Villars Ski Area

Neither exceptionally big nor small, the Villars ski area’s bonus for keen skiers is its link to the Diablerets glacier, where modern uplift and extensive (and naturally snow-sure skiing) can be found. On the Villars slopes, once you’re on the mountain, either by cog railway from the centre of Villars or gondola from above the village, the lift system offers sufficient variety and options across four 2,000m hills, one of which can be reached directly by gondola from Gryon, the neighbouring village to Villars. Total piste length, including Les Diablerets, but not the glacier, is 100km.

Petit Chamossaire, at 2,037 metres, offers stirring views across the valley towards Leysin and Chateau d’Oex, and  some good pisted descents for strong skiers with a variety of permutations featuring a choice of bumps or interesting, steep tree lined cut-throughs – and all are generally uncrowded. In fact for many of Villars’ regulars, Petit Camossaire is their favourite peak.

Above Villars and to the west is Roc d’Orsay, reached by gondola from one end of town. Much of the skiing lies in the bowl to the east and north of this point, with draglifts and chairlifts rising from the centre to the 2,120m high point – Grand Chamossaire – and east to 1,987m Chaux Ronde. A chairlift and a draglift heads north-east from here, below the ridge to Meilleret and beyond to Les Mazots and then the village of Les Diablerets and access to the glacier; to the south is the final mountain in the Villars ski area, Les Chaux, above Gryon, with an entertaining mix of reds, blacks and blues served by a long chair and a draglift.

Off-piste routes abound in Villars without going far afield: much of the skiing is below the tree line and some of the forest is open to skiers, while the bowls are broken up with unpisted steeper areas interspersed with minor cliffs, leaving a significant portion of the terrain untamed but available for skiing off-piste.

Possibly the most family-friendly aspect of the skiing in Villars is the return to base with all routes taking gentle, meandering forest paths right back into the village. These runs between cosy chalets give a sense of skiing as it used to be, and the main path into the village now has snowmaking over its full eight-kilometre length.  The piste grooming regime covers blue runs each night, reds every other, and blacks not at all.