Marking 100 years of history hiking in Switzerland’s Verbier

Almost 2,500 metres above sea level, I wake up in a historic mountain cabin to the sound of the gentle tinkling of cow bells.

Peering out the window of the 100-year-old Cabane Mont Fort to a magical view of the Swiss Alps, wreathed by whisps of clouds amid bright sunshine, confirms I have indeed journeyed into a fairy tale.

Verbier may be an Alpine destination renowned for skiing and winter sports, but I travelled there with my partner Andrew in August to discover there is just as much, if not more, to do in the summer. This includes joining the hikers on a pilgrimage to Cabane Mont Fort – where mountain adventurers have been coming for rest and shelter since 1925.

A night in a mountain cabin

Reaching the Cabane Mont Fort can be as challenging as you want to make it.

The seasoned hiker can follow paths the whole way from the upmarket town of Verbier in Switzerland’s Valais Canton, on the edge of the famous ‘4Vallées’ ski area in winter. But you can also cut the leg labour significantly by taking the gondola to Les Ruinettes.

The history of the cabin is chronicled with a photo exhibition along the route, transporting the viewer back in time to the challenges of building at that height, to its official opening with a double blessing by a priest and a pastor, first guests and snowy scenes over the past century.

Completing the final ascent we’re rewarded with stunning 360 views and a homely welcome – but the most special part of the experience is the comradery.

Over a three-course home-made dinner of vegetable soup with bread, polenta with cheese and a chocolate brownie, strangers from across the world became friends at communal tables, exchanging tips and even joining each other’s expeditions.

The next morning most of the hardier folk have already hit the slopes as we feast again, this time on muesli, yoghurt, fruit as well as one of the most crisp and delicious pain au chocolat I have ever tasted.

My first major summit

While I have experienced the satisfaction of climbing Northern Ireland’s highest peak Slieve Donard, at just 850 metres, we have just woken up at more than twice that altitude, so reaching the top of Mont Fort is a different league.

And while it’s the highest peak in Verbier at 3,330m, it is not the highest in Switzerland with the even loftier Matterhorn (4,478m) – the inspiration for the shape of the Toblerone triangles visible – in the distance.

The world seems to change when you start getting into the thousands of metres above sea level. Our guide Marie Berazategui points out flowers throughout our hike, and how they get smaller and hardier the higher we climb.

Slightly unnervingly, she also points out that mountains in the distance can appear closer and the sun hazier as the weather prepares to change from sunshine to the storm – which our weather app warned us about.

We catch two more gondolas, and really started to feel the altitude (3,330m by this point) as we pant climbing a final staircase to reach the summit.

On our descent, we see the stark reduction in recent years of a glacier – markers showed the retreat of the ice from 1995, 2009 and 2015 as well as a prediction of what the mountainside will look like in 2100. It’s a poignant reminder of what 100 years of climate change is doing to one of the most important mountain ranges in the world.

Continuing down, we stop off at Le Dahu, a local favourite restaurant at a cool 2,265m for one of my own musts during this trip – cheese fondue.

Served amid a panoramic vista of the Val des Bagnes and Grand Combin glacier, the pot of cheesy goodness does not disappoint, bubbling satisfyingly as we dip in chunks of bread.

Making cheese

The other cheesy Swiss favourite, and another ‘must eat’ on my list, is raclette.

After checking into the comfortable family-owned Hôtel Les Chamois, we take a walk to discover the old village, with quaint narrow streets and traditional houses on our way to Verbier Dairy – for what turned out to be my partner’s highlight of the trip.

Raclette lovers are catered for 24/7 with a cheese vending machine outside the business which attracts a steady stream of customers flocking for their milk, yoghurts and cheese.

We don hairnets and shoe coverings to go behind the scenes to find a set up of brass caldrons, like a scene of a Hogwarts potion-making class.

Thankfully, dairy owner Marc Dubosson proved a much more patient teacher than Harry Potter’s Severus Snape, merely chuckling and acting swiftly to fix my mistake when I allowed my brew to get too warm.

While we waited for our mixture to coagulate, Marc shows us rows and rows of cheese at different stages of the process.

Returning back to our caldrons, our brew has solidified and we enjoy slicing it into curds and draining to make our own concoctions to mature into cheese – before a tasting, of course.

E-biking 

While the idea of cycling up mountains is a daunting prospect, I discover that with a little jolt of power, e-bikes transform the struggle to a much less strenuous glide.

Just like the hiking, you can select how hard you want to work during your bike ride, Ecole Suisse offers culinary rides at different levels covering up to 70km or as little as 15 km.

We opt for the gourmet route which allows us to cycle to three different restaurants in the area for three different courses of our lunch.

However, it is strenuous enough to maintain a good appetite from a starter of foraged mushrooms to hearty goulash for mains, and plum cake and coffee at the final stop.

How to plan your trip

Direct return flights with Swiss from London Heathrow cost from £130 per person, swiss.com, and point-to-point tickets start at £39 for one-way, via Travel Switzerland travelswitzerland.com for all train travel.

Cabane Mont Fort costs CHF130/£120 including an evening meal and breakfast, while Hotel Les Chamois costs from CHF150/£138 per night including breakfast (summer rates).