 Poster: A snowHead
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I fancy a day trip whilst in Verbier during March. I understand there is a train from Sierre up to the resort. Can anyone tell me if there is easy parking at the station and how much of a walk is it to gain the slopes once off the train. Thanks in anticipation
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Not sure about parking at Sierre station, the funicular up to Montana is over the road and a well marked 10 minute walk. There's a shuttle bus up to the lifts from the top of the funicular, it would take you about 15-20 minutes to walk.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Steve Sparks, Thanks
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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thunderer, sorry don't know Crans Montana well. When I went the terrain seemed pretty good but the sun had transformed everything. It's south facing so transforms fast in Spring. Another option for a day trip from Verbier is the Val d'Anniviers valley. You can ski both Grimentz and Zinal in a day which I would highly recommend. The villages are great, the pistes are good and uncrowded and there's some fabulous off piste.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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thunderer, Unfortunatley since we have always driven to Crans Montana I can't advise about the train, but having ski'd there twice and Verbier 3 times I'm not sure it would be worth the effort. Don't get me wrong there is some good terrain in Crans Montana but my personal opinion is that Verbier wins hands down and I'd rather venture out more in the 4 valleys than go over to Crans.
I guess its depends on the type of ski-ing you're looking for; for us there just didn't seem a lot of black/steeper stuff to keep us interested.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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thunderer, There's a handy covered car park right at the station, it's a pay one and I can't remember how much we paid last year but it wasn't much! The train up was efficient and frequent and you can buy a combi liftpass/funicular pass at the booth at the bottom. The free shuttle service from the top was also quick and efficient...if a bit crowded, but we were there in Xmas week so not really surprising that lots of other peeps were there. My only complaint is we found the funiculaire really hard to find....they seem to want to keep it a secret so it isn't signed! We found it by tracking back from the rail over the road in the end 
We really enjoyed our day trip up to Crans M from the valley, it had just had a fresh dump of snow so we had great fun. It did look as if it had been getting pretty bald before the snow so probably worth a snow condition check before heading over.
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homphomp, Thanks for that, if it hot we won't bother.
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| bobinch wrote: |
| thunderer, sorry don't know Crans Montana well. When I went the terrain seemed pretty good but the sun had transformed everything. It's south facing so transforms fast in Spring. Another option for a day trip from Verbier is the Val d'Anniviers valley. You can ski both Grimentz and Zinal in a day which I would highly recommend. The villages are great, the pistes are good and uncrowded and there's some fabulous off piste. |
We went to Zinal the week before Christmas and had a great day even though little was open. the route down to Grimnetz was closed, I looked at the start it looked a little interesting, what is the rest of the run like. I will have my wife with me she is a good intermediate will she cope???.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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homphomp, There is a red line on the pavement from the station to the funiculaire.
But not so good if covered in snow I suppose.
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thunderer, I would have thought a good intermediate could get down without too much trouble. I think the start is the steepest bit. I have never actually done the main route as both times we did it we stayed skiers left and came down through the forest. Brian and I'm sure a few others know the Val d'anniviers well so if you start a thread marked Zinal or Grimentz you should get some replies.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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thunderer, cad99uk, sorry, didn't mean to confuse....when I said station I meant the bottom station of the funiculaire...not the train station!!
While I think about it...I posted a bit of feedback about resorts accessible from Sion here which might be useful if you're looking to go out for the day.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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bobinch, thunderer, I think you are talking about Piste du Chamois from the top of the Zinal main bowl, Corne de Sorebois, down towards Grimentz or Mottec. The top section that can be seen from the entry point does look narrow but it is not too steep and pretty staight forward. The drops on the right hand side do seem to intimidate a lot of people. Once you pass around the corner it zig zags a couple of times before it becomes a very wide but steepish piste down a beautiful and remote combe. When in the trees it follows forestry tracks either left to Grimentz or right to Mottec. It is a fantastic piste often very quiet but it is quite variable as to being "open". I suspect it is susceptable to avalanches if the risk is at all high so closure should be respected. As for "good intermediates" I would have thought so but it's a bit of a subjective term for most people. Try a few of Zinal's other steepish runs first that are not so commiting and if your happy, go for it. Any reports back from Val d'anniviers this season very welcome as I don't think I'll make it this winter due to nasty bicycle crash in December. 
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Rareperk, Thanks for that, I'll post a report late March
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