 Poster: A snowHead
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I have question for all you people out there who have been in these places.
We are going for three weeks to Italy in february-march, and we are going to visit Monte Rosa and the Dolomites.
But as we know saturdays is usually the "switchday" - they rent appartments from saturday to saturday - we have to decide where we want to stay for 2weeks and where for one...
Help me out here! Which one would you choose for a two week stay? Why?
Thanks
Oskar
Finland
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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forsten, Hey a Finnish SnowHead. Welcome!
I'm afraid a little more information might be useful.
How good are you as skiers? What type of skiing do you like? What kind of nightlife do you like?
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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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Alagna is absolutely fantastic for off piste skiers although unless you are very experienced, you will probably need a guide to help you make the best use of it.
The piste skiing is so limited that any reasonable intermediate skier could do it all in a few hours, or even less if they were not capable of handling the long black run from the top.
The village is very small with no night life to speak of. There are good places to eat out and also restaurants off the beaten track when off piste skiing but again you would probably need a guide to help you find them.
I spent a week there two seasons ago and loved it although as keen as I am on off piste skiing, I doubt if I would want to spend two weeks there. An alternative is to stay in Gressonay in the next valley, where you actually get better views of the Monte Rosa and there is more variety and amount of skiing. You can still get to Alagna from Gressonay to ski, however it is Alagna where off piste fanatics usually stay.
Arabba in the Dolomites is utterly diferent. I stayed there on a walking holiday this summer and skied in the area many years ago. I would describe it primarily as a great place for intermediate piste skiing with some opportunities for more advanced skiers. The lift pass covers the Sella Ronda circuit so there are plenty of places to go.
It's a delightful atmosphere socially and the scenery is quite dramatic.
I hope this helps and do ask any questions if you wish.
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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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forsten, I would choose Arabba. The lift pass covers some 1200km of piste - not all lift linked, but from Arabba you can get to other resorts like Cortina very easily by car - and I have seen good reviews of Kronplatz too.
Spent 1 week in Champoluc last year in February (linked to Alagna), and I would think that unless conditions are really good for off-piste - or you can afford a lot of helicopter rides, that you would get bored after a week. There are about 4 blacks across the '3 valleys' and everything else is cruisey red (About 160km in total). When we were there, we were told that the off-piste was so wind blown that it really wasn't worth the expense of hiring a guide (told by a retired guide!). A week was more than enough to cover all the piste numerous times.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks for the quick answers. Sorry forgot to mention what kind of skiing we are looking for.
We are looking for some easy-to-reach offpiste - lots of it. Not too steep - not more than 35-40degrees.
That´s acutally why I´ve decided on Arabba in the Dolomites and Algna in Monte Rosa. They have a reputation of being good freeride places.
We are going to ski - not to party - not a lot at least. So we are happy if there is one bar were we can enjoy one after ski beer and mayby a few later on.
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forsten, Arabba will suit your apres ski needs - more than one bar and a few restaurants. But nothing too loud or exciting.
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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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agavin, Thanks, I'll bet I responded to it too - I must be having a senior moment, not that that's unusual 
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forsten,
Welcome.
Skied the dolomites years and years ago so I'll leave that to upto date collegues altho' I would think Arraba is worth a visit.
As regards Monterosa, I would stay in Gressoney La Trinte and around the Hotel Dufour as this is where most trips are orgainised from. Alagne is in a time warp - nothing wrong with that - but the places is dead unless you find the Swedes. Such a small quaint village with a modern lift out of the valley, never been able to ski back to it unless you take the Balma run which is fun for the first time only. So even though the lift connection is better now with the Olen lift I wold still stay in La trinite. You will also find seasoned Scnadinavians there as well.
Neither La Trinte or Alagne have apre-ski, everyone is in bed early because of the next days trip. The guides offices are buzszing until about 1900 and then its dinner and bed almost, depending on what you have booked...
The whole Monterosa region is fed by southerly winds which gives it a peculiar weather pattern. It is infamous for its wind blown snow. Even local guides acknowledge this and regard it is a minus point. In good snow the place would be heaven so hopefully you will be lucky. Of course you will have the height with a heli and the area is immense but condition is the key.
Guides are essential for at last a few days as it is a bit hard to experiment here - and dangerous - but once they have shown you a few things then it should be easy to entertain yourselves . Lots of valley's take a bit of knowledge to get into, even Attaluce if you have never been there before.
Monterosa is a spectacular place which could rival Chamonix is very good conditions and should be visited at least once. I have been there 4 times and never had the best snow. Unlucky??...maybe...!!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Following JT's wise words, you may want to peruse this thread here discussing Alagna, Gressoney from a powder point of view.
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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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Hi Forsten,
I went to Alagna for a week 2 years ago (followed up by 2 days in Andermatt and 2 days in Engelberg) and had the time of my life. You do need a guide to get the most out of the area. There is unlimited offpiste and even hidden valleys on both sides of Alagna. To the left is the Otro Valley with a really cool Walser summer village way up there and on the other side is a huge valley, mostly heli-skied, I don't know the name. I accessed this with my guide Armin Fisher, wife and 10 year old son via the Malfatta Coulouir. Monterosaski is very large on piste once you get out of the Alagna Valsesia area, and the offpiste in the Gressoney and Champuluc area are very good too. We hired a helicopter and went up to the col between Monterosa and the Lyzkamm(sp?) and then had an unbelievable 12 mile glacier run down into Zermatt. We stayed in Zermatt that night but it is possible to ski offpiste back to Alagna via Cervinia, Champoluc, and Gressoney. We did that the next day for another great adventure. To sum it up, it's huge with plenty of demand and even danger if you want (or not). I've skied off-piste at many of the famous areas including Chamonix, Verbier, and St. Anton and would rate it up there with any of them, but it's completely unspoiled if that's your desire. There are several restaurants in Alagna and in the hamlets above which are particularly good. There were at least two or three decent bars and we did find some Swedes and even some Americans. We followed Alagna up with a couple of days in Andermatt and a couple of days in Engelberg, both excellent off-piste resorts with famous off-piste runs. Even though you mentioned you're not going for apres ski, the Yucatan in Engelberg has a fantastic happy hour with 2 for 1 pitchers. I won't be going back this year, but I'm definitely saving money and making plans next year for Alagna, Andermatt, and Engelberg.
I hope you go and have a great time.
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forsten, I've just taken delivery of an off piste guide to the Dolomites, bought in anticipation of a planned trip to Arabba in January.
The area has plenty of off piste possibilities, unfortunately a lot of it requires skinning from the nearest lift to the routes start which I'm tooled up for ....yet.
Maybe Santa will bring me a a big box of backcountry gear 
I think Monterosa has more lift served off piste.
If you're intersted the book is Freeride in Dolomiti from http://www.versantesud.it/
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You know it makes sense.
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Hi guys!
Thanks for the answers - they have really come in use. After wondering a day or two I came to the conclusion that
we are going to stay in Gressoney La Trinte instead of Alagna.
But haven´t decided yet if we are going to stay in Monte Rosa for a week or two....but we are going to visit Monte Rosa, that´s for sure.
So the battle continues....
David Murdoch - thanks for the link - I´ll check it out.
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FAQ
's Have I seen this question somewhere else 
You should get some good answers here, try using the search facility as there has been a lot of forum traffic on the subject of the Dolomites, Sella Ronda, Arraba, Hidden Valley etc etc.
