Haute-Nendaz · Valais · Switzerland
Haute-Nendaz and the 4 Vallées
The chalet stands on Chemin de la Fragnière, a few hundred metres above the middle of Haute-Nendaz, facing down the Rhône valley.
From the door
- Bus stop
- About 100 m. In winter the free shuttle runs from here to the gondola station
- Village centre
- About 500 m
- Funicular to the Tracouet gondola
- About 600 m — five minutes on foot
- Address
- Chemin de la Fragnière 4, 1997 Haute-Nendaz
Winter
Haute-Nendaz is one of the doors into the 4 Vallées, the linked area that runs across Veysonnaz, Thyon, La Tzoumaz and Verbier. From the village the funicular takes you to the Tracouet gondola, and the rest of the network opens from there.
There are two ways up without touching the car. It is five minutes on foot to the funicular, which sets you down directly opposite the entrance to the lifts. Or the winter shuttle — line 2, the Péroua–Tsamandon loop — stops about a hundred metres from the door and runs to the Tracouet gondola station; it is free to everyone, with no guest card and no lift pass. The walk home is flat until the last fifty metres, which rise gently to the door.
And you need not carry skis at all, or own any. Ski Service sits at the top of Route de la Télécabine by the slopes and does hire, servicing and locker rental in the one place, seven days a week — it is where we get ours. Mariéthoz Sports, the same family business, has its main shop further down the same road.
The lift company rents lockers at the station as well, with drying racks, from about CHF 50 a week for two people. Either way, book before you arrive rather than on the day. It means the shop, the locker and the first lift are all within a few steps of one another, which is what makes the five-minute walk stop mattering. The chalet keeps its own ski and boot room for anyone who would rather bring their kit home at night.
Lockers and current rates → Winter shuttle routes and timetable → Ski hire, servicing and lockers at the slopes →
Summer
The valley is quieter and greener, and the same terrace that catches winter sun catches it for far longer. Nendaz is walking country: the bisses — the old irrigation channels that contour along the hillsides — make level paths at altitude, which is a rare thing in the Alps. The gondola runs in the warm months too.
Getting here
- By car
- Off the A9 at Sion, then up. About two hours from Geneva airport, traffic permitting.
- By train
- To Sion, then the post bus up to Haute-Nendaz.
- Once you are here
- The bus stop is about 100 m away. In winter the resort runs five free shuttles and one of them passes it. Two outdoor parking spaces come with the chalet; the garage does not — though most weeks the car stays where you left it.
What it is not
You cannot ski to the door. What you can do is park the car on the first day and not touch it again, leave the skis in a locker at the lift, and walk five minutes in your own shoes — or wait a few for the shuttle. It is a house in a village, a few hundred metres above the shops, with a view that does most of the work.