Verbier
It's said that Verbier is the ski resort of choice for the glitterati, so Tanya and I went there to ski and be seen. I'm not one-hundred percent sure what the glitterati means, but I suspect it boils down to meaning rich people. It must be said that anyone who can afford to go skiing is, by definition, rich. But the money on display at Verbier is just mildly sickening. Fancy chalets with spas on balconies are everywhere. I've never seen so many fur coats, let alone on ski slopes! We happened upon one rather nice scene in which we passed a couple walking through the snow; the girl was happily unencumbered while her boyfriend pulled behind him a little sled with only one object on it: her Louis Vuitton handbag.
The scenery at Verbier is outrageous. The highest point you can get to by lift is Mont Fort, at 3300 m. From there you can see the Matterhorn in one direction, and Mont Blanc in the other! In between lie the alps, snow-covered and magnificent. There are so many peaks that I'm tempted to write that they are innumerable, except that I'm sure the Swiss have long ago enumerated them.
The Matterhorn (4478 m) is the dark spike on the right here.
Mont Blanc (4810 m) is the tallest peak, both on the skyline here, and in Western Europe.
Grand Combin (4314 m) is the big peak on the left here.
From Mont Fort there is one piste down, a long black run that heads down a glacier from the top. It starts with a steep mogul field and then moves onto groomed, much less steep ground that lets you rest your legs after the moguls. This was by far the steepest run I've been on in Europe. I was quite intimidated, but the snow was good and it was a fantastic piste. We went back for a second go. It seems that most of the steeper slopes at Verbier are off-piste, and therefore not necessarily controlled for avalanches, and definitely not patrolled. Mont Fort is the exception.
The top of the brilliant black piste off Mont Fort at Verbier.
Tanya enjoying the skiing at Verbier.
The grin says it all.
A skier finishing off the day with an off-piste run.
Verbier has used its reputation and popularity, and its corresponding richness, to invest in impressively slick technology and infrastructure. To get to the village, you can take a train from Montreux to Le Châble, on which Tanya and I could exchange our Snow'n'Rail tickets for the now ubiquitous ski-pass-with-embedded-chip. Using said pass you get straight onto a gondola from Le Châble to Verbier itself, where you can hire a locker that is also opened by the ski pass. The lifts are big and fast, and there are some giant telecabines that whisk people very high very quickly. Yesterday there are masses of people and the queues were quite crazy, filled with with rude, pushing people, many of whom thought their Rolex meant they should get onto the lift faster than everyone else. Besides the crowds, though, the snow was good, the weather was fantastic, and the scenery was spectacular. The glitterati spend their riches on many silly things, but I see why they have apparently chosen Verbier - it has a lot going for it.
Verbier, snow covered, and nestled in the mountains.
A paraglider over Verbier at sunset.