 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi there, we're taking a brave step this season and planning a trip to Nendaz in January. We've driven and skied in France for the last seventeen years with numerous friends and kids and have enjoyed all our holidays, but I have at long last persuaded my husband to break the mould before it becomes gound hog day. Would appreciate any comments how Nendaz compares to French resorts especially the pistes. Any advice welcome.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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The pisted skiing isn't bad at all but the big sell of the four valleys area is lift accessed off piste. You have access to both Verbier and the Printze area that runs over towards Veysonnaz and Thyon. There is enough to keep people entertained for a week, certainly. That said, while the four valleys presents itself as some sort of big interconnected area, it is not like the 3v in France. There are a lot of cat tracks and much of the skiing you have to do to get from one end of the resort to the other is pretty dull. It is better to ski over somewhere, ski for a day and then ski back, rather than attempt a circuit.
Piste wise, there is good red run skiing throughout the area. The longer reds over in Veysonnaz are particularly good fun, especially if there is no one about and the handful of runs above Nendaz are pretty good fun as well. I tend to think that the pisted skiing over in Verbier is pretty boring but others disagree. There are, though, very few black runs. Most of the steeper terrain is left ungroomed, is marked up as itineraries and is left to bump up. These vary from routes like Chassoure down to Tortin that people effectively treat as a piste through to Vallon d'Arbi, which is best tackled with an instructor if you don't have that much experience of off piste skiing. The itineraries are advertised as not being avalanche controlled. In practice there is a difference between something like Eteygeon, where they're not chucking explosive around and Chassoure, which has gasex on it and people treat like a piste. Common sense, caution and the use of an instructor where necessary will see you though.
Nendaz itself feels more like a proper town than most French resorts. There are relatively few British people and the town feels properly Swiss. There isn't that much nightlife. You may be better off getting the bus in the morning up to Siviez and skiing from there. This takes about 15 minutes. It isn't the pain it sounds.
For more of a sense of what there is there : http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=59808
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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Becky if you're driving anyway you can nip round in the car to Siviez - the bus is a bit of a scrum - particularly during school holidays. We often also drive to Veysonnaz or Mayens d'Lours.
I love Nendaz and the 4V but it probably doesn't compare that favorably with French resorts if you are looking for a well connected piste fest. Also if you have any boarders there are a fair amount of drag tows over on the Printze side. The Printze side is good though, generally quieter and cheaper on piste food than the Verbier end. Try the Cambuse for lunch. If you study the map you will see it is possible to ski most of the Printze area using a couple of chairlifts and the bubbles but skiing from Siviez/Nendaz and back as Gorilla says can feel like a bit of a hike, especially if you have kids who don't keep their speed up on the tracks resulting in polling and who are frightened of T-Bars. I speak from experience!!
You have to buy into the slightly more rustic feel of the area compared to the big french resorts, and if its easily accessed off piste you're after it's blooming good. Nendaz has a couple of largish supermarkets including the new COOP if you are self catering, and plenty of restaurants. The big run from the top of the Nendaz bubble is a magic piste which you can blast down, you feel like a proper down hiller and the thighs are burning after about a third of the way down.
Hope you enjoy it.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Pretty much all covered above. The bus isn't that bad, in busy weeks you want to be on the first one of the day. In those weeks driving isn't necessarily a great idea as unless you leave early you might be parked so far down the road you have to get a bus anyway! You can avoid busy ones on the way back either by skiing back to Nendaz or waiting in the bar until the queue goes down which was our normal choice! That said in January you should have no problems whichever way you choose to get to Siviez.
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Hi becky bb, i love the 4v and will be very happy to show you around the resort as i stay in verbier for the whole season. Better still let your husband continue to ski the boring french mega ski resorts and you come alone to verbier and enjoy a week with me.x.
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Hi. I stayed in Nendaz about 4 seasons ago in early Jan and due to the weather could not get any cable connections to Verbier. You will have to get the bus to Siviez to access Thyon's easy runs - you take the Greppon Blanc to a black, but a short pole leads to a red and then it's easy. There were many comedy moments on T-bars. If you have a car it's much simpler to go to Veysonnaz and get the bubble to Thyon. Driving to Verbier will take some time. We took the train from Geneva airport to Sion and then got a lift up. Nendaz is quite a steep resort and is a little strung out. We were in a chalet near the bubble station.
FWIW, if you haven't been to Megeve/St Gervais then tick that one off next, we love it.
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taffiosi,
Thanks for the invitation, it sounds very tempting but not sure if the offer still stands for no husband but five kids? 
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Thanks for all the feedback and comments, will definately booking our holiday in Nendaz this season.
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