Verbier, known for its legendary après-ski as much as its world-class skiing, is one of the most famous of all Swiss Alp resorts and an iconic destination all who take their skiing seriously.
Interestingly, despite its size and its world-wide fame, Verbiers is reminiscent in many ways of a traditional Alpine mountain village, thanks to its old-world chalet-style architecture which dominate the resort. Verbiers is actually one of the more modern resorts in the Swiss ski scene, having been developed post World War II. And even then, although winter visitors weren’t an uncommon sight, things here never really took off until the early 1970s, when Verbier was linked up with its neighboring villages and became part of Switzerland’s largest skiing area, Les 4 Vallees.
Nowadays, Verbier, with a ski season running from November till April, is known as the gateway to Les 4 Vallees, a distinction that has helped it to become one of Europe’s most well known resorts. Verbier is blessed with a highly sophisticated gondola and cable car network, meaning all 410km of pistes in the area are conveniently accessed from here, while the area is also known for having some of the best lift-served off-piste skiing in Europe.
With minimal queues for the ski lifts and gondolas, its superb snowmaking facilities and its high altitude, the snow cover at Verbier is normally excellent from the beginning of the season until the end, no more so than on the Mont-Fort glacier.
Verbier has a number of excellent ski schools to cater for beginners, along with some nice gentle slopes at La Chaux, Lac des Vaux and Savoleyres. Meanwhile, more experienced skiers and snowboarders can take advantage of some of the steepest descents in Europe, such as Nendaz’s legendary World Cup downhill run, the grueling Mont-Fort, or the powder bowls of Chassoure, Mont Gele and Tortin.
Beyond the slopes, don’t forget to check out the lively après-ski scene. Verbier is almost as well known for its fashionable restaurants and swish bars as much as its skiing, with Friday and Saturday nights being particularly lively thanks to the huge influx of weekend trippers arriving from all over Europe.
Currency: Euro
Budget for one week: Over €1000 per week
Taxes and gratuity: Tipping is expected
Official language: French
Population: 2767
Electricity:
- Voltage: 220-240 Volts (U.S./Canada are 110-120 Volts)
- Primary Socket Type: Europlug, Schuko
- Multi-voltage appliances (laptops, etc.): Plug adapter
- 110-120V electronics: Plug adapter + step-down transformer
- 100V Japanese appliances: Japan to U.S. reducer transformer
Other key facts:
- Elevation – Top elevation 3,330 m
- Total Runs – 410 km of runs and 89 lifts
- Snowfall - 250 in +./year
Images courtesy: Tim Rogers and Jean-Christophe Wüthrich
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