Verbier News
3 October 2008 - Verbier is chosen as one of the 2nd Freeride World Tour locations
As the biggest freeride competition, once again the Verbier Xtremes will be the last stop on the Freeride World Tour.1 October 2008 - Patrick Blanc used drugs in this year's Patrouille des Glaciers
Reknowned ski alpinist, Patrick Blanc, who tested positive for drugs after his team finished second in the 2008 Patrouille des Glaciers ski patrol competition, has been banned for two years from ski alpinism competitions due to yesterday's second samples results which confirmed his guilt. He will also be barred for life from the Patrouilles des Glaciers. This is a big blow to the French discipline which maintained his innocence.28 September 2008 - Cheese and Cows
Le Chable will host the 5th edition of the Bagnes "alpages" festival this weekend (27-28 September). As the raclette capital, there will be plenty of raclette to taste as well as local products from Sion and a chance to see the "reine" (queen) cow, Tina, and other special cows.25 September 2008 - Valais residents tired of military manouevers
Residents in Valais are angry over the military manouevers by the F/A 18 jets, which even practice at night. Last Monday, the jets flew low to the ground over schools during school hours and frightened the children and enfuriated residents.24 September 2008 - The owner of Téléveysonnaz takes over Télénendaz
Jean-Marie Fournier, owner of Téléveysonnaz, bought Genco's shares in Télénendaz to become the majority shareholder. This means that Téléveysonnaz and Télénendaz have the same majority shareholder, which indicates the possibility of these two resorts merging sometime in the future. The re-structuring of the 4 Valley's after the bankruptcy of Transmontagne is the source of much conflict between the resorts, where Télé-Thyon sides with Téléverbier.23 September 2008 - Get your ski passes before 30 September for an Early BIrd discount
Get your season ski pass before the 30 September 2008 or you will regret it!19 September 2008 - New class of mountain guides receive their diplomas
Yesterday a new class of 25 mountain guides received their diplomas after 3 years of training and competition which eliminated 40 candidates of the original 65. After succeeding the entrance exams, candidates train for a year before becoming aspiring guides. Then, in addition to more training, they must guide clients on 40 courses over 2 years under the supervision of a mountain guide.
15 September 2008 - Results of the IXS Swiss Downhill Cup
Held at the Kona Bike Park in Verbier, this weekend saw the 3rd annual Swiss IXS Downhill Cup. Results:
Mens Elite: 1st Christian Greub; 2nd = James Stock; 3rd = Billy Carou
Womens Elite: 1st = Pascaline Reusser; 2nd = Caroline Sax; 3rd = Christen Manuela
Masters: 1st = Bruno Ryser, 2nd = Marcel Waldmann, 3rd = Michael Stammbach
Junior male = 1st = Robin Van Goubergen; 2nd = Justyn Norek; 3rd = Andy Klay10 September 2008 - Verbier / St.Bernard unites
The region Verbier / St. Bernard has agreed to become one tourism destination, uniting the communities and development societies of the Bagnes Valley, Orsières, Liddes, Bourg-Saint-Pierre, Riddes, Verbier, Fionnay-Haut Val de Bagnes, Le Châble-Bruson, Pays du Saint-Bernard, and Riddes-La Tzoumaz. The president of the region, Laurent Perraudin, set the objective to create a common tourism stategy over the next 4 years.29 August 2008 - Patrick Blanc is officially accused of taking drugs during the Patrouille des Glaciers
Although rumours have been spreading since May, Patrick Blanc has been officially accused of drug use in the Patrouilles des Glaciers in which his team placed second. A second sample will be analysed.26 August 2008 - The 4 by 4 car show opens tomorrow
The "Salon Suisse du 4x4 Verbier Val de Bagnes" will include 106 vehicles of 33 different brands as well as antique and rally vehicles.20 August 2008 - Chef happily gives up his Michelin star
Jean-Maurice Joris, gastronomic chef of the Alpes à Orsières, is transforming his Michelin star restaurant into a bistrot. No hard feelings he just wants a change of pace, but does not intend to give up cooking.4 June 2008 - Snake in the classroom
Monday, the snake expert, Yves Brunelli, was called upon to rid a Verbier school of a venomous viper. In the area, vipers usually hang out in rocky terrain at around 1400-1800m of altitude. While male vipers are more prone to move around in the spring mating season, they are usually fairly stationary in the summer.25 April 2008 - Don't miss the Ultime Session end of season blowout
This weekend is the last weekend for the lifts. Highlights will be the Big White vtt downhill comp, bands, djs, and free raclette.19 April 2008 - Results of the Patrouille des Glaciers ski patrol ski touring race
Mens: Florent Troillet, Didier Moret & Alexandre Hug (Swiss)
Womens: Nathalie Etzensperger, Gabrielle Magnenat & Séverine Pont-Combe (Swiss)
Florent Troillet, from Bagnes and recent winner of the Pierra Menta, was the first across the finish with a time of 6 hours, 24 minutes and 32 seconds to ski from Zermatt to Verbier along a portion of the famous Haute Route.
The first women's team finished in 7 hours 53 minutes and 25 seconds beating their own record from 2006 by 23 minutes.20 March 2008 - Verbier participates once again in the Boss des Bosses inter-resort competition in Chamonix
Verbier took a team down to Chamonix to participate in the annual Boss des Bosses inter-resort mogul competition for the first time in many many years. But just like most recent years it came down to Chamonix and Zermatt battling it out for first place - Zermatt took first once again.17 March 2008 - Cyril Neri wins the Verbier Extremes on the Mont Gelé
Due to a recent avalanche on the Bec-de Rosses, the Verbier Xtremes took place on the Mont Gelé this year. Cyril Neril won his 3rd Verbier Xtremes (with previous wins in 1998 and 2006) and Alec Coudray took second place. Xavier de la Rue came in 5th with just enough points to conserve his world snowboard feeride title over Alec Coudray.8 March 2008 - The new Swiss-Russian Cultural Foundation is based in Verbier
The Swiss-Russian Cultural Foundation (SRCF), based in Verbier, was created to reinforce cultural ties between the two countries. They plan to organise Russian cultural events concerning dance, music, literature, paintings and song, in Switzerland and abroad.28 January 2008 - Verbier hosted its first annual international polo competition
The Swiss team (Simon and Martin Luginbuehl of the Polo Club de Veytay) beat out the Argentinian team (Luis Gonzalez and Alexis de Boismenu) in a spectacular polo on snow international competition last weekend.21 January 2008 - Verbier Ride Results
The Verbier Ride snowboard freestyle competition was held in Verbier's La Chaux snowpark last weekend. Results:
Mens: 1st = Alex Neuhrohr; 2nd = Boen Ferguson; 3rd = Andy Bennett
Wmesn: 1st = Katrien Aerts; 2nd = Nicole Bumann; 3rd = Becky Hammond10 November 2007 - No more resident reductions on lift passes
Instead of giving resident reductions for lift passes the 4 Valleys lift companies have introduced a new Club card which offers discounts based on how often the card is used.