Verbier is a village located in southwestern Switzerland in the canton of Valais. It is one of the largest holiday resort and ski areas in the Swiss Alps. Verbier is recognized as one of the premiere "off-piste" locations worldwide and counts among Europe's most famous ski-resorts. Many top skiers have settled in the Verbier in order to take advantage of the steep slopes, varied conditions and the vibrant nightlife.^[1]

Contents 1 Geography 2 Transport 3 Events 3.1 Other events 4 Skiing 4.1 Off-piste 4.2 Ski and snowboard schools 5 Summer in Verbier 6 Society 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Geography

Verbier is located in the municipality of Bagnes, in the Swiss canton of Valais. The village lies on a south orientated terrace at around 1,500 metres facing the Grand Combin massif. The terrace lies on the east side of the Val de Bagnes, a valley located south of Martigny.

Verbier had 2767 permanent residents in 2006. The number of residents can rise to 35,000 in the winter season.^[2] There is in addition a noticeable number of predominantly Scandinavians and Brits who has chosen Verbier as their principal residence as well.

[edit] Transport

Verbier can be accessed by road or by train. From Martigny a regional train (known as the Saint-Bernard Express) leads to Le Châble. From Le Châble a cable car (or a post bus) goes up to Verbier. Martigny is located 1hr45m from Geneva and 20m from Sion with the Federal railways.

Verbier has only one access road, which starts in the town of Le Châble. From Sembrancher (near Le Châble) a road leads to the Great St. Bernard Pass and an other to Martigny or to the Col de la Forclaz. Verbier is around 2 hours’ drive from Geneva, 1 hour from Chamonix (Col de la Forclaz) and 1 hour from Aosta (Great St. Bernard Pass).

The nearest international airport to Verbier is Geneva Airport. The drive time is about 120 minutes. Tourists can reach Verbier by taking taxis, buses, helicopters or the train from Geneva Airport. Alpybus offers a regular service to Verbier from Geneva Airport by means of shuttle bus.

The town itself is small enough to be explored on foot, but free buses run throughout the resort regularly during the day.

[edit] Events

Recurring events in Verbier include:

• the world-famous O'Neill Verbier Freeride extreme freeriding and Verbier Ride competitions
• the XSpeedski, FIS World Championship + Pro Race
• the Patrouille des Glaciers, ski race every second year at the end of the ski season
• the Verbier Festival, Appraised international music festival
• the Grand Raid Cristalp, Mountain bike race Verbier - Grimentz
• the Grand Concours Hippique., a horse race

[edit] Other events

• 8 stage, 2005 Tour de Suisse - Pablo Lastras
• 6 stage, 2008 Tour de Suisse - Kim Kirchen
• 15 stage, 2009 Tour de France - Alberto Contador

[edit] Skiing

Verbier’s ski domain ranges from 1500m (the town itself) to 3330m (Mont Fort). From which the view extends to the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc. It is part of the "Four Valleys" ski area, which includes the ski resorts of Verbier, Nendaz, Veysonnaz, La Tzoumaz, and Thyon with a total of 410 km marked runs.

The ski area is divided into four sectors: Les Ruinettes, Les Savoleyres, Bruson. Verbier forms the western section of the 4 Valleys ski area. A common ski pass allows to tour all the way from Verbier to La Tzoumaz, Nendaz, Veysonnaz, to Les Masses and back.

The Verbier section of the 4 Valleys ski area has lifts made by Leitner, CWA, Poma and Garaventa AG; they are operated by Téléverbier SA. Most lifts were constructed during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. In Verbier alone there are 35 lifts (within the Verbier, Savoleyeres/La Tzoumaz and Bruson sector). A standard Verbier pass gives access to this entire sector, 33 standard ski runs, two snowparks, one "Jardin de Neige" (a relatively flat area that is used for small children learning to ski), four cross-country pistes and two walking areas. Piste condition and lift opening information is updated by Intermaps and is also on mobile.

[edit] Off-piste

Verbier is renowned for its off-piste and 'semi' off-piste opportunities. These include the itineraries: Vallon D'Arby, Tortin, Gentianes, Mont Fort, Mont Gelé and other notable "off piste" runs such as, Stairway to Heaven, Rock Garden, Col de Mines, Fontanet and Creblet. Verbier is one of only a few resorts to have a mountain that has no pistes coming down it, Mt Gele.

Verbier has seven snowsport schools, three companies that organize Mountain Guides, plus a few independent Mountain Guides.

[edit] Ski and snowboard schools

Verbier is an excellent place to learn wintersports. The Village has seven different ski & snowboard schools. This many ski schools is unusual in Switzerland but means that every need can be catered for from exclusive private lessons through affordable group lessons to specialised clinics and courses, as well as Performance coaching.

Despite the fact that Verbier has traditionally been recognized as more 'skier friendly', snowboarding continues to grow in popularity in the resort.

[edit] Summer in Verbier

In the summertime Verbier offers its guests a host of activities and experiences. There are 400 km of hiking trails, and hikers can follow the tracks of the chamois and ibex through the mountains, some of them covered with snow all year round. There are in addition 200 km of mountain bike piste. Other activities include climbing, paragliding, swimming, golf, tennis and other. Also popular are trips aboard the mountain railways in the area.^[3]. In one of the efforts to deversify Verbier from being a "ski-heaven" only, the annual music festival stands out. Verbier Festival & Academy was created by the Swede Martin T:son Engström in 1994.

[edit] Society

Verbier is also a popular holiday destination for celebrities^[4], including Sarah Ferguson, Diana Ross, James Blunt, Richard Branson, Lawrence Dallaglio and The Crown Prince Couple of Denmark: Frederik and Mary^{[citation needed]}.The Swedish royals also come there.^[5]. It caters to many British customers^[2], but it receives a lot of German, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, Italian, Belgian, French, Austrian and American visitors too.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Verbier's Official site
• Téléverbier's official website
• Verbier Festival site

Coordinates: 46°06′N 7°13′E / 46.1°N 7.217°E / 46.1; 7.217