The pine cones have spoken. There are loads of them this year and apparently that means we are in for a massive winter. Science says this is complete rubbish, but I am ignoring science and going with the local mystics. I did my first ski season in Val d’Isère in 1988, then eventually found my […]
Every autumn, normally around the same time we start getting excited about the first snow forecast, another number appears that isn’t quite as exciting: the price of the Verbier lift pass. For winter 2026/27, the official ticket-office price of a six-day 4 Vallées pass is CHF 409, although with Verbier’s dynamic pricing and advance booking […]
I have just ordered a new pair of rather large powder skis. Nordica Unleashed 108s in 191cm, which is quite a lot of ski and probably completely unnecessary for most days in Verbier. But this is where manifestation comes in. The theory is that if you visualise something strongly enough, believe it is going to […]
Verbier Ski Lessons for Children: Avoid This Mistake During Half Term Most families booking ski lessons in Verbier assume all ski schools work more or less the same way. Honestly, they don’t. The teaching is often very good across the resort. The biggest difference is usually not the instruction itself. It is the logistics around […]
“How much do private ski lessons cost in Verbier?” It’s one of the questions I’m asked most often. The answer is easy enough. Depending on the time of year and who you book with, expect to pay somewhere between CHF 450 and CHF 800+ per day. But that’s the wrong question. The real question is: […]
Why Booking Ski Lessons Early Makes a Bigger Difference Than Booking Early Flights It’s probably over 35°C where you’re reading this. Maybe you’re walking barefoot along a beach, leaving footprints in the sand with an ice cream or a cold drink in your hand. After this week’s extraordinary European heatwave, with another summer heat dome […]
Super El Niño Joins the Roddy Forecasting System If you are a regular reader of my Verbier ski blog, you will know that every summer I attempt the impossible and predict the coming winter’s snowfall in Verbier. The tradition started back in 2010 and has gradually evolved into one of the Alps’ least recognised but […]
Why Americans With an Epic Pass Should Ski Verbier A few years ago, most American skiers would probably not even have considered skiing in Switzerland. Europe felt complicated. Expensive. Difficult to organise. The idea of navigating trains, transfers, foreign ski systems and different mountain cultures seemed like a lot of effort compared to simply flying […]
Why American Skiers Get Caught Out in Verbier (And How to Avoid It) Every winter I see exactly the same thing happen in Verbier. An American skier arrives after a fresh snowfall, rides up Attelas or La Chaux, looks across at an untouched powder field sitting right beside the piste and thinks, “Nobody has skied […]
Ski Instructor vs Mountain Guide in Verbier: What’s the Difference? One of the most common questions visitors ask in Verbier is whether they need a ski instructor or a mountain guide, and honestly the answer is often misunderstood. Many people assume guides are automatically for advanced skiers while instructors are mainly for beginners, but in […]