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Italian destinations, Jan and March

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Bored, so head's starting to cost and plan next year's trips (and some potential good 1/2 price lift pass offfers on at the mo).
Really want to go to the Dolomites, just for the scenery if nothing else, but other areas are available it seems, and I know nothing about them. (I do know the Dolomites in summer.)
Just bothered about the snow and lifts at the mo. Might be on skis or board, Mr G on a board. Not going to be doing huge mileage or greatly-impressive things, just out for safe enjoyment, the emptier the pistes the better. Blues to easy blacks, maybe some easy off piste but not essential
Price is an issue, and for the moment want to stick with going with a TO.
Bardonecchia and La Thuile look cheapest by far at present, but I think that B has loads of drag lifts ( maybe LT also?), and both Mr G and I are very keen to avoid those. Also at LT is it worth it if you don't go over to La Ros (which seems to be a right and literal drag) or Courmayeur (by bus I understand)? At LT can you get down in the gondola again without having to ski down the long red/black? I read that weather can be an issue at LT: is that a major issue?
Then what about other non-Dolomite resorts? Sauze d'Oulx, Courmayeur, Cervinia (which I know has the glacier area as a bonus), Sestriere? (Any others?) Price-wise these are currently no better than the Dolomites, so are they any better or worse a choice?
Would be looking at around 20th Jan or the week after, and then sometime in early and maybe late March. Which resorts would have the best/worst conditons at a best guess?
Cheers.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Courmayeur is generally pretty reliable for snow.

Cervinia leaves me cold. Flat and boring.

Worth checking out Monterosa. - typically opens for first weekend in December.

Madonna di Compiglio?
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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?
Madonna/ Folgarida Brenta Dollies is lovely
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Hi Grizzler, .... so you don’t like Pomas......I’ve noted that Laughing

You know my view. The Dollies are a great option for early season skiing. Every December they seem to have more runs and lifts open than anywhere else, albeit on a high proportion of artificial snow.

Dolomite artificial snow does however tend to be less icy than western alps artificial snow because the air in the east is usually drier and a bit cooler. Also their whole ski management is geared around snowmaking from the start so somewhere like Kronplatz or the sella Ronda normally have reliable opening dates. Importantly their weather and the visibility for skiing also tends to be a lot better, basically because it is sheltered from the mild Atlantic which this year may be even milder than normal!
Good luck whatever you find. Italy is also a bit cheaper than France or Switzerland.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Peter S, Thanks. I used only to dislike pomas and T bars on a snowboard (as does Mr G), but my knees now struggle with them post injury, so I can't just tell him to put up or ski any more, can I? Laughing
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drag lifts for snowboarders is no fun.
Anyone want a snowboard free piste, find one only served by draglifts.
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@Mr.Egg, Before Peter S comes back, I'll say it for him: doesn't put off the hardy boarders at Yad Moss Very Happy
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Drags are ok on a board, you've just go to practice a lot! My last 7 days this year were at Les Mosses which has 9 drags and thats it; I did about 30km per day on drags so 200km during the week. They were pretty straightforward ones though whereas the ones at Bardonecchia (certainly on the west side) are quite severe, ie narrow (not pisted) steep, wooded (no easy way out) and with drop-offs to the side; so probably best avoided. Quiet pistes though!
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Brentaski.com have some good value packages to Folgarida, for skiing the Madonna di Campiglio ski area. Not much in the way of nightlife, but decent access to a lovely ski area with great scenery, good piste management with few if any drag lifts), great choice of mountain restaurants, and choice of regional airport departures as part of the package.
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"...Price-wise these are currently no better than the Dolomites.."

Interesting, Ive always found Sauze/Sestriere much cheaper than the Dolomites.....
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As @rob@rar, I’ve done 2 or 3 trips (shocking can’t remember but they were for business so that’s forgiveable), to Madonna.

Lovely slopes, nothing too challenging and very well manicured. Mountain and town restaurants vary in price but generally not in quality which is usually good.

Usual Italian trick, find the restos that do a cheap meal as well as the ones that charge a limb.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Madesimo
https://www.bellaskiitalia.com/?redirect=false
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rob@rar wrote:
Brentaski.com have some good value packages to Folgarida, for skiing the Madonna di Campiglio ski area. Not much in the way of nightlife, but decent access to a lovely ski area with great scenery, good piste management with few if any drag lifts), great choice of mountain restaurants, and choice of regional airport departures as part of the package.


Been with Brentaski.com to Madonna a number of times and going back next season with them. I think Madonna's a nice resort, not too challenging but enough to do and an exceptionally nice town with lots going on. Can thoroughly recommend it.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
we've been to La Thuile 3 times now and love it. Yes, you can come home in the gondola, but the red back is fine in most conditions (look out when icy though). There are quite a few drag lifts, but there are enough chairs etc to avoid them (EXCEPT, the one long drag that gets you back into La Thuile from La Ros). Personally I think there is enough to do in La Thuile to last you a week if you didn't want to go over to La Ros. There are great runs from the top of La Thuile going down the back - Belvedere, Fourclaz etc. The restaurants etc are reI ally good value too, huge pizzas or big plates of pasta for around 8euro. This year it was quite windy in La Thuile and none of the chairs have covers (except Fouclaz I think) so the children got a bit cold going up, but nothing a brisk ski didn't sort out. No 7 is a fantastic long run all the way from the top of Belvedere, round chaz dura and back to resort and added bonus of going past La Riondet restaurant which does amazing hot chocolate and has a roaring fire. La Thuile itself is a nice town and the shops are not too expensive, great take away pizzas in the evenings and I think it is the butchers in the Planibel Resort that does take away lasagnes, canneloni etc which are really good value.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
oh and NEVER had to queue at La Thuile, worst has been 5 mins for Gondola first thing in morning.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Sauze d'oulx or Sestriere fit your requirements best in my opinion.
I have been to La Rosiere (so skied La Thuile) Sauze and Arabba for the week of 19th ish Jan each of the last 3 years. I also looked extensively into Cervinia, plus pretty much everywhere else, for next year so feel able to offer that opinion.......
La Thuile is a lovely ski area, but getting the full use of the area inc La Ros is a bit of a faff. Didn't seem to be much happening in the village either.
The Dolomites.....I will probably be at odds with many on this forum in not being blown away by them. Beautiful, yes, extensive and well organised too but everything seemed to involve a bitty journey. By that I mean I felt I was always travelling to get somewhere else or get back from somewhere else. If I knew I would ski 2/3 times every year for ever I could maybe see the attraction of making the Dolomites one of those trips but as a one off it wouldn't top my list.
Cervinia looks nice, if a bit open and bleak, but maybe more suited to your March dates. I understand it sometimes gets affected by wind closures in January and the advertised 330km area shrinks very quickly when the link to Zermatt is shut.
Bardonecchia looks pleasant, but may be a bit small for your needs?

Next year, 20th Jan to be fair, I am going back to Sauze and see Crystal are offering very cheap deals, around 600 inc full board, flights and transfers. The lifts may be a bit older than some but the lack of queues make up for it and loads of fairly empty blue, red and easy blacks to cruise on. I certainly didn't find anything in Arabba last year that I enjoyed as much as The Gran Pista top to bottom in Sauze. On my last visit we had snowboarders who enjoyed it and were able to zip off the sides of the piste and have fun whilst still ending up at the bottome of the same pistes as everyone else. One is also going back next year with his family. Snow has always been good that week, apres and mountain food and drink are excellent value, ski hire and lift passes are cheap and the transfer is 1 hour. Most of its reputation is old and, in some areas certainly, undeserved.

I too am surprised you think the Dolomites are similar in price, especially like for like in terms of stars and facilities......my TO trip to Sauze HBoard comes in 100 quid below the same style hotel done DIY to Arabba (About 950 all in, Garni Bellavista, which I would highly recommend despite any above comments about Dollies, but that price relies on the very good value tourist office transfer keeping it down (<50 euros return)). I struggled to find any bargains in the Dolomites.


Serre Chevalier would be my other suggestion, I understand it's less French than some French resorts and the ski area was adored by a group of 70 that a friend went with last year. I have toyed with going there several times and found a company called Pinewood Chalets extremely friendly in phone and email contact despite never actually using them! Plus loads of Serre Che knowledge on this forum.


Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sun 29-07-18 12:44; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@trmacc, Thanks, so that sounds a possible to go-er. Will it be OK in mid Jan do you reckon?

@BoardieK, that sounds like it rules out Bardonnecchia then. (Mr G, being a better boarder than me, and being super tough and strong, can manage just about anything drag lift wise, though it still wrecks his legs. I just find them - longer ones, anyway - really painful on arms, shoulders, legs and knees, both on a board and now, unfortunately, on one knee on skis.)

@rob@rar, thanks. I like MdiC, useful site to know though at present more expensive than I could get TO.

@Mike Pow, that does look interesting, and a good price including passes if I can get flights in to somewhere near. I'll contact them. Are they a longstanding & reliable provider? Anyone else used them?

Cheers all, so far.
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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?
@toyah807, sorry, didn't puck up your post when I posted above. Very helpful. Looking at Crystal, once you dispense with the very cheapies then there's a lot coming in at around the £650+ mark, Dolomites area or other resorts. I also tried to price a diy option and, like you, can't get anywhere near as cheap as the TOs, especially if I can get 1/2 price passes. Other option is to leave it and hope last minute or autumn deals are cheaper - 2 years ago they weren't, at least not for Dols areas.
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toyah807 wrote:

The Dolomites.....I will probably be at odds with many on this forum in not being blown away by them. Beautiful, yes, extensive and well organised too but everything seemed to involve a bitty journey. By that I mean I felt I was always travelling to get somewhere else or get back from somewhere else. If I knew I would ski 2/3 times every year for ever I could maybe see the attraction of making the Dolomites one of those trips but as a one off it wouldn't top my list.

I too am surprised you think the Dolomites are similar in price, especially like for like in terms of stars and facilities......my TO trip to Sauze comes in 100 quid below the same style hotel done DIY to Arabba (About 950 all in, but Garni Bellavista I would highly recommend despite any above comments about Dollies, but that price relies on the very good value tourist office transfer keeping it down (<50 euros return)). I struggled to find any bargains in the Dolomites.


San Martino di Castrozza, Trentino Dolomites

Great skiing, easy access to Passo Rolle, short drive to get to rest of Dolomite system.

I stayed here. Excellent value. Around 50 euros per night B&B

http://www.hotelvillaurora.it/


This place is £377 for two people for a week

https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/residence-lastei.en-gb.html?aid=304142;label=gen173nr-1FCAEoggJCAlhYSDNYBGhQiAEBmAEuwgEKd2luZG93cyAxMMgBD9gBAegBAfgBC5ICAXmoAgM;sid=3c1182d098d2b50072878720b0a243c6;all_sr_blocks=24599601_88444244_0_0_0;checkin=2019-01-19;checkout=2019-01-26;dest_id=-127918;dest_type=city;dist=0;group_adults=2;group_children=0;hapos=3;highlighted_blocks=24599601_88444244_0_0_0;hpos=3;no_rooms=1;room1=A%2CA;sb_price_type=total;srepoch=1532866983;srfid=b204a8c3e1da4da644311b6af7489d96bee32c84X3;srpvid=252d57127fef006d;type=total;ucfs=1&#hotelTmpl
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Grizzler wrote:

@Mike Pow, that does look interesting, and a good price including passes if I can get flights in to somewhere near. I'll contact them. Are they a longstanding & reliable provider? Anyone else used them?

Cheers all, so far.


Haven't used them, but they are legit and have a good reputation.
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@Grizzler, never been there mid Jan but have been early february. As I said can be a bit windy, but wrap up and you'll be fine. We have found the link closed to La Rosiere quite a few times, but as we like being in La Thuile itself that has never bothered us.
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Hiya @grizzler;

Hope this on my experience at La Thuile may help:
Been there 3 times recently. Our group don’t do the off piste a lot, unless accidentally straying there somehow, so I can’t really comment on that aspect.

LT Pluses:
Friendly;
Ok on cost generally.
Not busy midweek with short queues;
Good food and drink for the price particularly up the mountain;
When the snow and weather’s great, it’s great;
Piste care generally pretty good; crowd that go there OK with not too many idiots about if out of school holidays;
I found ski hire good.

Runs:
Has pleasant runs generally; my favourites:
1. Along the top of the ridge from Chaz Dura/Col de Fourclaz/Belvedere down runs Nos. 18 then 6 all the way to the bottom. Terrific if there’s nobody on them and the sun’s out. Takes a bit of time to get back up high though. I like the 'Offshore Cafe', eccentrically run and furbished both to my taste, at side of 18; poss. busy/queue during lunchtime, otherwise no probs. I like their music too.
2. Doing circuits up Les Suches gondola and down Black No. 5. Quick to get back up as it's one shot in the gondola.
3. Black No. 3, because of the absurdly steep top section, then down black No. 2 to resort.

LT Minuses:
Self-sorted transfer time longish if coming from UK, via Geneva in our case.
Weather can be a problem if going over to La Ros. More below.
The type who likes high mileage on ever-new pistes each day else gets bored would be done in three days. Personally I don’t care about that - there’s enough for a week for me and anyway if I find something I like I do it again and again.

General:
Stayed in Planibel hotel every time. The Planibel’s a bit basic, worn and dated, but I found it was OK once you’ve got used to the idiosyncrasies of it. ‘Child friendly’.
Others, who stayed in other hotels, said their accommodation was good/excellent.
LT itself isn’t a big town and there’s not a lot there.
The ski pass includes a day free in Courmayeur, getting there via the ski bus/your transport if you fancy it.

La Ros:
To my taste, La Ros can be pretty boring, as can getting there and back, compared to LT itself. I haven’t usually skied there much as I prefer LT. It seemed well looked after, with more modern lifts that LT but bigger crowds/more queueing.

WEATHER
Always been in Feb. Usual variability of weather:-
Feb 2018 was in part windy and FREEZING! Exposure on the chairs . . stay low. No wind plus cloud vis nil on two days. Two days fantastic sun/blue sky.
2017 nice with lots of sun. Terrific all week. Occasional high winds.
2015 massive snowfalls, snowing nearly every day. Some low vis periods.

As others have commented, the wind was a problem quite a few days when I was at LT/La Ros. The ridge is particularly exposed so the lifts do get closed, which can cut off the return from La Ros via lift. In my experience, if you’ve gone to La Ros and there are ‘Liaison Ferme’ signs unexpectedly put up by the French because the way back on the Italian side has got some closed lifts (happened to me three times over the three visits), you may IGNORE THE SIGNS (and the French lifties gave unpleasant looks but shrugged) and take either both of the long drags back over the top - it’s 2.5km long I believe – or take only the first drag and then ski an interminably circuitous flattish route with possibly a whole load of poling, unless you want a very expensive and long taxi ride back to Italy, or will stay overnight in La Ros assuming you can find accommodation. I did the drags once in the freezing fog and a howling wind, and it wasn’t a lot of fun. I’ve done the long route too, and poling wasn’t fun but there's a splendid restaurant at the side of the piste which compensates completely by serving the best beer I’ve tasted in the Alps and wonderful food. The weather had come in, in both cases despite forecasts indicating otherwise.

SKI CONDITIONS COMPARED
As LT faces generally more North, and La Ros faces generally more South, you can guess what generally happens to the snow either side of the border depending on the weather. LT can get proper ice and if there’s been a competition those pistes involved are marble. Jolly good fun if you like that kind of thing, which I do. But the snow stays longer in good condition on the LT side and the Italian pisteurs seem to know their business. La Ros in the morning and lunch/ski in LT in the afternoon worked for us a few times.

LT and La Ros have most skiing generally above the tree line. If the vis drops, some people will find this a real pain higher up. If you are OK on the blacks and reds slopes lower down in those conditions LT can be fun in low vis, but not a lot if you can’t handle that - and one of our party couldn’t.

LT got massive dumps of fresh snow several times when I was there and it was lovely stuff. Maybe because of the exposure, I've no idea really.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
George
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Grizzler wrote:
Price-wise these are currently no better than the Dolomites, so are they any better or worse a choice?
.


I always find TO prices for Val gardena and Alta badia resorts far too expensive. We always book DIY. However TO prices for Canazei, Campitello and Arraba always seemed quite reasonable. As MikePOW has posted, you can get some bargain priced places in the Dolomites as long as you dont stay in one of the Sella Ronda resorts.
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@Grizzler,
we've also had a couple of holidays in the Dolomites, Selva and Canazei, personally I would take La Thuile over Dolomites, I agree with @Mike Pow, regarding bitty journeys in the Dolomites, very beautiful though.
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@Fat George, thank you very much for all that detail.

And thanks everyone else. Currently mulling a cheap deal to LT, which I'll have to grab today or seeing what I can get via @Mike Pow's link for Madesimo - or else wait and see how prices go with the TOs later in the year.
Lots of places recommended above look well worth a visit in the coming seasons, TO or (gulp) diy.
So much to ski..... snowHead Not enough time Sad
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Hi,

In the Italian ski resorts mentioned here, what are the general options for getting to the lifts if just that bit too far to want to walk every day, in boots with skis with little ones?

As well as buses (organised by town and/or hotels), are there lockers at the base of the main lifts so that boots and skis can be left there all week?

Thanks,
Chris
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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.
@wsirhc sorry if I missed other inputs or end up talking about the wrong resort, doing this on a train, but for Sauze d'oulx there is a village bus which costs about 9e for the week, you can pay for lockers at some lifts, but I always use Eydallin Sports. They are at the bottom of Clotes Piste and give free locker storage for online bookings. They are also reasonably priced
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
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I skied in Champoluc for the first time in January and I liked it so much I’m going again this December.
It looks like there is not a huge amount of runs but a lot of piste are very long and there is a great feeling of traveling between the three resorts. If you ski off piste it’s absolutely fantastic and from the summit down to Alagna is incredible.
It’s excellent but don’t tell anyone!
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Cortina.
Cervinia.
Courmayeur.
Alta Badia.
Madesimo.
Sestriere.
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