Anzère

Anzère is a holiday village built in the 1960s in the municipality of Ayent , in the canton of Valais in Switzerland . Anzère is located on a sunny plateau at an altitude of 1,500 meters near Sion and Crans-Montana .

The Anzère ski area comprises 58 kilometers of slopes and 13 lifts.

History of Anzère

Anzère village center

Before 1960 there were only five small alpine huts in the Anzère area. Over a period of around twenty years, Anzère has developed from extensive alpine pastures into a holiday resort for winter and summer sports. The center of the station planned by the architect Jean Hentsch on the drawing board is the large, car-free village square Place du Village . Apartment houses in the style of jumbo chalets with holiday apartments, hotels, restaurants and shops are grouped around the square.

In 1961 a group of Swiss and foreigners founded Pro Anzère Holding SA. The share capital was 15 million francs. In the following two years the first individual chalets and 2 ski lifts were built. In 1966 the gondola lift to the Pas-de-Maimbré (2362 m) was put into operation. In 1967 the first Anzère Village apartment houses and shops followed. By 1976 5 more ski lifts, 3 chair lifts, an open swimming pool, an indoor swimming pool, tennis courts, a curling facility, a small ice rink and 4 hotels were built. During this time, the large apartment buildings in the jumbo chalet style with a capacity for dozens of apartments and studios were built with regularity. The properties forming the center of the village are numbered from AV 1 to AV 15 (AV = Anzère Village). No 13 was not built due to problems in obtaining land. There is an underground car park under the village square with direct access to the apartment buildings.

The number of beds in apartments and chalets was 6,000 at that time, plus a good 500 beds in hotels and pensions. Pro Anzère SA ceased its actual activities in 1977 and the share capital was written off. Since all financial obligations were met, there was no bankruptcy.

Many more private holiday chalets have been built around this center in the last few decades. Almost 60 years after the groundbreaking ceremony, Anzère has developed into a well-functioning holiday village.

Most of the residential blocks in the village and the new spa & wellness center are heated with wood pellets. According to its own information, the station has the largest wood heating plant in Europe.

winter

The ski area in Anzère extends over 58 kilometers (the longest slope is Les Rousses with over 5 km in length) and is accessed by an 8-seater gondola to the Pas de Maimbre (2362 m), 4 chair lifts and 8 drag lifts. Two ski lifts are expected to be replaced by one chairlift in summer 2019.

Anzère village square

summer

In summer, some ski slopes are converted into mountain bike trails .

Anzère offers many hiking trails through forests, over the Alps and meadows. A path leads along the Bisse d'Ayent ( Suone ) to the Lac de Tseuzier reservoir .

Since 2011 there has been a spa and wellness center on the site of the former Anzère open-air swimming pool.