How to dodge the crowds at Verbier - visit in the summer for spectacular views and great gastronomy

There’s a loud crack and a moan metres away from me, as two huge female cows smash their heads together. To my left, another giant heifer tangles horns with a rival and tries to rip it to the ground. In between them, cows stand around a bellow out into the crisp, foggy air.

I’m not in Spain at a bullfight, which is the country most people associate with this kind of battle, but standing at almost 2,000 metres altitude near the top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps. All around me, dozens of huge cows are standing, snorting and fighting. 

It’s mid June, but clouds still envelope the mountain and steam rises off the muscular creatures. I’m witnessing a centuries old tradition of the farmers of the Val de Bagnes, Switzerland, the stunning Alpine valley which is home to the iconic ski resort Verbier. 

Verbier is so much more than a skiing destination

Traditionally a winter holiday destination, the resort town swells from 4,000 to 40,000 in the winter. But as this festival shows there is still plenty of culture and craziness in the Valais during the summer months. It is the first day that the Herens cows, the local breed used to produce the famous raclette cheese, are taken from the valley up to the Alpine pastures.

Here they spend the summer munching on grass and wildflowers to make sure the fields don’t get overgrown and tourists can still ski down the mountain with ease during winter. It’s an example of the interconnected life that still exists here between traditions and the new tourism industry.

But before the cows clear the ski fields, the locals want to know which one is the strongest. Each animal has a number written on them in huge letters, with those in red vying to become the Queen. I’m surrounded by Swiss farmers poring over lists, which have information about each cow’s owner. 

Kids meander around the mountain side as the creatures stomp in front of them. It looks dangerous at first, but the cattle seem to largely ignore people. 

The victor, at the end of the day, can get sold for thousands of Swiss Francs, but this event is more a social occasion to celebrate the history and traditions of the valley, Elise Farquet, from Verbier’s tourist board, tells me.

Growing up her father kept cows and sheep, and so her family is rooted in this way of life. “The cows come together and fight to find out which one is the strongest,” Elise says. “It’s to find a Queen, they must be pregnant.” I raise my eyebrow. “It’s happened for hundreds of years, it’s in our tradition and heritage.” she adds.

Unesco culture and gastronomy

And these traditions are so strong that Unesco has recognised the Alpine season as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. As well as the June event, there is another big festival in September called Désalpe when the cows return to their pastures in the valley. There’s a big push to get farmers more involved in the tourism industry, and promote the fantastic local produce, like the raclette made from the Herens cows’ milk.

I discuss this with Martine Jaques over a glass of the local white wine, a beautiful, dry, buttery Fendant. Martine is an excellent person to talk to about food and wine, as the former president of the Swiss Foundation for Taste and co-ordinator of the Grand Entremont project, which is designed to promote local farmers and their produce.

“There are more and more links between tourism and agriculture,” she says. “Tourists don’t just want to ski and bike, they want something more authentic.” That led to the launch of the Grand Entremont, to promote farming and highlight local produce.

“It’s a collective project,” Martine says, as I eat a perfectly cooked beef steak. “The most difficult thing was to bring the farmers together, as they are very independent. We have to encourage farmers to meet tourists and build links between tourism and farmers.”

One such project is a new beekeeping centre in the valley in Etiez. Like many things here, there is a great respect for the traditions, customs and history of the area. Beekeeping has been going on in the Alps for hundreds of years - initially mainly through the clergy who wanted to make candles for the church.

Michel Rausis, the president and chief beekeeper of the centre, takes us outside to see some of the hives. He opens one of the boxes, searching for the queen to move to a new hive, and thousands of bees pour out and start crawling over him. Michel is unperturbed and explains the bees “know” him. He tells me he never usually wears the protective gear, as I stay stock still under my hood as bees circle around me.

The Matterhorn to Mont Blanc

The next day, the clouds have cleared and the snow-capped peaks clash with the submarine blue of the sky. I get up early to take the cable car up the mountain to try and get a view of Mont Blanc, the highest point in Europe. I’m staying at the friendly but basic Hôtel du Giétroz (£104 per night for a double room with breakfast) in Le Châble in the valley, and the huge steaming pot of black coffee blasts away any cobwebs from the early start.

It’s easy to hop on the cable car up to Verbier, which runs from 5.15am to 11.50pm during summer and winter. From there I take another cable car alongside a few mountain bikers up to Les Ruinettes, which is at 2,200 metres. In July and August, you can take additional gondolas to La Chaux and then on to the 3,300-metre peak of Mont Fort.

That gives you views of the Matterhorn on a good day, but I’m here in June so I have to make do with the towering Mont Blanc across the border in France. The views are spectacular and the Alpine air crisp and invigorating - one of the best things about heading to the mountains in the summer.

Learning the art of raclette

I cross the valley to the picture-perfect village of Bruson, which is a criss-cross of wooden Alpine lodges and narrow alleys. In the winter, this is a ski resort but today, with the sun beaming down, the streets are full of Swiss eating raclette and knocking back glasses of wine and beer.

It’s Bruson’s first festival by PALP, which is designed to promote Alpine produce. It’s to show that the region is “much more than skiing”, one of the organisers, Michel May, tells me. Bustling stalls sell local meats and cheeses, a live band blares out songs while kids happily scamper around playing.

But the main attraction is undoubtedly the raclette stall. Queues snake down through the village square of people waiting to taste the famous molten cheese.

This is the classic dish from the Val de Bagnes, where a half wheel of light cow cheese is melted on a fire and then shaved off into a plate. It’s been eaten here since 1574, when hardy Alpine farmers would heat up their cows’ cheese on campfires high up in the mountains - and not much has changed in the 450 years since.

Each portion is traditionally served with one piece of potato, one cornichon and one pickled onion - no more and no less. In front of me a row of raclers (the name of people serving the raclette) brave the smoke billowing off their fires to melt and scrape the cheese for hungry customers.

There’s no better person to teach me the raclette technique, known as raclage, than Eddy Baillifard. He’s known as the King of Raclette in Switzerland, and has represented the Val de Bagnes all over the world. Eddy even showed a robot how to make raclette in Las Vegas.

He’s a genial man with a twinkle in his eye - and is constantly being accosted for selfies. Clearly raclette is a big deal in the valley. Eddy teaches me how to shave off the molten cheese and then slice off a section of the rind for a different texture. You wash the raclette down with a shot of white wine. Santé!

There used to be dozens of dairies across the valley making raclette cheese. But now there are only four. Eddy explains how each tastes different due to the grass the cows eat. Elise our guide tells me that Eddy can tell which village the cheese has come from just by its flavour.

With a stomach full of Eddy’s raclette, I head to a beer tasting with the beaming Carole Beal. She explains that the fresh mountain water is “why Alpine beer is so good”. Carole says that beer has been brewed here for thousands of years.

I try everything from a light lager to a tropical, aromatic IPA and a raspberry sour. It’s perfect to wash down the raclette on a hot, sunny day.

Beautiful Swiss wine

Switzerland is not as famous for wine making as its neighbours - France and Italy - however this is mainly due to limited exports abroad. At home, Swiss wines adorn the menus in restaurants and bars. 

On the stunning train journey round Lake Geneva to the Alps, vineyards ripple up towards the mountains. At the PALP festival there are several tastings for wine lovers to enjoy, showcasing the variety of Alpine grapes.

This includes the highest vineyard in Europe, St Jodern Kellerei in the Valais, which makes dry and slightly buttery whites which are known as the wine of the glacier.

My favourites were a beautiful Fendant, the most common white in the Val de Bagnes, and a Petit Rouge white wine. The grape usually makes bottles of red, however a mutation has allowed it to make a rare aromatic white wine. I feel very lucky to try it as there are only 140 bottles in the world. It’s the perfect demonstration of the array of gastronomy that makes the Val de Bagnes and Verbier a brilliant holiday destination all year round.

NationalWorld was the guest of Verbier Tourisme in the Val de Bagnes.