Thyon-Les Collons

A 1970s ski station on the ridge

Thyon, also known as Thyon 2000, is a purpose-built ski resort in the canton of Valais, in the region of Sion, and it is paired with the village of Les Collons below it. The Thyon 2000 complex was built in the 1970s and sits at 2,095 m on the ridge descending from Mont Rouge, within the municipality of Vex. It is two places in one: a high, functional resort created for skiing, and a more conventional village lower down. Our data puts the lowest lift base at 1,800 m, which corresponds to the lower access points rather than Thyon itself.

Gateway to the 4 Vallées

The reason a small resort carries 410 km of pistes and 82 lifts in our data is that Thyon forms part of the 4 Vallées, the interlinked area that also takes in Veysonnaz, Haute-Nendaz, Verbier and La Tzoumaz. Wikipedia notes that the pistes of Thyon and Veysonnaz effectively make up one large integrated sector, which then connects with the rest of the network. The top station across the area is at 3,330 m, a 1,530 m span above the 1,800 m base, and skiing at that height firmly helps snow reliability. Snow-sure conditions, a modern lift system and scenic views are Thyon’s three tagged features. Our data does not split the 410 km by difficulty. For a skier that means Thyon can be the quiet end of a very large area: the integrated Thyon and Veysonnaz sector for easy days, the wider 4 Vallées when the legs allow.

Cows, cheese and 4,000 m peaks

Some of the winter pistes descend across what in summer is a working alpage, high pasture grazed by cattle including some Combat de Reines cows. Part of the alpage barn has become a seasonal restaurant, the dairy makes cheese from the milk, and in September Les Collons holds a désalpe festival as the garlanded cows are led down to lower pastures. The views are the other draw: Thyon looks directly at six peaks above 4,000 m, the Matterhorn, Dent Blanche, Obergabelhorn, Zinalrothorn, Weisshorn and Bishorn, with the Jungfrau visible to the east in the Bernese Alps. In August a 16 km trail race with 700 m of ascent runs from Thyon to the Grande Dixence dam, drawing around 1,000 competitors.

Access and season

The resort is reached by road from Sion, by chairlift from Les Masses and Les Collons, and by gondola from Veysonnaz. Geneva (GVA) is the nearest airport in our data, roughly 97 km away as the crow flies. The season runs from December to April, and the resort’s official website carries current details.