 Poster: A snowHead
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we have booked a week from 20 feb 2016 . . Taking kids out of uk school, but found out that this week coincides with french half term . . And Paris zone plus one other one. We have booked flights to geneva.
It's been suggested that italy may be a better option with quieter slopes . . So now trying to decided between Cormayeur, la thuile or pila.
The kids have skied for a week last year, and the youngest 5, didn't really get the hang of it. The elder one did and loved it! So looking for a small resort with nice blues and easy reds ( for me too!) and good ski school with some good english speaking instructors. anyone got any suggestions?
Also, if there are any quiet or not tooooooo busy resorts in france that would fit the bill. I am okay with a bit of a wait by the lifts, just not ridiculously busy or manic pistes. Was also thinking of les Contamines in france as an option but just don't know if it will be packed. Does anyone know? Thanks snowheads 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'd say La Thuile from those three. I can't imagine it ever being busy there, the village is tiny and the ski area is pretty big. Plus the blues up past the mid-station are very wide and flat. I don't know anything about the ski school, sorry. Courmayeur is a lovely town, but a small ski area and I can only really recall one easy blue which was more of a snow road. I haven't been to Pila, but I have heard it is more of an intermediates resort.
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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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Been to all three.
La Thuile
Pila
Courmayeur
in that order of suitableness.
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My nephew was in Pila at Easter with his school for his first ever ski trip. He enjoyed it.
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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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| Mr Pieholeo wrote: |
Been to all three.
La Thuile
Pila
Courmayeur
in that order of suitableness. |
totally agree, as long as theyre not chucking out too much man made snow at Pila.
La Thuile by a fair margin actually
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Based on personal experience I would go:
Pila
La Thuile
Courmayeur
I think Pila has more stuff that is an easy step up from "Beginner"
Both Pila and La Thuile are north facing
La Thuile - Beginners will have to download in the gondola once the most basic nursery slope has been conquered.
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Having taught a few times in Courmayeur and lots in Pila, I'd definitely say that Courmayeur is hard for a beginner group and agree with it being consistently last on people's lists. Pila is also slightly challenging for anyone who has never yet had skis on, but the progression (terrain to develop on) once you are ploughing and have some control is lovely: students relax and seem to really blossom! Hope to visit La Thuile this winter, as I regularly hear good things on all fronts other than occasional high winds (due to the geography).
I tend to teach in those resorts during the kinds of weeks you describe (peak periods). The main reason is that it's unpleasantly busy in France (where I'm based most of the winter) but tolerable or quiet in Italy. That may help you decide between the two.
You mentioned wanting some English-speaking instruction for your kids. If you were to go with France, I'd recommend New Generation. But they only operate out of a limited number of resorts: Three Valleys, Les Arcs/Vallandry (check the website). All fine for beginners. In the Italian resorts you list, there are generally three ski school operations: the main Italian ski school, a private Italian ski school that has set up in competition, and Interski. You will take pot luck to some extent with the first two on the language front. Interski employ mostly native English speakers. Their focus is schools packages, but a check on their website may reveal a tuition-only offering if you take a look (they are generally quite flexible).
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Fri 3-07-15 13:51; edited 1 time in total
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Might La Thuile, as it is linked to La Rosiere, suffer from migrating hordes?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@pam w, Having skied la thuile for 2 half terms a while ago, its quite a trek from la rosiere to la thuile. i remember sitting at the side of the piste in la thuile answering a 15 minute phone call from work, and realising that non-one had skiied past me during the whole call ,yes it was one of the blacks into the village, and lunchtime, but even so it was very quiet.
For the average la rosiere skier. so out of france. get to La thuile by 11am, then lunch............. and then have to get back means that people dont actually spend that long in the other resort , Have done a half term in la rosiere as well.
The only issue with la thuile is the lack of easy runs with any trees and it can be very cold for beginners if that wind blows.
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Pila
La Thuile
Courmayeur
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks so much everyone . . It's a decision between la thuile and pila. Both look great, but la thuile seems to have more blues which might be better for the younger one ( and me as I had nasty fall this year and no doubt next year will be more tentative) As we are going 3rd week in February hopefully it won't be toooo cold? Will look at accommodation, lift passes and other things which may determine the outcome. 
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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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@Hils68, I'd second the positive vibes re Pila. Been there 3 times, incl my first week on skis, and thought it a great place for beginners. It is v easy to find ski in / ski out places to stay in Pila, which cld be an advantage over La T; Pila is also a sheltered bowl and so tends to be quiet when other places are windy.
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Hmmmm . .
Does the fact that we are going during french school holidays 20 february ( paris half term) have any influence on the resorts . . Ie will either pila or la thuile get swamped with french families?
Are the Reds in Pila wide and relatively easy!
I have skied La thuile before ( without kids and liked it lots), so feel happy to return there. However if Pila is more suitable for kids ( and its a bit cheaper) then happy to explore that too. They seem to,do 3 hours ski school in Pila as opposed to 2.5 in La thuile which gives us parents a bit more freedom!!
Pleas keep the comments coming in, snowheads forum is so useful and informative.
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You know it makes sense.
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IME one of the key factors with kids is accommodation very near ski school meeting place and close enough for lunch and comfort stops. staying in Aosta maybe more interesting for adults but with kids give me ski in/out over choice of restaurants any day.
being up in Pila would also mean more chance of snow fun right outside your accommodation. More important than the skiing for little ones.
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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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We go to Pila every year though deliberately miss school holidays - normally arrive when you are coming back. Not been to La Thuile so can't compare them directly.
Agree with PamW stay up in Pila saves a load of hassle and many/most hotels etc are ski in/out. Not a pretty village at all but who cares.
Nearly all instructors speak English and are very good. Interski use Pila as one of its main resorts taking school trips there which have complete novices. There is a huge and high up, flat teaching area which can be reached by Gondola.
No so many Blues but many Reds are not much harder (occasional steeper bit) all wide and quiet. Difficult to tell the difference. Mind piste3 should still be a Black in my view !
Only queue is for the Chamole lift at the wrong time but you do not need to use this lift just seems that most people do between 8:45-9:30 after that fine again. Weekends are busy as the locals come out to play.
We use Carole at pilaski.co.uk to sort everything out and it works very well. She can even organise transport from Turin but Geneva is more convenient for us to get to so we hire a car.
You will like the on mountain prices too compared to rip off France - 2€ coffee and 3€ Prosecco with loads of nibbles.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks . . We were honing in on Pila, ( I like the 3 hour ski school) then I started to look at transfers from Geneva.
How long does it take to drive from Geneva to pila ( the ski in out part)? When I look it up on search engines they vary from 2.15 - 3 hours and assume that's with no holiday traffic in france.
I can't find any reasonably costing transfers, so hiring a car seems to be the option. But . . When i started adding petrol and tolls . . It comes up £120 more expensive than a private transfer to La Thuile.
Back tracking several paces . . . Now just wondering if italy is best choice. we were trying to avoid the french resorts as their school half term including Paris coincides with our week. Are the french resorts really that busy? Or is Italy just worth it?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Hils68, I doubt La Thuile would be that busy...it was almost empty when we skied over there from La Rosiere one new year. In terms of ski runs it would be a good option. I don't know what the town/ hotels / ski school are like.
We choose to ski in France as a family but given that you are tied to that week you would probably find accommodation in France more expensive and the slopes busier.
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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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@Hils68, probably better to fly to Turin for the Aosta valley resorts. It's a shorter journey and pretty easy by public transport if you don't want to hire a car.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Its normally about 2:30hrs from Geneva but as you say traffic maybe worse for you. Aosta is just over 2hours then it is 20-25mins up the hill. Don't forget to add in the tolls too. Tunnel is €56 return I think and there are at least another €50 for there other motorways.
Turin is a much better option, just a pain for us to get to an airport in this country (Stanstead) that goes there.
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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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Had a day trip to Pila this year from Champoluc - quite busy with race training so lots of adolescent speed merchants. More sheltered in the trees than La Thuile which must be much more exposed to storms, nice restaurants on the Pila slopes with mainly modern lifts, and well signed pistes, Interski instructors seem to be a plus too. Aosta good for a half day potter away from the Pila slopes or if the weather closes in - Roman forum and remains, cathedral all connected by the access lift. Its all very Italian.
It wouldn't suit me for a week but for beginners I can see the advantages.
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@kiteman69, avoid the Couis 1 & 2 chairs and ALL of the other reds are gentle. I'm not a good skier and was flying down nearly all of the reds apart from the top sections of 9 & 16/19
Blue 15 - Great beginner slope at the top, very wide, gets pretty flat as it narrows towards bottom. Lovely run.
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15 is really a green ? Its green on the map but blue number, no idea what that is about.
It starts in the huge wide flat teaching area where you can get to most of it from the Gondola and that bit has a slow lift to keep going round on. Then it is a Cat track through the trees until you come out on a collection area near La Nouva lift and down a funnel (gets busy at the wrong time) down in and through the village. Right past our bedroom window most years. Very gentle.
The Blue under La Nouva (5) is generally the next step. La Nouva lift is a six pack and I have never seen a queue of more than 4 lots in front of us and neither have I ever seen 6 on the lift. [NOTE we are not there at a weekend-so may change then] 17 & 4 are always very very quiet. Never seen the top of 18 open. 14 is great with a super finish round a natural toilet bowl.
Agree with Frosty that the top of 9 is a bit hairy but very wide and it is only a short steep bit. There is a track at he side to snowplough down with less angle but it is harder as very narrow. Easier just to straight line it and slow at the bottom if you don't like to turn on steep stuff.
2 & 3 are real reds also as Frosty says so is everything (or worse) up Couis 1 or 2 Lifts.
Yes you can do all the runs in a day, but so what. It is all centred and simple to navigate with loads of super on mountain food/drink at reasonable prices. More info it reports or ask.
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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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Coming into the Aosta valley from France means going through the Mont Blanc tunnel.
This is why commercial transfers start to look competitive with self drive: because a one way/rtn trip is really pricey compared to the locals' 'season ticket'.
As @LOTSKI said, Turin is loads better for Aosta.
I'd tend to agree with those who put La Thuile over Pila - Pila can be utterly rammed with school parties from all over Europe. Coachloads 'n coachloads of 'em. It was by far the most crowded place we skied in the Aosta Valley during our research mission last season. OK, I'll confess, our sample of Pila was 1 day in total but it was so immensely different from everywhere else in the valley.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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La Thuile has loads of flat spots & not really suited for beginners, there is less progression in comparison to Pila - if the weather goes bad it is usually whiteout conditions as there are no trees. Pila has lots of shelter and there are no T-bars (all chairlifts) which is always great for the younger ones. La Thuile is also very secluded so there are less options for going out for dinners/spas etc the only bonus with La Thuile is you can ski over to La Rosiere.
That is sad to hear it was rammed with school kids when you went admin - I would definitely say give it another try. I have been to most resorts all over Europe and can hand on heart say Pila is my all time fave (I may be biased as I do call it home now). It can get busy during peak weeks + weekends (the locals all come to ski) but during the week it is usually quiet as anything - have never queued for a lift for longer than 3/4 minutes (during busy season) and when it is quiet I just hop straight on. We did have a few busy days last year as all of the nearby resorts shut due to wind (La Thuile, Courmayeur, Cervinia) so everyone on their holidays had to come over to us.
These are the peak weeks for UK schools coming out to the area, so your dates don't cross over with these which is good
2/12/2015, 06/02/2016, 13/02/2016, 19/03/2016, 26/03/2016 and 02/04/2016
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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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Nice info everyone........ Sorry for hijacking your thread @Hils68, 
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| admin wrote: |
| I'd tend to agree with those who put La Thuile over Pila - Pila can be utterly rammed with school parties from all over Europe. Coachloads 'n coachloads of 'em. It was by far the most crowded place we skied in the Aosta Valley during our research mission last season. OK, I'll confess, our sample of Pila was 1 day in total but it was so immensely different from everywhere else in the valley. |
When was this?? Having skied Pila for a week mid Jan for the past 4 years it's been pretty hard to find any sort of queue anywhere. This year, various operators (e.g. Crystal), were busing beginners in from Courmayeur due to the lack of snow there.
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You know it makes sense.
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| RobW wrote: |
| admin wrote: |
| I'd tend to agree with those who put La Thuile over Pila - Pila can be utterly rammed with school parties from all over Europe. Coachloads 'n coachloads of 'em. It was by far the most crowded place we skied in the Aosta Valley during our research mission last season. OK, I'll confess, our sample of Pila was 1 day in total but it was so immensely different from everywhere else in the valley. |
When was this?? |
Pretty sure it was 5th March.
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| Having skied Pila for a week mid Jan for the past 4 years it's been pretty hard to find any sort of queue anywhere. |
I agree: it's pretty hard to find a queue anywhere that week - even French Mega-resorts.
| Quote: |
| This year, various operators (e.g. Crystal), were busing beginners in from Courmayeur due to the lack of snow there. |
When we were there all the Aosta valley resorts had good cover - we know, cos we skied all of them 
Actually, to be exact, there was one we didn't really ski this time: La Thuile, where we got a bit distracted by the best lunch of the mission!
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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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Some great views coming in . .
Is it still best to totally avoid france as its Paris half term plus another zone too.. . Just seems we will be driving past lots of french resorts from geneva ( flights booked and paid for) to get to Italy in the quest for quieter pistes. I know my question is between pila and la thuile, but just wondering if it's worth looking at any french resorts. Or will it just be queues and busy pistes everywhere?
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
will it just be queues and busy pistes everywhere?
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yes.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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and you'll probably get to Pila quicker than you'd get to Tignes. Though the A40 will be stupidly busy, of course so you probably won't get anywhere very quickly. 
Another alternative, of course, would be to head into Switzerland.
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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 agree, although I am not a fan of French resorts all together, it is stupidly overpriced and ridiculously busy. There are far superior resorts for terrain, people, cost and quietness.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I has a look at Switzerland at th beginning of my trawls but it seemed out of our budget. Accomodation and lift pass seemed pricier . . Buy it may be worth another look. Does budget family ski and Switzerland go together? !!
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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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| LOTSKI wrote: |
| I agree, although I am not a fan of French resorts all together, it is stupidly overpriced and ridiculously busy. There are far superior resorts for terrain, people, cost and quietness. |
And that applies to all FR resorts? For terrain, i have not find better than FR, costs - vary a lot, quietness - mega resorts could be very busy during top weeks. Same applies in AT CH or IT
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@mooney058, Personal preference I guess. I absolutely love everything about Italy. The people, the resorts, the food... The whole atmosphere just feels different. I have family who live in South of France and love the French Alps, but it just isn't for me.
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@Hils68, Switzerland is ridiculously expensive, I lived there a couple of years back. I remember getting a walking pass for 1/2 a day to go for lunch for my Birthday and it cost me 75CHF.
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@admin, We were there too on March5th and have to agree that it was amazing and totally never been seen before. It was all the local schools in Italy having a day off ! Even then with all that lot there it was still not that busy just some actual queues.
You picked a one off bad day. The weekends are often like that, but then if they did not support the resort it would not have anywhere near the same infrastructure it has. I wish Whistler had queues like these - even when it was busy.
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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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| Hils68 wrote: |
| I has a look at Switzerland at th beginning of my trawls but it seemed out of our budget. Accomodation and lift pass seemed pricier . . Buy it may be worth another look. Does budget family ski and Switzerland go together? !! |
I think pam w means go via Switzerland to Pila using the Grand St Bernard tunnel.
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No, I did actually mean try a Swiss resort. But that route might be a sensible option given that the French roads will be very busy. Are the flights to Geneva very expensive, @Hils68? You can get quite cheap deals to Torino.
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FAQ
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