4 Vallees Ski Resort Switzerland

The 4 Vallèes is a Swiss mega ski resort combining Verbier (incl. Bruson, La Tzoumaz/Savoleyres), Nendaz-Veysonnaz-Thyon (the Printse sector) with the Mont Fort cable cars to create a world-class freeride haven. The largest fully interlinked ski area in Switzerland, the 4 Vallees is a resort of epic proportions, funnily enough spanning four valleys! If 410km of ski trails, limitless off-piste and over 2,500m of skiable vertical aren’t enough to satiate the hardest of hardcore skiers & snowboarders, we don’t know what would!

Pros & Cons for Verbier Ski Resort

Pros

• Vast interlinked ski area - the largest in Switzerland & one of the largest in the world (3rd or 4th depending on who is counting!).
• Mammoth skiable vertical on generally high elevation terrain.
• Sensational (world-class) lift-served off-piste freeride terrain.
• Diverse range & number of on-piste trails for all abilities.
• Reliable snowfall.
• Numerous ski-in ski-out accommodation options.
• Some of Switzerland’s best après ski & nightlife in Verbier.
• Backcountry ski options easily accessed.
• Whilst some sectors can be incredibly busy, the resort is big enough to still have super-quiet zones.
• Easy to get to via train (or train/bus) from Geneva airport and Brig via Sion or Martigny.

Cons

• Some sectors busy on a powder days and weekends.
• Easy access off-piste areas can get tracked out quickly in some sectors.
• Lift connections between Veysonnaz/Thyon and the rest of the 4-Vallees is poor via some low volume surface tows.
• Cable cars in the upper resort around Mont Fort can have long wait times & be heinously packed with people!
• There are no groomed pistes between the Mont Fort sector and Tortin (the start of the Nendaz-Veysonnaz-Thyon sector). Ride the off-piste bumps or download!
• On-mountain accommodation generally expensive.
• While the après can be great, the prices, particularly in Verbier, can be extortionary.

Pro or Con (depending on your perspective!)

• ’Bucket List’ ski & snowboard location.
• Multiple access points, villages & ski areas.
• High numbers of surface lifts in the Printse sector.
• May be best explored with a guide/instructor (at least initially) to get the most out of the ski area.
• Accommodation on the mountain can be difficult to get in the peak season, particularly in the Verbier sector.
• Heliskiing available on the nearby peaks & glaciers (Is heliskiing's time in Switzerland over, we think it should be. Go ski touring and earn your turns properly)
• In Switzerland, so while everything is perfect, it comes with a price tag!
• Epic Pass is conditionally valid in the ski area - is that good or bad, you choose?

Skiing & Snowboarding, Lifts & Terrain

The skiing & snowboarding terrain in the 4-Vallees is renowned for being big, steep & gnarly. Nothing epitomises it better than the Freeride World Tour ‘course’ on the intimidating Bec des Rosses. Away from this super-intimidating peak, freeriders are catered to in several 4 Vallées sectors with safe marked routes in the upper alpine zone around Mont Gele, Chassoure, Col des Mines and others. These off-piste routes can become quite challenging (i.e., read super-bumped!) during extended periods of low snowfall , so thankfully there are oodles of other off-piste options across the huge resort area. With all that said though, the 4 Vallees is not all about the off-piste. The world’s fourth largest interlinked ski area (or 5th largest depending on how you do the maths!) has a network of 410km of groomed trails offering everything for everyone.

Over half of the ski trails in the 4 Vallees are rated for intermediates, that’s over 200km worth, which is more than the entire trail network in most ski resorts on the planet! The average skier & snowboarder will delight in long (occasionally exciting) meanderings from lift to lift, peak to peak and village to village. The whole resort is navigable by intermediates, although some sections may require a lift download to avoid advanced pistes & off-piste routes (i.e. descents from Mont Fort summit & all descents down into Tortin). Never mind though, the lift downloads are comfortable and allow a relaxed journey to soak in the views & survey the terrain for future adventures!

Despite over 90km of trails rated as ‘easy’, novices & beginners have far more restricted options in the 4-Vallees. Most of the upper alpine zone has no easy rated trails for descents for comfortable descents by beginners. The longest and best options are from Savoleyres into both Verbier & La Tzoumaz.

Check out the ski trail map for 4 Vallèes below.

4 Vallees Ski Trail Map

Whilst it is a difficult location to summarise in a few paragraphs, the following list indicates the best resort sectors for each ski/snowboard ability/interest.

• Novices - In and around the Verbier village, Thyon 2000 & Les Collons, plus Tracouet accessed via the gondola from Nendaz.
• Progressing Beginners - Thyon 2000 & Les Collons, Nendaz, Savoleyres into La Tzoumaz/Verbier.
• Intermediates - anywhere except Mont Gele, Mont Fort & anything descending into Tortin (although there are cable cars & gondolas available to ‘traverse’ these sectors).
• Advanced/Experts - anywhere except around Thyon 2000, AND don’t forget the lesser travelled locations on the fringes like l’Eteygeon below Greppon Blanc in the Thyon sector.
• Snowparks - Verbier.
• Snowboarding - Verbier, La Tzoumaz, Nendaz, upper alpine zones.
• Quiet areas on-piste- Bruson, La Tzoumaz, Thyon-Les Collons.

Whilst the total lifted vertical in the resort is over 2,500m, in reality the longest skiable verticals are between 1,600 & 1,800m in descent. Off-piste explorers can extend this further down into the valleys during good conditions. In the Bruson sector, valley trails down into the lowest part of the resort at Le Chable (821m elevation) are rated as ‘ski-routes’, meaning coverage is not guaranteed. The piste trails above start at 1,600m elevation, rising to 2,220m.

Ski Lifts

There are around 74 ski lifts within the 4 Vallees ski area. As a gross generalisation, the better-quality lifts are in the Verbier sector. Over half the lifts across the entire resort are surface tows, with the majority of them in the northern ski sectors away from Verbier. The upper alpine cable cars linking Siviez & Verbier into the Mont Fort freeride zones are amongst the busiest in the resort. Anyone day-tripping to the northern slopes might consider starting the day between Veysonnaz & Les Collons at the relatively quiet Mayens de l'Ours gondola. Snowboarders with a distaste for surface lifts should avoid the Thyon sector.

More detailed information about skiing & riding the 4 Vallees will come when we finally get around to doing a specific Lifts & Terrain page!

Lift Passes

Lift pass options in the 4 Vallees are numerous & now include options with an Epic Pass. Put simply a 4-Vallees ski pass allows access to the entire interlinked resort including Verbier, Nendaz, Veysonnaz, La Tzoumaz, Savoleyres, Thyon & Bruson, plus the Mont Fort sector.

Local lift passes can be purchased for a cheaper price for sectors at Bruson, La Tzoumaz/Savoleyres and Verbier (note the Verbier lift pass includes Bruson and La Tzoumaz/Savoleyres!). The combination of Nendaz, Thyon & Veysonnaz are covered by the Printze (or Printse) lift pass. IMPORTANT TO KNOW is that the Verbier and Printze lift passes do NOT include the top three cable cars including Mont Fort. The 4 Vallees lift pass is the only one that includes ALL lifts.

See the 4 Vallées ski lift pass validity area map.

The Mont Blanc Unlimited pass (centred on Chamonix & Courmayeur) gives extremely limited, strictly conditional access to Verbier. It is of no value to anyone looking to ski Verbier & the 4 Valleys and is of dubious value elsewhere. Before committing, read the detail of the pass carefully.

For Epic Pass holders, one can get 5 consecutive days of lift passes free at 4-Vallees, but it requires each day to have an associated lodging reservation booked directly with the resort. With associated accommodation bookings at a participating resort lodging property, the five complimentary days are consecutive, and allow skiing & riding at all 4 Vallees ski areas - Verbier, Nendaz, Veysonnaz, Bruson, La Tzoumaz and Thyon. To redeem lift access, Epic Pass holders must book their lodging directly with the participating property, and they will deliver lift tickets to the Pass Holder upon confirmation of their Epic Pass card.

Where is 4 Vallees Switzerland?

The 4 Vallèes is in the French-speaking, western half of canton Valais, south-west Switzerland. The resort spans over 22km of mountains south of the Rhône River and can be approached from several directions. Despite being on opposite sides of the mountains, the resort’s main villages of Verbier and Nendaz are both around 170km east of Geneva (2hr drive), Verbier is only a 1-hour drive from both Chamonix and Aosta.

The nearest & best international airport is Geneva (GVA) which has easy transfers to Verbier via taxi, shuttle bus or train. Naturally, the small airport at Sion (SIR) airport is close to Verbier and is an option for travellers from London, Zurich, and those with their own private plane!

The Swiss railway system & bus network provides a perfect mode of travel to the villages of the 4-Vallees. For the southern villages, including Verbier, Bruson, Le Châble, train journeys require a change at Martigny. Trains from Geneva airport takes less than 2hr (on IR90 service, direction Brig) to get to Martigny. From Martigny, the St Bernard Express runs every 30min to Le Châble (travel time 27min), where a gondola, bus or taxis will whisk you up to your accommodation.

Rail & bus services to the northern 4-Vallees villages of Nendaz (a.k.a. Haute Nendaz), Siviez, Veysonnaz, Thyon 2000 or Les Collons are via Sion. Trains from Geneva airport take a little over 2hr (on IR90 service, direction Brig) to get to Sion, where buses or private transfers can finish the journey up to Nendaz/Siviez (bus route 362 to Haute-Nendaz, then shuttle bus 6 to Siviez), Veysonnaz (bus route 363), & Thyon 2100/Les Collons (bus route 371 direct, or a combination of bus route 372/374 via Mâche).

For anyone staying in La Tzoumaz village, the public transport journey is fascinating. The closest train station is Riddes, requiring a regional train change at either Sion or Martigny. Trains from Geneva airport the rail journey to Riddes is at best, 2¼hr. From Riddes station (Gare de Riddes) a short walk to the south gets one to the public cable car up to the mountain village of Isérables, from where the route 392 PostBus runs to La Tzoumaz 5 to 7 times per day.

Search & book train tickets to Le Chable & Verbier.

If public transport is not your thing, one can easily fork out the francs for a private transfer direct to your hotel from the airport. Whilst it can be quite time efficient & affordable for groups of 3 or more people, part of any Swiss ski experience is using the trains, so get on board. And you will be doing the environment a favour too - POW (Protect Our Winters) .

Private Transfers are a comfortable, stress-free option to the ski resort. Transfers direct from the airport can be quite expensive, especially for singles & small groups. Costs can be reduced by organising the transfer to meet your train service at either Le Chable, Sion or Riddes.

It is easy and quick to drive yourself in a rental car to either sector of the 4 Valleys, but as per above, you are in Switzerland, so why drive? Take the train & bus; enjoy the ride.

Once in the villages, free ski buses shuttle guests to the lift bases, circulating throughout the day. If doing day trips by car to the 4-Vallees from other locations, the best parking is at the Le Chable gondola base (for the Verbier sector), the Siviez base and the gondola at Mayens de l'Ours.

For hints, tips & warnings about getting to Swiss ski resorts in winter, see our Travel in Switzerland page.

4 Vallees Accommodation

For a resort so vast, it is no surprise that the 4-Vallees has an incredible range of places to stay overnight. Whilst resting one's head in flashy Verbier is rightfully on many people’s bucket list, it is expensive & often super-busy. Ample alternatives exist. Little known Siviez has the resort's best overall location to quickly access the goods on a powder day. Valley villages like Le Chable have affordable options & atmosphere, whilst the alpine villages of Nendaz, Veysonnaz, Thyon 2100, Les Collons & La Tzoumaz have a range of the new, the traditional, & a few eyesores from the 70s & 80s! Each offers something a little different. Note that the lifts connecting Veysonnaz & Thyon to the rest of the 4 Valleys are a series of surface tows that are poor on even a slightly busy day. If all else fails, the gateway city of Sion down in the Rhone River valley will accommodate you. Buses will get you up the hill to either Nendaz or Veysonnaz.

Search & book all 4-Vallees ski accommodation.

For detailed information on the best places to stay, see our 4 Vallees Accommodation Info page.

Ski Rentals, Lessons & Guiding

Ski rentals are available throughout 4 Valleys via our local partners in the villages of La Tzoumaz, Nendaz, Thyon-les-Collons, Verbier & Veysonnaz. Receive a discount when you search & book via our 4 Vallees Ski & Snowboard Equipment Rentals page.

Some off-piste ski lessons & guiding can make all the difference to a stay at 4-Vallees, particularly off the iconic Mont Fort & Mont Gelé. For more information & booking, see our 4 Vallees Ski Lessons & Guiding page.

Review

The Powderhounds visited parts of the ski area in 2018 & reviewed the entire 4 Vallees in January 2023. The size & scale of the place demands any true powder hound put it on your 'bucket list'. Without a guide, we easily found fantastic, untracked powder in the Printse sector, many days after the last snowfall. Click on the review link in the left column (or top of the page if on a mobile) to read all the reviews.

See how 4-Vallees compares to the rest of the Swiss ski resorts on the Switzerland ski resort ratings page, or compare to the rest of Europe the European ski resort ratings page.

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