Verbier and Chamonix Valley

Hi
I want to go to Verbier for a day skiing whilst on holiday for a week in Chamonix as its on the same lift pass MBU, we have a car with chains. Has anybody done this and can recommend the route and where best to park to access the lift system which looks abit un connected from the piste map.

Also any advice on where to spend a day skiing in Verbier/4 valleys, we are good red run skiers but looking more for long cruises than steeps.

Thanks for any advice.

Rob

It's about a 1.5hr drive to Verbier if the roads are OK, you head north on the 1506 from memory and it's pretty straight forward.

However if it's just a day trip for what you're after I'd be tempted to head to Courmayeur (25-30) mins through the Mont Blanc tunnel-there are a few others La Thulie springs to mind but Courmayer is closer. Verbier is a fantastic palce to ski but the main attraction is the off piste, although it's a large area it's disjointed and difficult/time consuming to navigate. Courmayer has plenty of intermediate terrain and it pretty compact-nice visit for a day and you can save yourself the drive and get the bus if you'd prefer to take any hassle out of parking.

Verbier is more reknown for off-piste, maybe Courmayeur would indeed be a better option. It's also closer and if you have a ski pass you pay less to go through Mont-Blanc tunnel. as for the road to Verbier, you need to go in the direction of Vallorcine-Chatelard-Trient-Martigny, after Martigny follow the signs to Verbier;) Park at Le Chable.

Thanks
We are planning on having a day in Courmayeur, we did this last year, it was amazing the difference in snow quality the other side of the tunnel. So you think its 1.5 hour drive to Verbier. Le Chable is better than going to Nendaz or another point to access the lifts

If you go to Verbs, park at Le Chable and take the gondola up. 4 valleys is a brilliant area, but you wont get far in one day. Maybe over the back of Mont Fort down to Siviez and Tortin.
Dont be put off by the talk of off piste and itinerary routes: the run down to Siviez and Tortin is epic and can be handled by any good intermediate skier.

If I was in Cham and looking for a day out, I'd head to Courmayeur as well.

I am not sure which run down to Tortin you mean, Tony, the Chassoure or Gentianes, but both of them can be very conditions-dependant, the bumps on the front side of Mont-Fort are quite unforgiving, and so are the bumps at Tortin in some places, and it hasn't snowed for 2 weeks - all over. I agree that intermediate skiers should be able to handle both too, after all intermediates turn to experts eventually after bombing runs like that:) But they still require some extra skill, which may not be present from skiing just groomed runs, even steep groomed runs. And once committed to, these runs have to be finished. It's not like crossing the piste border and being able to return if you don't like it. But they are epic indeed and worth the effort it takes to ski them.

verbier_ski_bum wrote:I am not sure which run down to Tortin you mean, Tony, the Chassoure or Gentianes, but both of them can be very conditions-dependant, the bumps on the front side of Mont-Fort are quite unforgiving, and so are the bumps at Tortin in some places, and it hasn't snowed for 2 weeks - all over. I agree that intermediate skiers should be able to handle both too, after all intermediates turn to experts eventually after bombing runs like that:) But they still require some extra skill, which may not be present from skiing just groomed runs, even steep groomed runs. And once committed to, these runs have to be finished. It's not like crossing the piste border and being able to return if you don't like it. But they are epic indeed and worth the effort it takes to ski them.

The particular one i had in mind was Chassoure. That was my first ever real non pisted run I had done a few years back. In at the deep end. I read the "good skiers only" sign and wondered whether I could handle it. But I survived. And got to the bottom and rode the gondola straight back up to do it again!
It changed my outlook somewhat as I now enjoy these kind of routes and often look for the alternative route away from the regular pistes.
I was lucky that it was early April and the snow was soft and forgiving, and there was some fresh whilst I was there, but not a lot.
Cracking scenery, wonderful runs. Highly recommended.

To get to Verbier you park at Le Chable, in the valley, and then catch the gondola up to Verbier centre (Médran). Then another gondola to Ruinettes. And then you have a choice of chair, gondola and combimix to various slopes.

In theory, you could get there by train, but I don't know what the connections are like. You'd go Chamonix-Martigny-Le Chable. Have a go at www.sbb.ch but it may only schedule you to the border.

I wouldn't recommend skiing Chassoure without riding the gondola from Lac de Vaux down to Tortin first, to take a look. OK if you're fit, a good skier, and acres of moguls are you're thing, but it does go on, and on, and on .... and there's no alternative once committed. I've seen even obviously competenet skiiers tumble a very long way down this.

A new hostel has opened at Le Chable right next to the lift, CHF 34/night per person, minimun room sleeps 2. You might consider staying over and doing two half-days instead of trying to pack everything into one. See

http://www.le-stop.ch/anglais/home.html

I can't vouch for it, and I don't trust TripAdvisor either way (+/-) but if it's any good, then it will probably be heavily booked-up as Verbier Party Hounds don't have a lot of (any?) cheap accomodation options.