 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi All, 1st time poster on Snowheads so hope this is in the right place.
We (2xkids, 2xadults) are going to Nendaz/4V this Feb half term. I've skiied the area many years ago from the Verbier side but wondered if anyone could offer advice.
- Ski school for kids. Looking at previous threads/online reviews, NeigeAventure looks well regarded and good value. Meeting point is convenient for accommodation too. Any advice on this welcome though.
- Ski passes. Is there any dynamic pricing/sale prices available on these? Assuming not but hoping to be surprised. Will ask ski school for advice on these but suspect Printse passes with daily upgrades as and when conditions suggest it working out best value overall.
- Ski hire. Any places to recommend/avoid? We may take our own kit but currently weighing up cost vs hassle and kids likely growing out of boots etc in the next few months.
- Any advice generally on the mountain/around town, pre/post ski school meetup points, any downtime recommendations etc. We'll be self catering out of a shoebox near the base station, so advice on cheap eats(!) on or off the hill that can match the coop experience will be noted.
Any advice on the above or otherwise much appreciated!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Derek Branflake,
Although I've been to Nendaz quite a lot I can't I'm afraid answer many of your specific questions.
We always had a great time though it was in Easter holidays.
There never used to be dynamic pricing but the family discount included parents and was significant.
We were experienced skiers and certainly got full use out of the full area pass though the Printse does cover a lot of skiing.
I don't I'm afraid remember any eats being particularly cheap and we always self catered.
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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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Thanks @T Bar, appreciate your response.
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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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Hi,
Ski hire opposite telecabin Gabbi sports was quite good. Regarding food, pizza and fondue going down towards base nendaz and also towards end of shops there used to be a couple of food pop ups Indian, Chinese etc.
we used to drive or ski over to Siviez on the same ski pass, that opened up a far larger area including Vesonnaz, you can also buy a day extension and get to verbier again from Sivier.
Hope this limited info helps - enjoy !
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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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Thanks @ Sologuy888 - suggestions added to the list
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Good news is that this summer, they completely replaced the return link up from Prarion to Tracouet. They put in a new high-speed gondola a couple of years ago between Siviez<>Plan du Fou<>Prarion. They’ve also replaced the link up from Siviez to Tortin this year as well. So you’ve now got a much easier and fast route into and out of the Verbier section from Nendaz, making it much more streamlined to go into the Vebier section without the previous range anxiety over getting home.
Check the 4 Vallées website for baseline ski pass prices. They have done dynamic charges in previous seasons, but when we got cheap passes, this was for the day and bought on the day itself, outside of term-time, so dynamic pricing may not be much in evidence when you go.
If you get out as far as the Savoleyres (La Tzoumaz) sector then the summit restaurant at Savoleyres is quite good value if you go for the basic sausage and frites, or potage de jour / stroganoff with a roll. The La Tzoumaz sector is north-facing, so it tends to keep the snow better if conditions are sunny and warm. Allow yourselves an hour to comfortably transit from La Tzoumaz to Prarion (if you maximise using lifts for both up and downhill).
I suggest that you don’t ski the Chassoure mogul field before taking a look at it from above on the Tortin<>Lac de Vaux gondola. It’s relentless and there’s no alternative bashed route down once you commit.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Wed 23-10-24 22:21; edited 2 times in total
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@Derek Branflake, mate with a place there uses Neige for skis and boots. Suspect you get a discount booking online in advance - I think he has a discount pass which gets similar. As per @LaForet, lift system is much improved but lift pass prices on Verbier side are literally 2 chf extra per day for 4 valleys so check the difference as may be worth just getting 4V for Jumbo, Mont Gele and Savoleyres / La Tzoumaz sectors. Even Brudon is possible with an early start. Eating wise La Tétine on the Tortin piste used to be a good value option for lunch. And the table service restaurant at Tortin is surprisingly good since they upgraded it. Can’t beat a bowl of soup or fondu in the hut up at Mont Fort and Cabane Mont Fort on the Jumbo piste is great in good weather. If you do the loop on that side, the self at Dahu has good quality crepes for circa 10chf and free water which is where we send our kids, or Hot Dogs at Ice Cube are 12chf. There is also a picnic area inside Les Ruinettes if you bring a packed lunch and the weather is bad. Enjoy
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Yes, Savoleyres also has a reasonable, if a little Spartan, indoor picnic room. If it’s school holidays,particularly at lunchtimes, you may find that you prefer the relative calmness of the pic-nic rooms to the inevitably busy and crowded public café/restaurant areas.
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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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@LaForet and @BobinCH - that's all great info - noted down thanks. I did think it odd that the 4V pass doesn't seem a huge amount more expensive than the Printse but was concerned how realistic the amount of time to get up top with expected volume of traffic at holiday time. Think it's probably worth going for it anyway, it doesn't take much to brteak even and saves the hassle. All sounds exciting so far...
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| Derek Branflake wrote: |
| @LaForet and @BobinCH - that's all great info - noted down thanks. I did think it odd that the 4V pass doesn't seem a huge amount more expensive than the Printse but was concerned how realistic the amount of time to get up top with expected volume of traffic at holiday time. Think it's probably worth going for it anyway, it doesn't take much to brteak even and saves the hassle. All sounds exciting so far... |
The Chassoure lift out of Tortin moves fast so it’s pretty easy to get into and out of Tortin into the Verbier sector. Same for Barnes and Funispace out of town / Ruinettes. The lifts that can have longer queues are the Jumbo, Tortin and Mont Fort cable cars and also the old slow bubble out of Savoleyres. I wouldn’t worry about anything else even at Feb half term. The terrain park, skier cross race track and speed gun are all in the La Chaux sector so that’s where I would head with kids
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks BobinCH, reassuring to know. All exciting stuff. Will be good to revisit for fist time in a looooong time (I hope).
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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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Just popping up again to say thanks to all the advice above. If anyone is reading in the future Nendaz proved a good choice for our needs – access from Geneva (limited alternatives from provincial UK backwater) with public transport ideal (idiot proof train bus via SBB app) , slopes for kids (2nd trip to alps but ok skiers), enough interest/variety for vaguely ambitious parents and not a ridiculous sum (self-catering) during various UK half term/Euro holidays.
The town itself was OK with enough facilities including very good and reasonably priced supermarkets (Migros & Coop), but we didn't explore much. Ski School Neige Aventure left a good impression – excellent communication pre-trip via email and in person, enthusiastic and friendly instructors, and the kids enjoyed it which is the main thing. Access from apartment to the lift station was basically 2min fairly level walk so ideal. All very practical.
The skiing itself was pretty good, if not mind-blowing. There was a reasonable variety of pistes with each sector offering some qualities in their favour and some downsides. The ability to travel between sectors (Nendaz – Siviez – Verbier – Vesonnaz/Thyon) was good and helped with variety which otherwise could feel a little one-dimensional within each area. I would say both the 4V and the Printse lift pass areas are best suited to intermediates/early intermediates. Not a huge amount on the very easy end of things or conversely at the upper end of the scale though. Low mileage piste bashers might be happy with the smaller area lift pass for a week but i'd suggest that the limited % increase in costs for whole area lift pass is well worth it). Off piste of course is another story and there is a huge variety of easily accessible terrain almost wherever you care to look. However the conditions during our stay weren't great – mnimal snow in recent weeks plus poor viz for the first few days & generally mild temperatures Even with that caveat there was still some fun stuff to do and think Nendaz would make a good base for exploring more of this across much of the 4V.
Overall, I'd recommend Nendaz as a base and would look to revisit again. The big plusses for us (swiss flags notwithstanding) - easy access with public transport, excellent ski school, OK intermediate skiing (and potential for great accessible off piste), ability to ”travel” between various areas each with a different feel, and reasonable value (basically during holiday season absolutely everything for 2x adults and 2x kids came out at £4k for 8 days). That was with some careful planning but very definitely worth considering if you're in a similar position.
(PS was considering a trip report with thoughts but (a) notes seem to sprawl a lot when I tye them up, and (b) any relevant conditions info is now well out of date. But shout if there are any questions/interest.)
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Is anyone able to tell me whether the new Telemixt operates in both directions? Last time I was in Nendaz, conditions on the red piste down to Prarion were downright dangerous and a lift alternative would have been very welcome in getting over to Siviez. Thanks.
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You know it makes sense.
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Yes you can download on the new lift but only in the gondola I think.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@taffvalais, thank you, that's very helpful. 
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Poster: A snowHead
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As @taffvalais says, download possible with the bubbles from Tracouet>Prarion. Got a bit of a shock first time I realised that it wasn't a chair coming round when going the other way. I can understand why you might want to skip the red run down to Prarion, the lower section was pretty ropey after mid morning in February and having the option of a downloadable link open through to Siviez seems a no brainer. FWIW we found skiing over to Siviez faster than getting the bus, and more fun.
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