Switzerland
13) Verbier
Situated in the sun drenched south west facing bowl in the canton of the Valais, Verbier is perched high up on the mountainside at an altitude of 1500 m, bordered by France to the west and Italy to the south.
The trails in Verbier are mostly narrow technical singletracks that are not hammered by bikes. Most contain steep sections and often have significant sections with exposure or sheer drops near the trail edge.
Nearest airport ot Verbier: Geneva - 170 km; Milan - 270 km; Zurich - 300 km.
What does Verbier have to offer?
| Cross Country |
Beginner & Intermediate |
| Downhill | Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced |
| Freeride | Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced |
| Cable Car |
- |
| Gondola | YES |
| Chairlift | - |
| Connected to | - |
The bowl of Verbier is the perfect shape for mountain bikes as it allows you to easily gain height using the gondola and then spin out to either end of it's reach along a variety of mellow doubletrack and technical singletracks and pick off routes along the way. With little effort you can ride a different trail each time, although you will need a shuttle to complete the longest DH runs, which take you beyond Verbier right down to the valley floor.
DOWNHILL
There
is so much downhill available in Verbier and the great thing is that as
many of the routes are old hiking and trading paths they have worn down
to a firm base of rock and roots and do not become packed with huge
braking bumps. A Downhill bike is not a necessity here as many of the tight switchbacks are easier on a smaller trail bike.
FREERIDE
Verbier does not feature a whole lot of Freeride.
The BikePark does have drops, see-saws, doubles and northshore running
down through the trails, but the main spirit of riding in Verbier is in
the challenge of riding the steep and highly technical trails in the
wider Verbier basin away from the BikePark.
CROSS-COUNTRY
The
resort has produced a trail map with 16 marked Cross Country routes
around Verbier and while some of these take in spectacular views they
are not a patch on some of the singletrack around the mountains which
are not marked on the cyclerntrail. The Kona BikePark also has marked out a Cross Country itinerary which features some nice trail.
| Summer Lifts Open |
6 June - 25 Oct W/E only //5 July - 22nd Sept All week |
| Lift Opening Times | 09.30 - 16.30 (always check) |
| Lift Prices | A day pass 30 CHF |
DIRECTORY:
Tourist Office: T+41 27 775 25 11
Website: verbierbikepark.ch