Verbier Advanced Skiing

Mont Fort forms the heart of Verbier's challenging skiing – there’s only one run down, but it’s steep, broad, bumped and over 1300 metres from top to bottom.

About 30% of skiers visiting Verbier are in the advanced category, attracted not only by the off-piste, but also by the tougher red pistes, along with several serious blacks which together make a total of 40% advanced terrain. There are two further ski run designations within the Four Valleys, both best described as official off piste itineraries: the ‘ski-tour’ (shown on the piste map in yellow over a dotted black line) is ‘marked, not maintained, not controlled, intended for experienced users’; the ‘high mountain tour’ (shown in orange over a dotted black line) is ‘not marked, not maintained, not controlled, intended for very experienced users’. In practice, these are normally so well frequented that you might think you were on a piste, but for the lack of signs and grooming.

Beyond these, virtually every square foot of Verbier’s snow gets skied, even when it’s at the top or bottom of big cliffs or nestles in tight, steep couloirs. Local guides acknowledge that the reputation of the place for extreme skiing means that even with a posted avalanche hazard of four out of a maximum five (when sane people stick to the piste), many hardcore freeriders still choose to go off piste rather than risk missing out on fresh tracks. With the density of tracks all over the mountain, it is at least arguable that every nook and cranny is well consolidated over the course of each season, slightly reducing the overall avalanche risk as compared with similar un-skied terrain.

Mont Fort
Of Verbier's pisted runs, Mont Fort forms the heart of the challenging skiing – there’s only one run down, but it’s steep, broad, bumped and over 1300 metres from top to bottom. The fact that for most of the way they are on the Tortin Glacier passes most people by – crevasses are not an issue between the markers – but it certainly helps the north west face to keep great snow. Continuing to Tortin via a much-used ‘ski-tour’ itinerary or via the long red to La Chaux extends this already long descent but without the focus or challenge of the high mountain face.

Verbier's other black runs
All the other black runs are spread disjointedly round the remaining valleys – a relatively short, steep, east facing route from Attelas to Lac des Vaux and also on the west face, to the Attelas chair; a longer run, Les Fontaines down to Prarion, served only by a drag lift; from the Greppon Blanc towards Combatzeline, also served by a drag; and a long run at the farthest reaches of the Four Valleys, from Etherolla towards Les Masses, dropping 800 metres to end at around 1600 metres on a north facing slope. Also on this side and below the Greppon Blanc are some interesting reds, though the number of draglifts puts a dent in the popularity of the area and certainly slows the rate at which these slopes can be repeated.

Off-piste
The concentration of faster lifts (though longer queues) and steep slopes around Mont Fort, Plan du Fou, Les Attelas, Chassoure and Tortin makes those areas the focus for accomplished skiers (they’re also within easy reach of Verbier) and it’s also where the real action is to be found: the itineraries, off piste routes and couloirs described in the Freeride Verbier section.