 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm a bit lost as I'm going on honeymoon to Italy this summer and thought it would be good to end in the alps and get a day's skiing in on the Cervinia/ Zermatt glacier. We are going end of August/ early Sept and have 4 days to spare. My problem is that Cervinia probably isn't my favourite place to stay and we also want to do walking, biking and if possible go to a spa (Pre St Didier or St Vincent if that's any good).
I'm not sure where we should base ourselves. Champoluc or Antagnon/ Ayas look good for authentic alpine feel and views. + cheaper accomodation but I think it's a treck for our day in Cervinia. Am I wasting my time trying to find a base? We should have a hire car so would it be better to do a couple of nights here or there? Is Valtournenche a cute village or Tognon?
Oh and can we head into Zermatt from Cervinia via lifts (not with skies) for the day?
Sorry for the wishy washy email but I've never been to the alps in the summer before...
Any help would be much appreciated.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@EdYarker, the Aosta valley is lovely in summer. Pre St Didier is a very nice spa. Personally I wouldn't bother with the skiing, it's usually mornings only and nothing like winter skiing. My favourite place in Aosta is the Gran Paradiso park. Not sure if you can ride the lifts right over to Zermatt in the summer.
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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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Strictly the only way over to Zermatt from Cervinia in the summer is to ski.
The lift goes up to Plateau Rosa. The "proper" way to do it is to ski from there the short distance to the bottom of the drag lifts. Go up them and then take a drag lift up again. Then ski the really high piste across to the Klein Matterhorn station. From there you on the Zermatt lift system and can get the lifts down. However I have no idea how you get a ticket for the Zermatt lift system in summer if you are starting from Cervinia. In winter you get an international ski pass and in summer most people just get a pass for the summer ski area.
In principle if you can get a ticket up to Plateau Rosa you could walk down the piste (not used in summer)!down to Trockener Steg. It will be snow for about three quarters of the way then rock. It would not be hard but I am not sure if it is allowed. Once at Trockener Steg you again need a ticket for the Zermatt lift system.
As regards the summer skiing, opinions vary. I go out several times in the summer to walk and cycle. Most days I pop up to the glacier for 2-3 hours. I love it. But some find it boring and complain it is ice followed by slush. On a good day even in the summer we can get powder though.
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Thanks for the input guys.
Looks like getting into Zermatt might be a bit of a faff, but we are keen to do at least a morning of skiing just to see what it's like and say we've done it. If we manage to stay somewhere close enough to Cervinia we can perhaps go on the morning which is forecast for the best conditions.
jbob, I also love Pre St Didier, although it's a bit further from Cervinia and Monterosa. Do you know how the St Vincent spa compares to it?
I've also heard good things about Gran Paradiso, so may have a look around here as a possibility for a couple of days, even though that has just added even more complications to the trip! We probably should have stayed the full 2 weeks in th Alps!
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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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Val d'Aosta is lovely in summer. Lots of hiking/climbing around Cogne, for example, and kayaking/rafting on the Dora Baltea. Aosta itself is nice for a day or two, too.
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@EdYarker, I'd go Pre Saint Didier over St Vincent.
I'd say base yourself closer to Aosta so you're more central. Aosta town is beautiful too, well worth a day or half day wandering around the rooms. It has an immense history.
I'd recommend Cogne too for exploring the Grand Paradiso
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@EdYarker, Once the winter skiing ends you should find information for summer skiing on the Cervinia and Zermatt websites, have never done it myself but have been told you have to be up pretty early to ski before the snow gets too soft.
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@Onnem, the pictures are from 2013. Cervinia opened its side for the first time for a while (not sure when it was previously - before my time). As far as I know they didn't open it in 2014 - well certainly not any of the times I was out. I suspect it is simply not economic.
I should really have asked when the OP intended going out. The Furgsattel to Trockener Steg pistes (numbers 71 and 72 on the piste map) on the Swiss side (accessible from Cervinia) are open until the end of June. In my opinion skiing on there is much nicer than skiing up on the top pistes .
@larry1950, I am not sure what you count as pretty early. I would say when there is not fresh snow the best conditions are from 9-12. To be honest the post-June ski area is not so extensive that you'd want to do more than 3 hours. I think it is fun but is basically one wide piste. They claim 26 km but in fact the only bit worth going up and down are those pistes shown as 83 and 84 on the piste map - and I would say that was one wide piste rather than two pistes. Here is a good video from August 2013 which shows you what conditions are like (they are skiing pistes 83/84 that I mentioned:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hcjCjaMMHdk
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Thanks again everyone. We are heading over end of August/ start of Sept, which I realise is at the very end of the glacier ski season. I guess we will just have to keep our expectations fairly low. Still keen to do it. I've skied the area in the winter before and it's great just being that high up with the Matterhorn right in front of you.
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