A minimalist, off-grid Swiss cabin redefines the ski-in, ski-out experience

On arrival at Cabane Tortin, guests are read a list of rules. Rule #1: do not miss the last cable car up at 3.30pm. Rule #2: do not wander outside alone or unannounced after sundown. Rule #3: be mindful of the scarcity of resources at such heights. Rule #4: stay hydrated. Rule #5: leave your troubles with your gear at the door. Easily mistaken as a high-altitude riff on Fight Club, these rules are, in fact, designed to keep guests both comfortable and alive.

Reach new heights at Cabane Tortin

Teetering on a rocky outcrop over the Tortin glacier in Switzerland’s Pennine Alps, Cabane Tortin is the latest example of extreme hospitality in extremely inhospitable environments. Situated in the shadow of Mont Fort’s 3,328m summit, the minimalist ski chalet is built on the footprint of a refuge that served as a hangout of the Nendaz ski club for decades. Despite its majestic setting, it had fallen into disrepair, due in part to the difficulty of sustaining a button lift atop a forever-shifting glacier. The hut was hiding in plain sight when a Swiss industrialist skied by and saw its potential. To help transform it into an off-grid family sanctuary, he turned to a Norwegian architect with a predilection for building in severe settings.

‘It’s the most inhospitable terrain I have ever built in,’ says Snorre Stinessen. ‘It’s like Mordor in The Lord of the Rings.’ This is from an architect who works out of an Airstream trailer in Tromsø, Norway, an arctic city surrounded by high peaks and glaciers. ‘I’m used to calculating 600kg of snow per square metre, but for this, I needed twice that.’

Snow may have been the least of Stinessen’s challenges. Building a cabin at 3,000m requires navigating a short build season, shifty weather and mountain logistics that demand helicoptering up all materials. The façade’s enormous glass panes alone took a month to lift up the mountain, necessarily transported in intervals to allow for acclimatisation. At this height, winds can reach Category 3 hurricane speeds of up to 129mph; harvesting glacial runoff can only be done a few months of the year.

The design brief was to create a minimalist home that delivered a feeling of suspension, the latter feat achieved by  placing a new structure asymmetrically atop the hut’s original basement. The home comprises two volumes – a slope-facing triangular volume that houses the entrance and upstairs loft, and a rectangular volume for the living room, dining room and kitchen. It is this second cantilevered volume, with its upward tilted windows and ceiling, that provides the greatest drama, hovering over the mountain’s northern outcrop and offering unobstructed views of a few of the Alps’ most famous peaks – the Grandes Jorasses, Dôme du Goûter and Mont Blanc.

Inside, the two volumes intersect seamlessly. A large copper fireplace sits centrally in the open living space with a dining table pressed against the windows and the kitchen set into a niche. The space is kitted out with board games, books, furniture by Le Corbusier, Charles and Ray Eames and Edra, and a wide bench that runs along the entire length of the floor-to-ceiling glass façade. ‘The bench has a functionality to it, offering both a place to relax and a feeling of protection. Without it, the steep drop-off is dizzying; you could feel like you’re slipping off the mountain,’ says Stinessen.

When not being used as a family retreat, Cabane Tortin is available to book. However perfect a perch this is for mindful escape, the cabin remains a ski clubhouse at heart and is purpose-built for athletic adventure seekers. In addition to two guardians and a private chef, a stay at the chalet also includes full kit, ski passes and a Bureau des Guides de Verbier guide with an insider’s knowledge of the 4 Vallées off-piste scene. There is a helicopter pad, but it is earmarked for resupply, and the house snow vehicle is used exclusively after closing hours to remain within mountain safety regulations.

To reach the chalet, guests can either ski-tour or snowshoe up from the Col des Gentianes or ski down from the Mont Fort cable car station. First the sweat, then the champagne. As the welcoming rules indicate, lodging at 3,000m is more akin to polar exploration than to a typical family ski holiday. Severe weather events can annul reservations with little warning. Strong winds can disrupt supply chains. Altitude sickness is always a threat.

Hot showers must be taken prudently. That said, the chalet generates its own energy and heating via solar panels, batteries and pellet heaters. Water is stored in ground-level heated tanks. All doors open inwards to avoid snow-ins. Guests are kitted out with avalanche beacons, and the Bureau des Guides de Verbier guide always bivouacs on-site. Should things go awry, the property’s operating director is a specialist in crisis communication and is supported by a team in Verbier.

All told, Cabane Tortin is a luxury off-grid experience whose very existence could ignite a high-altitude luxury space race where simply arriving safe and on time is the whole point of the adventure. 

Cabane Tortin is located at Batterie le Bleusy 222, 1997 Haute-Nendaz, Switzerland; cabanetortin.com, bystinessen.com

A version of this article appears in the April 2025 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on international newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.