Nendaz red runs...are they very difficult?

A snowHead

We are a very large group of adults and children. Everyone has done at least 3- 4 weeks skiing. Most have done much more. I was wondering how challenging the runs are. And ...Is there really a green run back down into Tracouet (?) as it looks like there is, but one website said there is black that cannot be avoided. I know it's not the ideal resort for less confident intermediates, but we've found an amazing chalet deal! Any thoughts?

A snowHead

There's a blue run which goes down but there are one or two steeper parts but generally the ski schools hope to get beginners down to the lift station by the end of their first week. There's a blue run at Siviez off the Tortin chair which is a good confidence builder.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thanks. I think it's the route back from siviez that I'm concerned about. I think they'll want to go up there, but isn't it just a black run back??

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@Noo72, I have not skied this particualr black as I usually go at Easter when it has been closed . Friends who have skied it liked it but they liked it because it was steep and interesting with good snow.
However you don not have to ski it and lots of people don't because you can either get the cable car down or you can get a bus back from Siviez.
Most of the runs around Tracouet are ideal intermediate territory.
Exploring further there are great intermediate expeditions over towards Thyon and Veysonnaz but the lifts over can involve some long surface lifts.
Towards Verbier there is good intermeidate skiing but both ways down from the Verbier area to Tortin involve long black ski route which are certainly very unsuitable for the less confident intermediate though there is no shame in taking the lifts down which many do.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks both.

Tbar...on the piste map it looks like the cable car goes back down only some of the way, then it's a chairlift ( which presumably you can't go back down on!) I hope you're correct because going back down via bus only would be a nightmare as far as meeting kids from ski school is concerned! Hope someone can clarify.

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I found a prinzte area mat that shows green run down to tracouet, but on other maps it is just dotted line...confusing!

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Nendaz is on the whole quite gentle skiing. Great for improving technique.

After all it is free

@Noo72,
Apologies as I said I have not actually skied that bit, I was going on what friends had said about missing out the tricky bit.Looking at the map the top bit is an itinaire that goes into a black after the cable car , next to a drag that you definitely would not be able to take down.However the alternative route that you suggest is a green run or dotted appears to be a walking trail probably for pedestrians wanting to go up the cable car and take in the views. This would I imagine be easily useable by skiers returning as well but how long a march it would be with ski equipment if the black looked tricky I don't know.

@Noo72, There aren't green runs in Switzerland, the grading is blue, red and black. I think it sounds like you'll be fine in Nendaz as @T Bar, said there are other areas to explore.

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I presume you mean the route back from Sivie. a Plan du Found? The cable car from Pdf only goes halfway down the route and clears the "itineraries" section. From here there is a route to Tracouet that has usually been listed as a "piste de luge" which I've never used but looking at current online maps is showing as a green, so quite what the status is I'm unsure. To ski down from the cable car base is marked as a black and gets you back to the chairlift returning to Tracouet 2200. Going toward Siviez this lower section was just a small old drag lift that obviously would not offer any downlifting to get back to Nendaz but as far as I know has recently been replaced with a chair (I haven't been there since this change so you need someone to confirm this section for you as it's the key to your question of access). From the point of skiing this lower section it's one that unerves people rather than being really severe as it's really wide and with full width traverse can be covered ok in my view. I really like this section of Nendaz and going toward Siviez in the morning it's very nice at top of Plan du Fou as the sun warms the piste down to Siviez early, it's one of my favourites and can be enjoyed by a mixed group together.
I certainly think that it shouldn't be a barrier to you going there especially as you seem to have a good place to stay, there's a lot for a mixed group to do and any level of difficulty to keep the more experienced happy as well.

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@Noo72, Link over to Siviez should be within the capability of most skiers, like said above it's wide and even though graded as hard if its taken steady down from bottom of PDF Telecabine on way back all will be fine, just watch out for fast skiers coming from behind and keep to the edges of the piste is my advice to slower skiers. The run down from PDF to Siviez outbound in the morning is a fantastic rolling piste. Nendaz is a lovely family oriented ski area, I'd like to get back one day but the CHF puts me off. Have a drink at Cheers Bar, Hotel Les Etagnes next to main lift base station, Dutch run place, good atmosphere and very good food.

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There is a shuttle skibus between Nendaz and Siviez. Personally, I'd be inclined to use it to get home at the end of the day anyway.

As previously posted, I'm also assuming that you're referring to the piste down from Plan du Fou to Prarion, the upper half that's underneath the télécabine [59]? If so, note that this is not a black, it is an Itinéraire a ski 'Marked, not maintained, not controlled, intended for experienced users.' to quote the map.

What I'd recommend if you're uncertain is to take the bus from Nendaz to Siviez on the first morning, to get you up to Siviez quickly, and then go up to the right [61] to the Plan du Fou summit and take a look for yourselves. It's a nice run down from Plan du Fou anyway, so you're not losing out. And there's a café at PdF as well. Then people can decide for themselves, and no one will be blaming you if they aren't up to it.

Obviously, you could go up to PdF at the end of the day, but then if anyone doesn't want to do the black they sort of have to ski back down to Siviez and catch the bus. Or may feel under pressure to do it along with everyone else.

According to the interactive map the link to Siviez at the moment is by bus only. The tram to Plan du Fou, the drag and the chair between Prarion and Tracouet are all closed.

You know it makes sense.

Here is a panorama of the area in question, taken from the opposite side of the valley, in La Tzoumaz (the round thing is the rising moon).

On the far right, on the ridge, you can just see the Plan du Fou restaurant and télécabine buildings.
In the middle at the bottom of the photo are the buildings at Prarion, where there is a chairlift up to the summit of Nendaz (to the left) at Tracouet.
There is a faint line running down form Plan du Fou which are the cables of the télécabine.
There is a drag button poma from Prarion to the base PdF télécabine building.

The bit that you're considering skiing is on the far right, down from the Plan du Fou buildings, under the télécabine, and down 'round the draglift to the Prarion chairlift.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Thanks so much everyone! So...to clarify, the black down below the telecabin is not that bad, I just need to avoid the bit underneath the Telecabin? Let's be clear, I wouldn't normally ski a black. Only skiid 3 ever! I've done about ten weeks skiing and am a solid low intermediate but lack courage!nhowever, if it saves me a bus journey,mi might try it. Also...What would it be like for a brave intermediate snow boarder? ( other half, not me)

The problem we have is not so much with the area's overall suitability, but the logistics if we can't handle that black. If the kids are in ski school at tracouet and only 2 out of 6 parents can ski back down to get them, then it's going to be a nightmare. Either we will have to stay in the tracouet area, or go to siviez, bus it down, then cable car up again from nendaz to get the kids! If they only have a half day in ski school it'd be a nightmare! Is My appraisal of those practicalities correct, or am I missing something?

A snowHead

You could catch the télécabine half way down and then ski the black to the chairlift if the drop below the Plan du Fou is too challenging.

It's always difficult to advise others on the viability of skiing any piste, as no one can easily judge another's ability through a Forum page. And the area below the PdF is 'more' than a black, it's an itinéraire.

Let me put it this way, if our family were to be considering it, my snowboaring son would do it without a thought, my skiing daughter would do it but with some care, and my wife would just do her "No way ..." laugh and hop on the télécabine, and I'd probably join her.

Of course, if the télécabine isn't running .....

You could agonise endlessly in advance, because you haven't seen it: Really, the best way is to take a look when there's zero pressure to commit. As I said, you'll want to go up to Plan du Fou anyway because it's a nice run back down to Siviez. Then, given the conditions on the day, you can make an informed judgement. As I said, if it was me, I might catch the bus back anyway if I was tired or in a hurry, but that's me.

A snowHead

@Noo72,

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Mse, I totally understand that you can't asses others' ability... Just getting an idea on the level.

Any comments on my ski school pick up scenario? Did I get that right?

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Sorry - to answer your question: Yes, when you get to Siviez, then there are two ways to get to Nendaz:

either
Siviez»Bus»Nendaz»Gondola»Tracouet

or

Siviez»Gondola»Plan du Fou then
- Ski the itineraire » black » Prarion
- Gondola down » ski the black » Prarion
and Prarion chair » Tracouet

But as has been pointed out, if the gondola [59] isn't running, then you can't catch it to half-way down. Also, if the snow is thin or very deep, then the itineraire and black may be quite difficult.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks, any idea roughly how long that trip by bus from siviez back up to tracouet might take? ( very roughly!)

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@Noo72, The buses are every half hour I would guess the trip is about 20-25 minutes but I have not used it much as I rent a car.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I knew I had it somewhere! Here is a video taken from Plan du Feu of the view torward Prarion:

http://vid1167.photobucket.com/albums/q623/msej449/Plan_du_Fou_zps7a5zjdv3.mp4

This was taken before the chair-then-draglift (right) was replaced by the new bubble, which comes up from Siviez in one run.

In relation to the photograph, this is taken looking towards the photographer from the top right of the photo - basically the reverse direction.

You can get an idea of the piste conditions on the itinéraire as it pans around to the left. In the middle distance below is the base of the télécabine, with the pisted black run to the left. This leads down to the bottom of the Prarion:Tracouet chairlift. The video focuses on the rather geriatric Plan du Fou télécabine and La Tzoumaz in the distance, as the latter is where we were staying.

To access the itinéraire, you ski along the pisted lane you can see to the right of the video, launching yourself down the slope at some point. As you can see, the immediate slope below the viewpoint is steep and unpisted, and leads down to a gentler (relatively) piste leading to the télécabine. You ski to the left of the télécabine and down a black which slopes and then curves right, across the draglift, down to the Prarion chair. Note: All this is relative in terms of difficulty, BTW - I'm not saying that the lower sections are easy.

At this point I have to make it clear - I've not skied this: our choice was to turn 'round and go back down to Siviez and return to the Verbier area. We were staying in La Tzoumaz so for us, sking to Nendaz wasn't worth the effort and time involved.

Also bear in mind that this is a snapshot: they may or may not prepare the piste that runs along the top of the itinéraire and the snow conditions may be a lot better/worse than in this video. And looking with binoculars from La Tzoumaz, I've seen the condition of the black vary a lot. Basically, you'll need to see it before you can judge whether it's OK for you.

After all it is free

That bus trip is a nightmare, particularly at the end of the day, good excuse to drink beer but very tedious and a real bunfight getting on.

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I've usually used the itineraire down there but looking off the top will scare the hell out of someone without the skill or experience to cover that sort of terrain. If that sector is open it may be worth a couple of your more experienced group members going from Nendaz to the mid point of that route (bottom of pdf cable car) and skiing the lower section for a recce to see what you feel about it.

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Personally we avoided the itinerary route when we were there as some of the kids had only done about 2/3 weeks skiing at that point. Your better skiers could check it out first. To be honest we just took the car up in the morning to Siviez & skied from there. Made life a lot easier as no horrible ski bus to negotiate either. We just came back to Nendaz & went out for a drink etc there after skiing. If your kids have done a bit more & are more confident it may be ok to do the itinerary over but I remember taking our kids one year down an unpisted black run at la Plagne that once we were on we couldn't get off & it was a total nightmare, my youngest son still speaks of it 8 years later....obviously scarred for life Very Happy

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I have not used the bus but from the OP's post they will be using the bus nearer lunch time to go and meet the kids. What are the queues like then?

This thread is really interesting me as I am fortunate to have won a free trip to Nendaz at the end of February. However, it might prove to be academic as, like it says above, none of the runs from Plan de Fou or the lift back up to Tracouet have been open this season. Sad

You know it makes sense.

mse, thanks so much for the video! so kind of you to post. i'm grateful to everyone for the advice and clarification on here. We have now decided against this resort, for the reasons discussed above. Yhank you snowheads.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Noo72, Why don't you look at somewhere like Veysonnaz or Les Collons. The skiing is much more child friendly and the links to the rest of the 4 Vallees much easier. Veysonnaz for example, is nowhere as big as Nendaz, but there is a lot of rental properties and two hotels., with some good bars and restaurants. Oh La Tzoumaz is worth a look too.

A snowHead

@Noo72, Why don't you look at somewhere like Veysonnaz or Les Collons. The skiing is much more child friendly and the links to the rest of the 4 Vallees much easier. Veysonnaz for example, is nowhere as big as Nendaz, but there is a lot of rental properties and two hotels. Oh La Tzoumaz is worth a look too.

A snowHead

thanks swissie, but we found an amazing chalet deal for a huge group. as we are 17, we have been finding accommodation then working backwards to assess the resort's suitability!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Great @Noo72, Have a fabulous time Smile

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@Noo72,
Hope you enjoy wherever you get . If the group raises their skiing level or you can get around without splitting up do try it again its a great resort.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

For general information, the black down from the bottom of the Plan du Fou telepherique is avoidable by skiing along the hiking path back to red run that leads from Tracouet down to the Prarions chairlift. At the moment this is all a bit immaterial as the link between Nendaz and Siviez is currently closed, and the bus is the only option, although I'm guessing they are trying to preserve the snow conditions so they can open it for the holidays

Help!!

Nendaz red runs...are they very difficult?

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