Luxury Ski Chalets in Verbier

After the war when it had become blindingly obvious that skiing was the future for many locations in the Alps, a study was conducted by the Swiss government. The findings concluded that Verbier was an ideal place to develop a ski resort. But way back then I'm sure they had no idea that it was to develop into one of the Alps most premium destinations and a mecca for the luxury ski holiday set. 

Back to the history class. In 1925 a group of adventurers hiked up 15km from Sembrancher for the sole purpose of skiing back down again. I’m sure there was much excitement amongst them later that evening, about the prospect of making regular excursions up the mountain, tempered by the inescapable fact that it was a long and arduous hike for the sake of a 15 minute head rush. At this time the village was inhabited by cows and a couple of herdsmen. Also at this time, in the mid 20’s, skiing was an esoteric pastime and had yet to gain any traction in the imagination of the majority of the Alpine population. They probably packed up their equipment, went their separate ways and bemoaned the fact that the lack of an easier way to the top was not available. 

There were tow ropes in the Alps at the time, the first one was in use in 1910 but nothing existed in Verbier. It wasn’t until 1936 that the first chair lift was introduced but that was in Sun Valley, Idaho and in any case 11 years too late for them.

They would be absolutely astonished to learn, were they still around today, how developed the area where they experienced their ski run has become. The Swiss acted upon their findings and started in earnest to construct a purpose built ski resort, which has arguably become perhaps the world’s most successful ski resort and the home to thousands of high end luxury chalets.

A ski resort isn’t viable without a lift system and Verbier’s lift system has certainly seen a great deal of development throughout the years. Since its formation the Televerbier Company has invested more than 250 million Swiss Francs into the maintenance and building of its lifts which has been the catalyst for Verbiers leading reputation and has brought added value to the economy of the region. You have to admire the foresight of the original founders, they certainly picked the right location.

Verbier does in fact have quite a history before the age of ski tourism. Much of the original architecture from Verbiers’ distant past is in place, including old windmills, charming hamlets, and chapels. Today you can even see the recently uncovered ruins of the Verbier Castle overlooking the Val De Bagnes valley. As a result Verbier has a number of fascinating museums and galleries that are well worth visiting. The Verbier Village chapel which at the time dominated the resort was built in 1686. It was replaced after it became too small to serve the community in 1866, while maintaining a number of the 17th century effigies. Le Chable parish church was built in 1488; the bell tower is the churches oldest original feature. 

All this is quite impressive in its own right but the modern age, since the re-imagining of Verbier as a ski resort, has also seen its share of impressive building projects. Some of the luxury ski chalets built to service the influx of tourists are among the finest in the World. Luxury has become a byword here and there are many examples of Verbier luxury ski chalets that would knock the socks off the most discerning.