Verbier, Switzerland

Lewis family from UNITED KINGDOM writes:

Go to any big name ski resort at main holiday times and you will experience long lift queues and unruly behaviour on the pistes. As for 'Ruperts and Tiffanies' well I'm afraid you can find them everywhere and doesn't that make you the snob for complaining about them - I have skied with worse types and not all English. We were in Verbier early January and for only 4 days. We stayed in Le Chable - we're a bit past the nightlife scene. We have been skiing for the past 30+ years and found Verbier had a great variety of pistes, both on and off and a good place to try off-piste and 'itineraire a ski' some of the trails were fun. I agree, not the choice or the links of the Trois Vallees but for a few days there was more than enough choice. The Portes du Soleil is linked very well. The lifts were fine, I didn't come across one drag or t-bar and nearly half the chair lifts took more than 2. Although some do need upgrading. The beauty for me was the ability of getting to the top of the mountain and being able to ski back to the village a variety of ways without having to take another lift. The Savoyleyres area is brilliant for beginners through to intermediate, there is not a big choice of pistes, but they are long enough to warm you up. The down side could be to get from the Medran to Savoleyres, but the bus link was almost every minute. The ski from Savoyleyres to the Medran lift was lovely and skiable for most skiers. The other issue is that all the runs into Verbier seem to end on one piste and chanelled to a 'funnel'. I can see that being a problem at peak times. Also the lift pass is expensive and food on the pistes pricey, but that wasn't helped by the exchange rate, if we could have got the usual 2.2 francs to the pound it wouldn't have seemed too bad. A tip - get a Nationwide card, don't select the pay in sterling option and you will get a better rate. On arrival home found we'd got a rate of 1.67 instead of the 1.47 that was on offer at the banks before we left the UK. Also if you draw out cash you don't get charged commission, but remember you do need to have the money in your account before you go. Its a debit not a credit card.

2009-01-21