In Switzerland’s vast 4 Vallées ski area, skiers who love traversing high above the valleys between the slopes of Nendaz and Veysonnaz will find a new link starting in December 2026 set to transform the pace of cross-mountain itineraries. Nearing completion is the new six-person Les Chottes-La Meina-Greppon Blanc chairlift, a detachable installation equipped with weather-protection bubbles that will replace the Chottes and La Meina surface lifts as well as the historic Greppon Blanc double chairlift along a single continuous line.
Unlike base-area access lifts rising from the valley villages, this upgrade takes place high on the mountain—far from the main departure terminals yet central to the routes used by skiers traveling on skis from one resort to the next. In an interconnected ski domain as extensive as the 4 Vallées, high-altitude links are precisely what determine how smoothly skiers can move from one valley face to another: for anyone skiing between Nendaz and Veysonnaz, the new six-pack designed by Bartholet for NV Remontées mécaniques will become the natural crossing point of the day, boosting transport capacity to 2,600 passengers per hour.
A mid-station designed to split skier flows by ability level
One of the most practical features of the project is the inclusion of a mid-station, built in the area where the former Greppon Blanc chairlift used to depart. This mid-way stop was designed so that skiers of different technical abilities can share the same lift: those who prefer gentler, more progressive gradients can unload at the mid-station to enjoy the easier runs on the lower section, while more experienced skiers can stay seated beneath the protective bubble and continue all the way up to the upper ridge of Greppon Blanc.
Detachable technology also makes it possible to combine high line speed with slow, comfortable boarding and unloading in the terminals, with operating modes that can be adjusted according to slope traffic and a setup already configured for summer operations and mountain bike transport. Construction, which began in September 2025, required extensive high-alpine work using helicopters to install the line towers along the ridge, keeping the schedule on track for a December 2026 opening to skiers.
To understand the role of the new lift on the trail map, it helps to keep in mind the two scales on which the Valais ski area operates. On one hand, Nendaz, Veysonnaz, and Thyon form the Printse sector, which on its own already offers 220 kilometers of slopes—more than enough terrain to alternate different mountains and aspects across an entire weeklong ski holiday, where the Greppon Blanc line stitches together the access lifts rising above the village of Veysonnaz with the slopes of Nendaz. On the other hand, for skiers choosing the full 4 Vallées pass covering Verbier, La Tzoumaz, and Bruson for a stated total of 412 kilometers of runs, the new chairlift provides an even faster, more seamless link for crossing the ski domain from end to end.
No comments yet