Advertisement
Published: February 28th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Going up the mountain- day 1
Whoopee! Back on the lifts! I guess the real objective is to be back on the slopes, but this is how you get there... Where to start describing my wonderful week in Switzerland? How about the very beginning, our arrival at the train station in Geneva where we gloried in the polite efficiency of the Swiss ticket-seller who sold us our tickets from Geneva to Le Chable? It was so nice to be back in Switzerland (my favorite foreign country) where everything runs like clockwork, people smile at you on the street, the trains run perfectly on time, and everything is wonderful. That's maybe a little idealistic, but Yazi and I were THAT glad to be back...it was a good way to start our trip!
Verbier was getting snow the day we arrived (Monday Feb. 12) so we took the train around the lake and caught the Saint Bernard Express at Martigny to Le Chable, which is in the Val de Bagnes below Verbier. Yazi's Mom Christine met us at Le Chable with the car and drove us all up into Verbier, which sits at about 2000m, nestled in the cradle of an alpine valley below the peak of Mont Fort, which is at 3300m and the highest point of the ski resort. I had been to Verbier once already with my family in
Red coming down into La Chaux
Sun! The clouds cleared on Wednesday evening and Thursday and Friday were glorious. 2000, but this time I was staying on the other side of the town, under Savolèyres, and I was legal...so I had a pretty different experience this time around!
Yazi's family's house is gorgeous and I had my own room, and the views of the town and across the valley were absolutely stunning. We had snow the first 3 days, until Wednesday night, which was good because before that it had been a little too thin. Perfect timing on our part...we got to ski off the 16" of snow and hit some awesome powder fields on Wednesday and Thursday under the La Chaux lift (for those of you familiar with the resort). Always a fabulous sensation, that feeling of floating through a world of white, just like gliding over a sea of feather pillows... : ) I loved getting to ski powder for the first time in a while.
It was really interesting being back on the same pistes I skied as a 13-year-old and viewing them from older, more experienced eyes...trying to compare what we did back then to the slopes that Yazi and I tackled this time! I was really tentative about trying one monster piste-
the Tortin- that I'd done with my family and which had given me skiing-nightmares for years. I remembered it as a giant wall of a slope covered in bumps the size of VWs, a never-ending slope that drops 1000m of altitude and takes an hour to get down. I actually wasn't that far off- it is super long and the moguls are really big, and it's really steep- but that just made it even more fun! We didn't have a chance to do it until Friday on account of the snow and flat light (although we did do it's steeper but shorter twin run on Thursday) but it was incredible when we finally did. It's so steep and hidden in the shadows that it never gets sun on it, so the snow stayed really good all week long...we were doing it Sunday after 4 straight days of glorious, bright sunshine, and it was still good. We also got up to Mont Fort and took advantage of that run, which was not too icy up top (although incredibly steep) and on Friday I think I did that mogul field 3 times in a row. It was awesome being with Yazi and
her Mom (her father didn't arrive until Friday night) because they know the resort so well and could take me on all the good red and black slopes without getting stuck on boring blue and green cruisers. I didn't have to look at a trail map once during the whole 6 days of skiing!
I learned that Savolèyres has great long red and black cruisers (although few moguls) and that La Chaux gets some good powder off-piste that is easily accessible. There is an area called Atelas that we did quite a bit, too, but definitely the best skiing is going down into the next valley over (Tortin) from the high point of Verbier, up on the Gentianes glacier under Mont Fort. If you ski all the way from Mont Fort to Tortin you drop 1600m in altitude and ski for 45 minutes with a pause...incredible! I loved it. I bought a 4 vallées ski-pass which allowed me to ski into the adjacent valleys, and one day we skied all the way over into the 3rd or 4th valley and did a bunch of slopes that I hadn't done on my previous trip. The mountain vistas were absolutely stunning
Looking down on Verbier
Last run down of the day on Thursday and I was literally in my idea of heaven. What great skiing.
Since I've probably lost the majority of you who have never been to Verbier (or don't even ski) I will try to talk about something other than the pistes and the snow conditions now. Just look at the pictures- they are truly worth a thousand words.
Basically, an average day consisted of this: wake up at 8am, eat a leisurely breakfast with lots of coffee; hit the slopes at 10am; ski until 5pm; (punctuated by a stop at the top of the mountain for a vin chaud while we wait for the hordes of tourist-skiers to get off the slopes so we have them all to ourselves!); return to the chalet to change, get rid of ski boots, and drink a Baileys & milk; walk into town for a couple hours of après-ski enjoyment in the bars (optional stop at the souvenir store or the grocery store) followed by dinner at home around 8:30pm and a night in front of the fire reading Atlas Shrugged (1260 page book I'm working on). Repeat 6 days in a row. That, in my opinion, is just about as perfect
as a vacation can get. Sunshine, fresh air, exercise, Baileys, mulled wine (vin chaud), live music in the bars, some dancing (on tables) in the Farinet bar (with 150 of my closest friends), great food at home, even better company, and a good book. Swiss paradise.
For those of you who are fellow skiers, you definitely owe yourself a trip to Verbier if the opportunity presents itself. The terrain is really diverse, the snow is generally good, and the ski area is HUGE. Get the 4 vallées ski-pass, because it lets you go up onto Mont Fort (if you're an expert skier) as well as into the neighboring valleys, which are fun to explore. The best value for your money is the Verbier resort proper, but the other areas have some good runs to and great views. Plan du Fou is a black that comes down from a restaurant with great panoramic views, so check that out.
As for the town, check out the Fer à Cheval (Horseshoe) Bar/Restaurant, which the British tourists can't pronounce and instead call the Fairy Shovel. It has a great atmosphere and they give you free pizza which is really really good...especially when
Farinet Bar
Apres-ski favorite all you've eaten since breakfast is a hot chocolate and a cup of soup! Then check out the Farinet Bar/Lounge, which is where Yazi and I ended up almost every night. They had a really good British band playing there all week long, so that made us happy. Although, be warned: dancing in ski boots is painful! Or at least it is after the effects of the cider you've drunk wear off.
Overall, it was just an amazing trip and I had an absolutely wonderful time. Probably the best vacation so far this year. Pictures say more than words, so check them out...I am going to put up a lot from this trip so that you can all see the resort I have fallen in love with! When I suddenly disappear once day and turn up months later working in a bar in a ski resort, you will be able to understand...
Love from Paris!
~Robyn
PS Tomorrow I fly to Istanbul, Turkey, for 5 days with my friends Bryony and Chris...so that blog will be forthcoming!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.196s; Tpl: 0.022s; cc: 9; qc: 61; dbt: 0.1365s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb