Nendaz ski resort guide & reviews Ski area, apres-ski, things to see & do in Nendaz
Resort Review
Haute Nendaa is a charming alpine village of some 5800 inhabitants sitting at 1365m above the Rhone Valley below. It is an all year round resort with plenty of activities the whole family to enjoy.
However, it is the winter when the resort really kicks into life and given the access to the 4 Valleys, Nendaz is becoming more well known to ski enthusiasts who just don't want to pay the higher prices in the neighbouring resorts.
Nendaz ski area guide
Located at the heart of one of the biggest ski domains in Europe - the 4 Vallees - Nendaz has access to 412km of pistes served by 92 lifts providing more than enough terrain to keep even the keenest ski touring enthusiast occupied!
The main ski resorts in the 4 Vallees are...
- Verbier
- Thyon
- Veysonnaz
- La Tzoumaz
Nendaz caters for all abilities from the absolute beginner to the extremist with access to some of the more demanding trails in the alps including the very steep Tortin run off the top of Mont Fort (3300m).
The local ski area provides 220km of piste with approximately 35% being for beginners, 57% intermediate and 8% advanced.
| Key information (whole area) | |
|---|---|
| Altitude | 1365m |
| Top lift | 3300m |
| Family | |
| Beginner | |
| Intermediate | |
| Expert | |
| Piste (km) | 412 |
| Longest run | 15 km |
| Off piste | |
| Cross country | 9 km |
| Season | Dec - april |
| Snowboard parks | 3 |
| Heli Skiing | ✔ |
| Summer skiing | ✘ |
| Glacier skiing | ✔ |
| Babysitting | ✔ |
| Creche | ✔ |
| Apres ski | Relaxed & Informal |
Beginners
For the complete beginner, there are some excellent nursery on the upper slopes of Nendaz at 2200m and on the frozen lake at Tracouet.
Intermediate
There is a huge amount of local skiing without having to take in all the 4 valley lift systems. The local area includes Siviez, Thyon and Versonnaz and is known as the Printz area. Plenty of tree skiing especially good on those flat-light days. If you need more runs to keep you occupied, then venturing around the 4 valleys is within easy reach and there, steeper and more challenging runs can be found especially around Mont Gele and La Chaux.
Advanced
For the advanced skier - the 4 valleys is absolute heaven. The unmarked and ungroomed trails are amazing, not just for the scenery but because they are seriously challenging.
Snowboarding
The 4 valleys offers the snowboarder a serious amount of terrain to freeride and some fantastic itineraries to test the stamina. There are two snow parks - one for beginners and one for the more advanced and a boardercross park.
Things to see & do in Nendaz
If you dont facncy skiing or boarding, there are plenty of other activities to keep you busy including:
- 9km of local cross-country trails
- 2 sledge runs
- Snow tubing
- 6 snowshoe tracks
- 100km of marked walks
- Heliskiing
- Ice climbing
- Paragliding
- Ice skating
Après-ski
This can be as lively or as relaxing as you want to make it. There are 7 bars, 35 restaurants, 15 cafes and 4 discos / nightclubs for those of you who want to party until the early hours.
Children
There are some day care centres that take children from 18 months to 6 years and are open 7 days a week in the winter season and the ski schools provide kindergarten.
Our view on Nendaz ski resort
Nendaz is a brilliant ski resort that's getting a big reputation for being superb fun on and off the piste. A few suggestions...For a full days skiing or boarding, head to Verbier for lunch. Just remember to book your restaurant in advance as they get fully booked in peak season
In summer or winter, a good day out is a visit to the underground lake of St-Lennard in Sion
If you like Nendaz, you may also want to look at Corvara in the Italian Dolomites and Chamonix
.
