Published on: October 04, 2022
GETTING READY FOR WINTER: THE VERBIER LIFT OPENING AND CLOSING DATES
So, another winter is rapidly approaching and the dates are vital if you’re planning your next ski trip in Verbier.
As usual, the Google results on the subject are a mixed bag with quite a few assumptions…
But as usual you can find the key (confirmed) information here.
EARLY OPENING WEEKENDS From 4th November*
*If we have enough snow to open…
OPENING DATE VERBIER AREA 2nd December 2023
OPENING DATE MONT FORT SECTOR & SAVOLEYRES 9th December 2022
CLOSING DATE VERBIER 21st APRIL 2023
OTHER KEY DATES AND FACTORS:
The snow is the big factor (which is hardly rocket science…)
As usual Televerbier are keen to stress these dates are the plan -and they have the snow making network to get things going (pretty much) whatever the weather.
The early opening is the biggest question – it’s traditional to open at the weekends when there is enough snow at Lac des Vaux, but in recent years the lift company have (sensibly) decided that making tons of artificial snow simply for bragging rights isn’t financially or ecologically sound.
So they will wait and see how the weather shifts and if the first snows have fallen in earnest.
We don’t have a date for the Bruson area but we suspect that we will see that open around the 15th – about a week before Christmas.
And as usual the 4 Valleys connections will open (as usual) after the Verbier sector opens and close before the Verbier Sector closes.
As would the Bruson and Savoleyres areas.
But it would take a pretty seismic shift in weather for the main dates to change.
Verbier has one of the best snow-making systems in Switzerland and that means we are really snow-sure during the winter.
Plus we have altitude on our side – so if you were looking at a picture or a cow in a field in the press with stories about resorts closing, just remember these were the low resorts, often on the other side for the border, which always struggle.
(And as bad news sells newspapers, the picture of a cow got more traction than the truth…)
WEEKEND OPENING…
In seasons gone by e have had so much snow by November that the whole resort opens at weekends and then all week long.
But we’ve had seasons where weekend opening simply doesn’t happen.
And we’ve had seasons where Lac des Vaux is a strip of artificial snow and not a lot of natural stuff…
So it can really vary.
There are two key factors – natural snowfalls and temperatures.
If it’s not cold enough the lift company can’t make artificial snow. It’s that simple – although (interestingly) they can make snow above 0°C using special additives.
Meanwhile if there isn’t a natural base of snow but it’s cold, they have to make a lot to get things going – which is expensive and uses a lot of water reserves.
WHAT WILL THE WINTER BE LIKE?
Well, having consulted our crystal ball we can confirm it will be amazing…
In all seriousness, it’s too soon to tell, but the weather in Verbier has turned colder and we have had a few falls of snow up high.
Lot’s of people are already being very negative but there’s absolutely no way of telling.
As we are prone to saying – the weather can change very quickly in the mountains. And it doesn’t take a big change to plunge us into winter – and it could happen any day now…
