I am 36 and work in London. The Apartment was bought in early 2007 after I had just returned form doing two ski seasons working as a ski instructor in Verbier.

I therefore know the area very well indeed and used this knowledge to buy in a place that I think is perfect. I did most of my teaching hours skiing the Savoleyres ski area down to La Tzoumaz. (55KM of runs on this section alone). The skiing provides a great array of slopes to test all abilities from starting out on those first blue runs to great terrain for short turns on a steep black. The cruise down to the village through the trees are some of the most picturesque skiing runs anywhere in the world (in my opinion) and incredibly peaceful. These runs are also the place to ski if the weather is poor and visibility bad as the trees help to provide definition.

The Apartment is 20 metres off the run just above the main lift so Intermediate or advanced skiers can literally ski to the door. Beginners might prefer to ski to the lift station and walk 100 metres back to the apartment at the end of the day.

The area above the apartment has a choice of restaurants so finding a venue for a hot chocolate on a cold morning or a place for lunch is not a problem.

The new 8 man cabin lift system just 100 metres from the apartment was another factor in my choice. Although catching the lift from La Tzoumaz has traditionally been busy in the holiday period I am convinced that this new lift will solve the problem. I anticipate that the lift will provide one of the quickest access methods to the Verbier ski area as it avoids the sometimes hectic queues of the Medran lift in Verbier itself (400KM of piste in the 4 Vallees). By a combination of the lifts and skiing it will be possible to reach the Attelas station in an impressive 45 minutes. This would be difficult to match on a busy day from the centre of Verbier itself.

Returning from Verbier is also very straightforward. Advanced skiers can ski the Vallon D’arbi back to the door of the Apartment. (Accessible from Lac de Vaux). However, this is difficult skiing and should not be taken lightly. I would recommend having a guide for the first attempt and you should always have avalanche equipment and know how to use it. You should never do this route alone.

Alternatively, you can ski down to the Carrefour. Either get the bus back to the Savoleyres lift from there or carry on down “Le Rouge (recommended as the buses are more frequent and should be every 5 minutes). At the bottom of Le Rouge by the restaurant, take your skis off and walk 30 metres to the right to the bus stop. Take the bus up the hill 2 minutes to the lift station, exit here and catch the lift back up to the top of Savoleyres. Exit the gondola at the top and ski down the other side (away from Verbier) back to La Tzoumaz and the apartment.

In summary the apartment provides a lovely setting from which it is easy to explore the 4 Vallees including Verbier, Nendaz, Thyon and Versonnaz but at a fraction of the cost of staying in Verbier itself.