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Verbier

Snow report / Verbier/Val de Bagnes

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Last snowfall12th April 2008
New snow last 24 hours0cm (0in)
 
Lower slopes0cm (0in) average base depth
Upper slopes0cm (0in) average base depth
 
Percentage open0% of slopes open
Surface conditionsClosed for snowsports
 
Resort temp max0ºC (32ºF)
Expected midday freezing level 0m (0ft)
Forecast next day
Verbier has it all: big skiing, big chalets, big nightlife. You pay for its legendary off piste and party status – first tracks are as rare as hen’s teeth while accommodation, along with everything else, is pricey for what you get. But most people agree that it’s one of the great Alpine resorts and there’s certainly no question about the terrain: it’s mind-blowing.
 

Our Rating:

Advanced *****
Intermediate ***
Beginner **
Despite rustic appearances – at a glance this is a rambling collection of wooden chalets in a sun-kissed meadow 1500m up a mountainside - Verbier is a purpose built resort which before 1925 was little more than summer pasture. The ski area, the Four Valleys, is Switzerland’s largest lift-linked domain, with a whopping maximum vertical drop of 2,509m (off piste) and over 400 pisted kilometres, all handily located just a few miles from the eastern end of the Lake of Geneva.

Critics say the region is hard to find your way around – partly a function of its enormous and varied terrain as much as poor signposting – and that the lift system is imperfect. But the biggest issue is simply that Verbier is a victim of its own success – a situation the resort has addressed with increased lift capacity. Let’s hope it continues to grow.

Thanks to legendary off piste opportunities and competitions like the Verbier Ride and O'Neill Xtreme, top skiers and boarders come from all over the world to ski Verbier. So do plenty of wannabes: get ready to fight your way through gaggles of helmeted, shovel-toting freeriders warming up at the top of the main lifts each morning.

There’s no question, the standard of skiing here is high, but there’s no need to feel outclassed, whatever your level. Intermediates might ask themselves why they’re fighting Verbier’s crowds when the Portes du Soleil, just across the valley, might deliver more of their kind of skiing without the hustle. The answer is simple: when you leave the slopes for the après ski and nightlife, there’s no contest.

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