It’s been bumpy ride for the four constituent parts of the 4 Valleys, but after discovering this summer that the whole network had fallen apart we have just heard it’s all back together again and everyone is friends…

So, the summary is this:

TeleVeysonnaz and TeleVerbier argued about how revenue was distributed from the sale of 4 Valleys lift passes. The result was that in the summer the area was – for a while at least – resigned to history and we saw the end of the largest ski area in Switzerland.

Sad times.

Verbier said it would go it alone, Nendaz and Veysonnaz formed an alliance, and they said a few rather aggressive things in press releases – no doubt it was even worse behind closed doors.

But, according to Swiss newspaper La Nouvellist the whole thing has been resolved after a local politician, Jaques Melly, intervened and offered to mediate.

Well, I don’t know what he said, but it worked.

Here’s the translation of the article:

An agreement was signed by all the partner companies to extend the ski area of ​​4 Valleys.

A statement from the canton of Valais, the ski area of ​​4 Valleys is renewed. An agreement was signed to this effect by all partner companies. They also agree to strengthen their cooperation.

Mediation conducted by State Councilor Jacques Melly to find an agreement between the partner companies has resulted in the signing of an agreement between all societies.

Aware of the importance of finding a solution for the operation of the 4 Valleys destination at the dawn of the next winter season, the four partners Téléverbier, Télé-Nendaz, Téléveysonnaz and Télé-Thyon companies decided to extend the validity of the current agreement for a period of 18 years.

The partners have also committed by agreement to strengthen collaboration. Discussions will continue in the coming months for this purpose.

 

>> Speak french? Well have a look here…
 

What next?

Well, we’re waiting for more news and confirmations but the Nouvellist is pretty reliable and if it’s confirmed as true and for 18 years, we can all take a big sigh of relief and start planning for winter…

For more information you should have a look at…

The initial break up story

– from June

The responses and new lift areas

– from July
 

An update (about an hour after posting our article)

 
The story has just been updated on the Nouvellist website and they say there has been “financial compensation” to the CEO of TeleVeysonnaz for “pre-emptive rights not respected” and something about making “objections” to work on the L’Ours cable car.

No, we don’t know that means either, but it’s another bit of intrigue…
 

OK, last time we blogged it was to assess what was happening in the 4 Valleys.

Basically, in case you missed it, Verbier announced it would not be selling 4 Valleys passes and the area didn’t really exist until an agreement could be reached.

So we tried to make sense of Televerbier’s announcement, look at the new lift pass called “Verbier Grand Ski”, and crucially whether or not this really was the end of Switzerland’s biggest connected ski area.

We expected something to come back across from the other partners, and it finally has in the shape of a rival ski area…

But we thought before – and we still believe – that there is a lot of time for brinkmanship and manoeuvring between now and the normal opening of the 4 Valleys, which is usually mid-December. So nothing is dead and buried until then.

So there’s news, and it’s not great.

We now have an update as things have changed. The Nouvellist has announced that Nendaz and Veysonnaz have joined forces to create a new area called “Espace Mont Fort” where you would be able to ski between Veysonnaz and Nendaz and go up Mont Fort (which belongs to Telenendaz but is jointly run with Verbier).

So, what does it mean?

Well, hard it’s to say. But it does make it seem as if the negotiating parties have packed parachutes and want to let the fellow members of the area-formely-known-as-the-4-Valleys that they can operate without them. In this case it would seem Telenendaz and TeleVeysonnaz want Verbier to know they can also survive if the biggest ski area in Switzerland dissolves.

Both Nendaz and Veysonnaz have released details of this new area, with Nendaz saying there has been an “excellent cooperation between Nendaz and Veysonnaz” and adding “the possibilities… of extending to other sectors will be confirmed if no agreement is reached by the beginning of the winter”.

They price the new area at 60chf for a day pass, so about ten chf less than the Verbier Grand Ski.

The same question again: should we be worried?

Well, our knee-jerk reaction is yes. We should worry. (But that is the knee-jerk response).

Because this isn’t the behaviour of people negotiating a settlement – it’s the behaviour of kids in the playground finishing an argument by taking their ball home…

But the knee-jerk-free thought is that it is not even August yet.

And that means we’re not even at the half way point between last winter ending and next winter starting. So there is time. Plenty of it. And as someone from the lift company pointed out, these arguments are typical when the agreements need renewing, it’s just this time social media and newspaper stories leaking the news and websites having to make announcements have shone a light on the negotiating and arguing – and the potential fall-out.

In the old days nobody would have known until they turned up on holiday, and when it was agreed before the winter we would never have known at all…

The original Nouvellist article in French:

Les 4 Vallées ne sont toujours pas prêtes de renaître de leurs cendres cet hiver. Après Verbier qui a lancé son produit “Verbier Grand Ski” à 71 francs la journée, Nendaz et Veysonnaz rétorquent avec “Espace Mt-Fort”, qui réunit les deux domaines skiables pour 60 francs le forfait.

Les deux parties, Nendaz et Veysonnaz d’un côté, Thyon et Verbier de l’autre, ont accepté une médiation dans le conflit qui mine les 4 Vallées. Pour autant, Verbier, avec son produit “Verbier Grand Ski” à 71 francs la journée, avait, il y a tout juste un mois, de fait, mis un terme au plus grand domaine skiable suisse.

Ce jeudi, TéléNendaz et Téléveysonnaz répliquent en lançant à leur tour “Espace Mt-Fort”, un forfait qui donne accès à l’ensemble des domaines skiables des deux stations et ce, pour 60 francs la journée. Les deux sociétés justifient cette action par le blocage actuel du dossier des 4 Vallées. “De nouveaux accord doient intervenir entre les partenaires”, peut-on lire dans un communiqué, “les discussions n’ont pas abouti à ce jour, et nous ne pouvons dans l’état actuel garantir le maintien des tarifs dans leur configuration passée.”

Pour autant, comme du côté de Téléverbier, on garde ici la porte ouverte à une éventuelle réconciliation dans les mois à venir. “Les possibilités et les modalités d’extension aux autres secteurs devront être définies ultérieurement si aucun accord n’intervient d’ici le début de la saison d’hiver.”

The 4 Valleys on hold after failed negotiations

For the last 24 hours Verbier and the internet have been awash with the news that the 4 Valleys ski area – one of the biggest in Europe and the biggest in Switzerland – has been dissolved.

Is it true? Well, yes. But only for the moment…

Why are we in this situation?

Well, like most good arguments it’s about money. The four ski areas can’t agree on distribution of the money from lift passes sold across the area – Verbier blames Veysonnaz, and Veysonnaz has hit back by calling Verbier “irresponsible”. We understand Veysonnaz pulled out of the old deal 18 months ago and this is the result.

The details of how it works, how it might work and where the sides are disagreeing are vague, but in simple terms four people are sitting at the table, and they can’t agree.

Who is actually at fault is, of course, impossible to say, but without a unanimous solution the 4 Valleys as we know it cannot exist.

So is this it?

Does this mean no more Backside of Mont Fort and no more skiing past the dam to Siviez? No more day trips to Thyon? No more Mash?

Well, don’t write anything off just yet.

This news has hit the headlines as Verbier announced next season’s lift prices yesterday and as a result of the conflict they aren’t offering 4 Valleys passes – which has shone a light on the stalemate between the ski areas.

Right now, however, you can still by summer 4 Valleys passes and hike and bike your way all over the network. Perhaps not next winter though…

Verbier Grand Ski.

In place of the traditional 4 Valleys pass for next winter is a new pass: Verbier Grand Ski.

Now cynics have pointed out it’s simply a Verbier pass. But upon closer inspection it goes a bit further.

As you’d expect the Verbier, La Tzoumaz, Savoleyres and Bruson pistes and lifts are all there. (Bruson of course the home of a shiny, new, high-speed bubble lift and a lot of skiing terrain most Verbier regulars have never visited.)

But the new pass also includes the Mont Fort Sector (which is under the jurisdiction of Nendaz, but run jointly with Verbier) and also the Siviez chair lift (part of Nendaz) according to reports from PlanetSKI.eu.

That means you will be able to ski just beyond the normal Verbier area and crucially ski the famous Backside of Mont Fort.

How this is possible is not clear – perhaps Nendaz and Verbier are on the same side? That would be pure speculation but if you can’t speculate it’s no fun.

What next?

Well, our-man-in-the-know had a meeting with Televerbier today and they claim to be in constant contact with all parties and that negotiations are on-going.

Significantly the price of the new Grand Ski Verbier pass is almost identical to the price of a 4 Valleys pass, leaving the door open to changing the pre-ordered passes into 4 Valleys passes should the solution be agreed.

It’s also not impossible a new network will emerge, we speculated about a tie-up with Nendaz but why not? Perhaps the 4 Valleys will become the 2 Valleys?

It is clear that the publicity over the situation is not ideal, but the pass system as it stands is hardly a bad option – after all, if we all put our hands on our hearts how many of us ski the 4 Valleys? Yes, that Greppon Blanc drag lift puts everybody off…

Honestly though, many believe this is just a story about hard bargaining and the timing of announcing lift passes – it could well all be resolved well before the snow starts to fall here. We certainly hope so.

And remember, the 4 Valleys links wouldn’t normally open for another six months, and that’s lot of time to negotiate…

More on the story:

PlanetSKI.eu
Le Nouvelliste (in French)
Le Matin (in French)

 

The tourist office also released this earlier…

Which roughly translates as…

We wish to pass on the information that we have feared for some time already: the end of the 4 Valleys agreements. Click here to find the message to us from Televerbier. [Link not available]

Despite this separation, and as pointed out MM. Morand and Burrus, we have an area of ​​great quality, a quality team and a modern way that will allow us to continue to attract many tourists and fans to GRAND SKI. Remain confident and above all welcome our guests in the best possible conditions.

Best regards.

Joel Sciboz

Yes, the sun was back out and we went up to ski Mont Fort.

Now, we know you’re odds-on not reading this in Verbier, so we won’t gloat, but suffice to say that the piste from the Mont Fort bumps to the little button lift is absolutely epic. And if you don’t want to take my word for it then just ask Lucas. He knows an awful lot about these things…

But the views are also amazing – and that’s precisely why we took a bunch of photos:

So after a brief return of winter yesterday, it was all change this morning and we were treated to a clear blue sky and the warm temperatures gradually returned.

Now, it’s very easy to assume that there’s not a lot of snow in the alps, but the fact is that (whilst we’re not claiming it’s the mid-winter powder that gets you face shots) it’s still really good up there. It’s spring skiing and as we have said many times on this blog, you just need to start later, finish a little earlier and go high for the best snow.

And with that in mind we took a late-morning trip up to Col de Gentianes and, after deciding to skip the queues for the Mont fort lift we nipped down the Gentianes itinerary. OK, we should have waited another hour for it to get even softer, but you know what? We don’t care. It was a stunning day and great fun and by the time we got back to Lac des Vaux the pistes were really in that Ten Minute Window™ when its soft but not too soft.

A few pistes later and it was time for lunch in the sun to talk about great it was skiing in Verbier at Easter…

 

 

After a little bit of a delay due to bad weather the Verbier Xtreme kicked off yesterday morning and didn’t disappoint.

It’s a funny situation when the competition is delayed – normally there’s all sorts of events and stands in town and it completely takes over, but the delay seem to lead to a more chilled out vibe and that’s certainly not a bad thing (last time it happened Gareth and I got to meet Glen Plake at the Fer a Cheval, which is unbelievably cool if you’re a skiing geek).

That said the Freeride World Tour estimate 8,500 spectators watched and 40,000 watched the live stream online. So don’t go thinking it wasn’t a big event…

But after the heavy snow last weekend and the promise of blue skies the decision was made to run the event and see the best skiers and snowboarders in the world take on the most impossible piece of rock you can imagine – the famous Bec des Rosses.

As usual the event was impressive and terrifying in equal measure, but when the results came this is who the judges chose…

Xtreme Verbier Winners

Ski Men: Reine Barkered SWE, 93.25 points
Snowboard Men: Ralph Backstrom USA, 77.75 points
Ski Women: Pia Nic Gundersen NOR, 83.50 points
Snowboard Women: Elodie Mouthon FRA, 72.25 points

Freeride World Tour Champions 2014

Ski Men: Loïc Collomb-Patton FRA
Snowboard Men: Emilen Badoux SUI
Ski Women: Nadine Wallner AUT
Snowboard Women: Shannan Yates USA

And what does it look like? It looks like this…

 

Reine Barkered’s winning run:

FWT14 – Run of Bib #4 Reine Barkered SWE… par FreerideWorldTourTV

 

Ralph Backstrom’s winning run:

FWT14 – Run of Bib #3 Ralph Backstrom USA… par FreerideWorldTourTV

 

Pia Nic Gundersen’s winning run:

FWT14 – Run of Bib #3 Pia Nic Gundersen NOR… par FreerideWorldTourTV

 

Elodie Mouthon’s winning run:

FWT14 – Run of Bib #2 Elodie Mouthon FRA… par FreerideWorldTourTV