.

Speaking of skinny, as we departed Switzerland on the road to Grand Saint Bernard Pass, we drove past the Liddes Dairy and stopped to look at the vending machines chocked with big wheels of raclette cheese, which were quintessentially Swiss (with a nod to the Japanese). As tempting as a purchase of raclette cheese was, I have a particular penchant for fondue and chose to save some artery hardening yumminess for another time. I hope to see you another time Switzerland and your mountainous cheesy goodness.
See our video here