 Poster: A snowHead
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Gressoney & Champoluc talk to me....
Off there for a week in jan, hoping for a cracking week of pistes and off piste. where is good to go, best off piste routes and any good recomendations for guides in that area for longer off piste routes?
Staying in Gressoney La Trinite (thought this would be best as central in the 3 valleys between Gress & Alagna) I know that the night life is quite there, but wifey and me go for the skiing and a few quite drinks not all out party.
Cheers
DJ
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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depthjunkie, we're going 13th Jan, staying in Champoluc. First time for us, but comes highly recommended.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I love Gressoney and Champoluc.
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Skied from Gressoney la Trinite about 10yrs ago with only 1.5 runs functional for 3 days due to lack of snow - but really loved it and would happily go there again. We stayed at a family run hotel called the Jolanda Sport - you could ski into the boot room.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I went there last February with my wife and friends. We stayed in the Hotel Dufour which is next door to the Jolanda Sport and well recommended - food is good and plentiful and they have a pleasant bar with plenty of seating. Plus a sauna. The Punta Jolanda chairlift is just behind the hotel and was never busy. Indeed we went during half-term week and the slopes, lifts and on mountain restaurants were all very quiet. The on-piste skiing is extensive and it's easy to navigate between Gresssoney, Champoluc and Alagna.
The off-piste is also very extensive although we stayed on piste all week. For guides, contact Guide Monterosa http://www.guidemonterosa.com - headed up by Carlo Cugnetto who also owns the Hotel Dufour and the Hotel Nordend in Stafal.
Watch out for high winds - most of the lifts were closed on 1 day although the lifts at Gressoney St Jean stayed open.
We've all skied in quite a few resorts and we'd definitely go back to Gressoney.
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Supposed to be amazing off piste there. Enjoy!!
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thanks guy's we are staying in the Hotel Residence at trinite.
Hotel is supposed to be witihin 50m of the Jolanda lift.
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depthjunkie, The on piste is fairly obvious and I would question "extensive" compared to, say, PdS
While Champoluc has a bit more going on village wise, Gressoney is conveniently n the middle.
For good on piste food, Rascard Frantze, just below Crest (above Champoluc) is rather fine.
On piste food otherwise is otherwise generally of good quality and vfm, but the menus tend to by quite "typical" and not such huge variety.
Rifugio Grande Halte also worth a mention.
Off piste can be very good, but youbreally generally will want a guide. Easy accessed side pistes are the skiers'right face of the run from punta Indren to Alagna, and the new itineraires accessed from the new chair from Punta Indren.
Otherwise, unless you know what you're doing, you will need a guide.
I will be interested to hear how you get on...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Awesome info, cheers
Will look to do 2 days guided whilst there, Subject to snow conditions. The piste map looks like there is a fair bit of lift served off piste available to go at also.
Really looking forward to it, Skied loads of places in Austria & France over the years. Even been to Canada and also do a few trips a year upto Scotland, but this will be our 1st taste of italian skiing. For some reason we have always said we would ski italy but have never got round to it. This season i was keen to break our Italian duck. And chose Gessoney to do just that 
DJ
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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You could try guide Andrea Enzio. If he is booked up he will recommend someone.
Huge amount of off-Piste but you do need a guide for most of it.
There is a book: Polvere Rosa by Marco Rizzi published by Idee Verticali Edizioni which describes the main off piste routes in the Champoluc / Gressoney / Alagna area in English and Italian. You need the local 1:25,000 map too. The Italian maps aren't as good as the French ones having 25m vertical between contours instead of French 10m. That will give you a good idea what is available - but you still need a guide.
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Mon 12-11-12 12:37; edited 1 time in total
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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geoffers, Interesting map, thanks.
I note that thevstart points of most of the descents require either skins or a helicopter...
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You know it makes sense.
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Tremendous area. Had two fantastic weeks in January 97.
Stayed in Gressoney la Trinitie and spent most of my time skiing Gressoney and Alagna.
If it's a storm day head to Gressoney St Jean. Cool tree skiing.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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The Dufour is a good place to stay - the staff are excellent - the hotel is right by the chairlift so not too far to walk. I love the Monte Rosa region; I've spent about 4 weeks there in the last 5 years ... and never once strayed into the Champoluc valley - read into that what you will. The skiing is awesome on both sides of the passo salati but, personally, I think Alagna edges it. Sadly, at night time, Gressoney la Trinite resembles the village of the damned - less life than a hospital mortuary on a slow night.
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Poster: A snowHead
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depthjunkie and Spyderman, We're off half term to Gressoney La Trinite, so look forward to some reports when you get back.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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geoffers, i could spend quite some time gawping at that map
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Arno wrote: |
| geoffers, i could spend quite some time gawping at that map |
+1 but this misses many of the close-in, lift served off-piste routes in the Polvere Rosa book (and doesn't show many major lifts (eg the Gressoney la Trinite lifts and Gressoney St Jean lifts). More of a touring map perhaps?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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snowball, yes - quite a lot of stuff hidden by ridges etc. it's still pretty cool though
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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great info guys, many thanks. Will get myself a copy of the book for sure.
bruisedskier i will report back, may even do a little trip report with pics
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This area is probably the best offpiste area in Europe. Highly recommendable to hire a guide. Andrea Enzo has been metioned and he is a legend. The same goes for Sergio Gabbio. Both of these guides are based in Alagna so you would probably meet up at Passo Salati. All the best offpiste area is between Gressoney and Alagna and would particulary like to recommend doing Passo Zube and La Balma. Great journeys! Also great to come down the hidden valley to that old Walser village. A heli day is also fantastic given good weather. The view from Monte Rosa can only be rivaled with the view from Mont Blanc and you can either ski down to Gressoney or Zermatt and take the lift up to Klein Matterhorn and ski down to Champoluc.
Anyway, have a great trip! I am sure you will enjoy it.
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Woosh, "probably the best offpiste area in Europe"
Why, specifically?
I suspect that the Company des Guides de Chamonix might take issue with that. Not to mention various other very fine areas.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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When Alagna was first being widely talked about by off piste skiers it was called "The Italian La Grave". However that was when there were no pistes. Now the main valley has a big piste down the middle. However if you look at geoffers' map you will see that much of it does need a bit of walking (especially now that the lifts don't go as high as they used to. For example it was possible then to access the Punte Victoria by a traverse from the top of the cable car, and above that there were drag lifts which don't exist now.)
Edit: I got confused - Although the top station of the cable car was higher then, we used a drag lift above the cable car to access Victoria.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Tue 13-11-12 12:13; edited 2 times in total
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under a new name, given the right conditions it is an epic area, certainly would hold it's own against many other decent off piste areas, with the added bonus of less folk!
Only trouble is on all my trips there the wind has closed the lifts on more than one occasion...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We've been to Alagna twice and skied mainly on that side with only a couple of forays over to G-l-T. First time was a few years ago when conditions were a bit rocky - despite 70cm the night before we arrived, a thin base and strong winds the second night meant a lot of picking our way down, even on the main routes. Last year, however, the conditions were epic. Alberto Zucchetti was our guide and he was superb - took us down some fantastic routes which despite the great snow and an abundance of Skandis in the resort showed no signs of being tracked out by 11! Admittedly, we did do a bit of skinning though which always helps to get clear - even in Alagna where the majority have touring skis. We had good weather but those we met agreed with the above comments that G-l-T is better when the weather closes in.
Cheers for the map link - that and the guidemonterosa vids on youtube have brought back some great memories!
Have a great trip.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| under a new name wrote: |
Woosh, "probably the best offpiste area in Europe"
Why, specifically?
I suspect that the Company des Guides de Chamonix might take issue with that. Not to mention various other very fine areas.
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Should have mentioned that was my opinion. Anyway, I think there are few areas in Europe that can rival Alagna. Verbier, Chamonix, St Anton etc are all fine but the competition for the fresh snow is intense. In Alagna, there are so many lines to do and so few people.. In my experience, even La Grave gets tracked out faster than Alagna.
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+ 1 to the above.
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You know it makes sense.
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Woosh, OK, yes, that I can see.
Kind of shows the advantages of not building lots of lifts that access good descents doesn't it ?!!
I'd note, I have Anselme Baud's 100 best descents of the Northern Alps guide. It is immensely sad (on one level) how many of these routes now have chairlifts running up them, and hordes of turtles descending them, on brutally groomed snow.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Woosh, +2. Our hotel told us there were only 300 beds in Alagna (although that might be slightly out of date information!) - queues are generally non-existent although needless to say a few drive up from the valleys on the weekend so you might have to wait a minute or two on a Sunday morning!
I see Alagna gets mentioned in the top 10 European ski resort thread - of the two routes mentioned in the article, Malfatta is stunning and not hard (after a rope in at the top) while Vittoria is rather more challenging...
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Poster: A snowHead
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edpyke, peak weeks the Pianalunga cable car can be a bit of a pain.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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After 3 visits to Gressoney and Alagna in January in the last 3 years the conditions can vary more widely than anywhere else I can think of. We have had epic powder but last year we left after 2 days because of poor snow and others have mentioned the wind. Have booked our flights to Milan this January, but will only decide to go to there at the last minute.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Forgot to mention the food and wine which is fantastic especially in Alagna and good value too.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Woosh wrote: |
| Sergio Gabbio. |
Ah yes, skied with him once, he was good.
I must confess that last time I skied with Andrea Enzio he was rather cautious compared to how I had remembered him. Mind you, I think I had contributed to the change!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Shhh don't tell everyone about this area, we need to keep it a secret!!
This is my favorite ski area and we have stayed here many times, the next trip we are staying in Rascard Frantze (counting the days now). I prefer to stay in Champoluc as it's much more of a true village, but don't go here if you are looking for hopping night life.
I'm afraid I cant make too many comments on pistes and runs as I am a bit of a sheep and go where I'm told!!
A few more restaurant recommendations would be
If you are after a long leisurely lunch (not cheap) then I would recommend Stadel Soussun You need to book, I dont think they are open for lunch every day. You can't ski out so they take you back out to the piste either in a piste basher or on a skidoo. They also have rooms as well now. It's one of those long leisurely lunch time stops, but is very special.
It's a very easy ski back to the (fairly new) lift at Frachey if you are not able to ski all the way back to Champoluc after lunch 
Last beer stop of the day if you are staying on the Champoluc side would be rifugio belvedere, stunning sun sets and a top to bottom last run.
The cheese shop in Champoluc is a must visit, take tuperware with you for packing unless you want the rest of your clothes to compete with your ski socks!
Thats it, i'm not giving away any more Champoluc secrets!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Nells, Will be interested to hear how Frantze goes. We had a tour of the rooms last year and they look lovely.
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depthjunkie, If you're not fussed about partying and you're there for both on- and off-piste, it should be right up your street. We were there in March two seasons ago and absolutely loved it. The pistes were almost empty and , in the main, were in great condition. The one exception was the run down to Alagna; great in the morning, slushy moguls by lunchtime. Off-piste was crusty as there had been no significant snowfall for a while and the freeze\thaw cycle had done its worst. We got a guide at the ski- school shop\office in Stafal: a young guy named Pierre. He was great for us: he certainly believed taking you to the limit of your abilities. We skied the Eagle (Canale dell' Aquila) and the top part of La Balma; we bailed out and re-joined the piste at Pianalunga, totally knackered, but having loved every minute of it! In fact, that trip was a bit of a game-changer for me. Prior to then I had been all about skiing pistes as fast as I could; not with any great style, I hasten to add. My shortcomings in the technique department were well and truly brought home to me and that's when and why I found you guys and got myself on the PSB. Less than three weeks now. Can't wait!
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Hi Nells, Looked at the piste map and Gressoney seems self explanitory, Champoluc looks ......... complex.
Not sure which are the top or bottom of some of the pistes, looked at google earth in 3D and clearly this needs a bit of explaining (the Gressoney piste map shows you arows for the piste direction, but that looks simple by comparison.)
The "sarezza contenery"run looks cool, but there seems to be an odd lift at the bottom. We're staying in Gressoney, so don't want to get stuck, read some warnings about lift bottleneck on the Champoluc side.
Also saw Frantze looks like that might be nice, maybe one to save up for though. Interested to hear your comments when you get back.
Seems to be an intersting amount of snow already.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Quite like what I read here and elsewhere about the area - quite, authentic, high etc...
But..
We do not ski/board off piste (only easy bits here and there on the sides of piste).
Do you think it is worth going there for couple of days (or even a week) just for piste skiing?
We prefer rather cruisy reds and blues. I can see there are some unavoidable (connecting) blacks.
Are the lift fairly modern?
Thx
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bruisedskier, Not nearly so complex as it looks on the map. More or less each lift top has a run towards Champoluc or away from it. The only lift that doesn't run up from left to right is the link between Frachey and Belvedere (#13).
Staying in Gressoney, once you're at the top of the Col Bettaforca you are only a ski from the village, likewise to return to Champoluc (Frachey funicular or woodman's rutted path required tho).
The only potential bottlenecks in Champoluc these days are the 4 man from Frachey (#15 on the map) as everyone who is going either Champoluc-Gressoney or Gressoney-Champoluc has to take it (great design, eh?) or #13 in either direction because it's the only old slow 2 person lift left on that side. We didn't find any problems this year at any time, that has to be said.
They'd had around 50cms in Champoluc village when we were there 10 days ago, although it mostly melted over the weekend. But the webcams suggest there's been a wee bit more higher up.
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FAQ
(though can suffer from strong winds which can mean less than perfect snow 
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