Thyon (also known as ''Thyon 2000'') is a purpose-built

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

in the

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...

, located in the canton of

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

. The resort is situated in the central part of the canton, in the region of

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

, and is associated with the village of Les Collons. It forms part of the "4 Valleys" interlinked ski area, which together includes Thyon,

Veysonnaz Veysonnaz is a municipality in the district of Sion in the Swiss canton of Valais. Geography Veysonnaz has an area, , of . Of this area, or 29.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 44.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 26 ...

Haute-Nendaz The resort/commune of Haute-Nendaz is located in the Swiss canton of Valais. It is located in the municipality of Nendaz, along with Basse-Nendaz and Siviez. Haute-Nendaz is situated on plateau at an altitude between 1300m and 1500m. In winter i ...

Verbier Verbier is a village located in south-western Switzerland in the canton of Valais. It is a holiday resort and ski area in the Swiss Alps and is recognised as one of the premier off-piste resorts in the world. Some areas are covered with snow all ...

and

La Tzoumaz La Tzoumaz (formally known as Les Mayens-de-Riddes) is a ski resort in the Swiss Alps, in the canton of Valais. It is part of the "Four Valleys" ski area, which consists of various ski resorts, including Verbier, Nendaz, Veysonnaz, La Tzoumaz, an ...

. The ski pistes from Thyon and Veysonnaz effectively constitute a large, single integrated ski area, and connect with the rest of the "4 Valleys" area. Thyon lies at a height of 2,095 metres above sea level, on the ridge descending from

Mont Rouge Mont Rouge is a mountain of the Swiss Pennine Alps, located south of Nendaz and Hérémence in the canton of Valais. It lies between the valleys of Nendaz and Hérémence, on the chain north of the Rosablanche The Rosablanche is a mountain ...

. The 'Thyon 2000' complex was constructed in the 1970s. Administratively, it lies in the municipality of Vex. Some of the winter ski pistes descend across what in summertime is still an active "alpage" - an area of high mountain pasture grazed by cattle, including some ''

Combat de Reines Combat de Reines or Swiss Cow fighting; (french: Combat de Reines), is a traditional event held mostly in the Swiss canton of Valais, in which a cow fights another cow (unlike bullfighting, in which humans fight bulls, often to the death). Each y ...

'' cows. Part of the local alpage cow barn has been converted to a seasonal restaurant. The alpage dairy produces cheese from the milk, some of which is sold in the adjacent village of Les Collons during the September "désalpe" festival - the ceremonious descent of the cows, often garlanded, to lower pastures. Apart from winter sports and summer hiking, the resort has views of the Valais mountains, the so-called

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy ( ...

, with direct views of six 4000+ metre peaks (

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

Dent Blanche The Dent Blanche is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. At -high, it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps. Naming The original name was probably ''Dent d'Hérens'', the current name of the nearby D ...

Obergabelhorn The Ober Gabelhorn (4063 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland, located between Zermatt and Zinal. Geography The Ober Gabelhorn lies in the Swiss canton of Valais at the southern end of the Zinal valley (part of the Val d'Annivie ...

Zinalrothorn The Zinalrothorn (4,221 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. Its name comes from the village of Zinal lying on the north side and from the German word ''Rothorn'' which means ''Red Peak''. When it was first climbed in 1864 the mo ...

Weisshorn The Weisshorn (German, lit. ''white peak/mountain'') is a major peak of Switzerland and the Alps, culminating at above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located between the valleys of Anniviers and Zermatt in the canton of Valai ...

Bishorn The Bishorn (4,153 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland, just north of the Weisshorn. The mountain has two distinct summits, separated by a 600-metre easy-angled snow ridge. :*The west and higher summit (4,153 m), first ascent ...

). A seventh, the

Jungfrau The Jungfrau ( "maiden, virgin"), at is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the J ...

, is visible in the

Bernese Alps , topo_map= Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo , photo=BerneseAlps.jpg , photo_caption=The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau , country= Switzerland , subdivision1_type=Cantons , subdivision1= , parent= Western Alps , borders_on= , l ...

to the east. In August, the annual trail race from Thyon to the

Grande Dixence dam __NOTOC__ The Grande Dixence Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Dixence (river), Dixence at the head of the Val d'Hérémence in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. At high, it is the List of tallest dams in the world, tallest gravity dam in ...

takes place. This is a 16 km run with 700m ascent/descent at an altitude averaging 2,000m and attracts around 1,000 competitors. The resort is accessed by road from Sion, by chair-lifts from Les Masses and Les Collons, and by gondolas from Veysonnaz.

Gallery

View of Thyon from above.jpg, View of Thyon from above Thyon2000 2008-01-20 14-46-43.jpg, View of resort complex from the ski pistes Summertime alpage, Thyon.jpeg, Summertime alpage, Thyon

References

External links

* {{Coord, 46, 10, 55, N, 7, 22, 21, E, region:CH-VS_type:city, display=title Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland