A luxe refuge brings heli-ski lodge comforts to Verbier ski tourers.
Location, location, location. Switzerland, check. Verbier, check. And at 1,500 metres above Verbier, Cabane Tortin is part architectural sexpot, all high-mountain refuge. Perched by the foot of Mont Fort and at the top of the Tortin Glacier – an off-piste itinerary route that’s a Quatres Vallées rite of passage for good skiers – this new high-mountain refuge comes with a patina of ultra-alpine living.
Constructed by a Swiss financier atop the pre-existing footprint of the original hut, today’s Cabane is a fully catered 21st-century creation, with a reassuring whiff of champagne spray about it. Among its eye-catching features: a 33ft-long sloping panoramic window traversing the cantilevered main floor that looks onwards to Mont Blanc and downwards to Verbier and the less fortunate. A three-day minimum stay – starting at 70,000 Swiss francs for four guests – includes a mountain guide, a private chef and staff, and a modest wine cellar. Sleeping arrangements offer four double bedrooms. Expect slap-up meals, wifi, streaming TV and board games, a sauna, and showers fed with pure glacial water. Inside, a log fire flickers, the terrace boasts a BBQ for starlit nights and long spring afternoons, and it’s all stitched together with in the highest-spec energy-efficient way. For kicks, the master king-size bed slides forward on rails to take advantage of full skylight views onto the Swiss and French Alps.
If the hefty price tag is a stretch, when the chalet isn’t privately booked, the downstairs Bivouac des Gentianes functions as a self-catering if swanky refuge—a commune-imposed arrangement to safeguard hut access to those on a budget. Ski tourers will appreciate the reduced price for an overnight kitchen and three double “pods” – intimate, cocoon-like sleeping spaces with five-star Alpine views.
In remote heli-lodge fashion, your luggage arrives ahead of you, and delicious nibbles and champagne await. To reach the Cabane, it’s an easy 40-minute climb on touring skins, a short ski straight off the Tortin Glacier or, save the calories, and arrive in Bond-worthy style aboard a Can-Am tracked vehicle. Sexy, secluded, Cabane Tortin is a spectacular gateway to Verbier’s fabled off-piste.
