Villars Gryon Les Diablerets Ski Region
Villars – Gryon – Les Diablerets is 3 Swiss ski resorts all interconnected with lifts and included in the Magic Pass. It is 1.5 hours from Geneva and just south of the fancy Gstaad. Gryon and Villars and Les Diablerets are in the Vaudois Alps, with spectacular scenery overlooking the beautiful Rhône valley, near other great Swiss ski areas as well. At first, it has a very confusing layout of skiing, three unique ski areas on 6 separate mountain peaks. The ski area of “Villars – Gryon – Diablerets” is also connected to Glacier 3000, via a 10-minute bus ride.
Diablerets means Devil, and local legend and lore is that early inhabitants thought devils were throwing rocks and avalanches at them from the high peaks. This region has many avalanches, so hire a guide to explore any steeps, but you’ll find much of the prepared terrain to be lovely, intermediate, pastoral, surrounded by stunning Swiss Alps.
Everywhere you ski as you navigate around each – Villars and Gryon and Diablerets… the views are astounding, often the peak of Mont Blanc is clearly visible. From each of the three villages, three base-to-mid-mountain gondolas will take you out of the village. There is also a cool old train from Gryon and Villars up the mountain to Bretaye which is the heart of the upper elevation terrain.
Villars mid-mountain (referred to as Bretaye), where the train arrives from Gryons and Villars, is the ski resort hub. Here you will find ski school, several lodges and restaurants, and a ski in ski out hotel – Hotel du Lac – where we dined on a delicious lunch. Next day, a sunny perfect powder day, we sat on the terrace at Bretaye 1808 and savored Swiss cheese fondue with a view!
From Bretaye in Villars is a network of ski lifts both modern and old-school – T-Bars, Pomas, quads, six-packs and a swift eight-passenger chair. Elevations are not high, with 2000-meter summits (6,500’), so early and late snow can be marginal. The lifts and trails at Villars Gryon were designed in the late 1930’s and 40’s – more plentiful snow years, now much of the lower mountain terrain is not skiable in an average or lean snow year, and several lower mountain surface-lifts are defunct.
Our favorite view was the scene from atop Grand Chamossaire, reached by a six pack from Bretaye. You can see Lake Geneva from the summit here on a crystal clear day, at 2120-meters, and you have two prepared routes down, and a few expert off-piste opportunities through the trees.
Gryon has more great skiing from Chaux Ronde summit, and this area’s highest Crois des Chaux (look for the cross). The rugged peaks are daunting, while the half dozen prepared trails are wide, well-groomed. Between trails, gently sloped pastures are easy to reach on a powder day. Gryon also has a plateau learning area, plus a few chalets for snacks and lunch. More on Gryon and Barboleuse villages below. Another great chalet, ski down from Les Chaux to L’Etables – a rustic farm hut (in summer) with a snack bar, igloo, sun terrace and a cozy interior for table-service dining on local delights – classic fondue to farm-raised beef, and Heather’s best goat cheese salad!
A long two-way quad chair transfers skiers from Villars over to Les Diablerets and vice versa. Its a 10-minute scenic relaxing ride, over 1.6 kilometers of a grand plateau. Be sure you catch this lift if you are lodging on one side or the other by the posted times!
Over in Les Diablerets is more fun ski terrain, and kids ski zones. Les Diablerets has its own amazing views, and a fun trail all the way down to the base village. Diablerets’ views of the surrounding rock cliffs are stunning. Ride the Diableret Gondola to the first unload station for a well-pitched red run trail to the base, often the competition race arena is here. Or take the Gondi to the summit for more trails and connections back to Villars-Gryon. We had a nice lunch in the sit-down restaurant Les Mazots at the top, you can also do self-service in this lodge with a deck.
At the base of Les Diablerets is a lovely little ski village, with just a few hotels, two markets, three ski shops, and lots of classic Swiss chalets. From here you catch the free bus to ski Glacier 3000, just 10-minutes away.
Villars is a cute Swiss village with lots of chalets for rent on the hillside just above the town. Arriving for the day, there’s paid parking by the gondola at Villars. Les Diablerets is also family-friendly with a learn to ski zone right at the base, hotels and apartments too. Gryon and Barboleuse are smaller, more local villages. In Les Diablerets, we stayed here in a wonderful home-rental chalet up on the hillside with amazing views of the Diablerets slopes and another ski area Leysin across the valley.
Glacier 3000 is often considered part of this ski region, but its an entirely separate mountain which is also sometimes considered part of nearby Gstaad. This is the highest elevation, with vast terrain on a high glacier plateau – at 3000-meters (hence the name). Once you ride up Glacier 3000’s two connecting trams, the upper mountain is low angle snowfields served by T-Bars on the gorgeous glacial summit. Its spectacular. The rest of Glacier 3000 skiing is much more advanced! See our review of skiing Glacier 3000.
The Peak Walk atop Glacier 3000, is amazing – the highest suspension bridge in the world connecting two peaks! Walk it and see the wonder of engineering, and the wild drop below this wiggly bridge, admission is included with your ski pass. Glacier 3000 is also just a 20-minutes drive above the chic ski town of Gstaad and more skiing – the Gstaad Super Ski Region including Zweisimmen and Saanemoser.
On the other side of the Villars Gryon Diablerets resort, ski down to the village of Barboleuse (Gryon), the fun trail comes to an abrupt end, after you cross over three streets, no more snow. The trail map shows the trail ending at the gondola – but it does not. So you are warned, the trail map is not to be relied upon, not to scale and not always accurate. Its a 300-meter walk to the left on a sidewalk to the gondola “Telecabin Barboleuse – Les Chaux.” Or from the parking lot, you can walk to the right and catch the Train to Villars (check the schedule) which is included in your Pass, you switch trains in Villars to Col de Sud which then arrives at Bretaye where you disembark to ski.
In Barboleuse (Gryon), since we were between trains, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at La Terrace, where all the locals and tradespeople go. Funny that the electricians and contractors drink beer and wine at lunch. The prices are better here in town, the daily menu of lasagna with salad bar was excellent. You can catch the train or walk to the gondola, ride up, ski down and ride the Rasse Chaux Ronde chair back to the main ski area and slopes of Villars.
Villars history dates to 1936 when the first ski lift was built at the ‘Combe’ on the Chaux Ronde. This was a first in Switzerland, and skiers had to fasten themselves on with a large leather belt for their “drag” uphill. In 1938, Villars was classified as one of the prime skiing resorts of Europe. Villars Golf Club, also very famous, and high altitude at over 5,000′ for golfing, opened here in 1922.
On a Swiss ski safari of this wine and ski resort plentiful Rhone valley, you can also ski nearby Anzere, Leukerbad, Ovronnaz, St Luc/Chandolin, Grimentz-Zinal, Télé Marécottes, Nax Mont Noble and more. All of these are on the Magic Pass in close proximity to each other, just 2 hours east of Geneva.
Villars – Gryon – Les Diablerets Mountain Stats
Elevation 1114 – 2120 Meters, 3,654′ – 6,955’
Lifts: 31
Trails: 67 slopes with 84-kilometers of prepared pistes
See more on Top Swiss Ski Resorts for Family Skiing and Top Swiss Ski Hotels
