Real size of Monterosa ski area

A snowHead

Hi sorry if this has been asked before, did a search and didnt find anything.

I am thinking of booking a week in Gressoney and was browsing though The telegraphs where to ski and snowboard 13 and found this.

"The slopes span vast distances, but don’t add up to a huge amount of piste skiing. In earlier editions we suggested that the resort’s piste kilometres were exaggerated, roughly by a factor of two – and now the lift company has quietly halved its claims for the linked area from a major 135km to a modest 73km. Amazing; but anyone can make mistakes"

Looking at crystals website the resort claims or crystal does on behalf of them 180km as does Inghams, looked at a few other websites and seem to get the range of 160-180 km.

So just wondering from anyone who knows the area has the resort had a few upgrades the last couple of years or are the figures still inflated?

Thanks for any help.

A snowHead

@Vintageryan, 73km feels a bit light. But quite enough to keep you occupied.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Always hard to quantify this, but IMHO there is heaps of great skiing there for a week. It really is a great area. Much more there than say Obergurgl. Much less than Zermatt-Cervinia and the Dolomites.

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Most ski areas double their kms as they claim you don't ski in a straight line. Someone measured Chamrousse's pistes on the map and said they really had 45km rather than 90km. It is still a reasonable ski area.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Vintageryan, stayed here last year based in Champoluc.First week in January so no off piste.However still plenty of quality on piste with lots of cruisy reds (and blues).We skied approx 40_45km each day without too much repeat.
Locals were friendly, mountain food was good and inexpensive,so overall very enjoyable.
If you're into off piste,apparently Alagna is a paradise.
Whatever you like, you'll love it.Enjoy

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@Vintageryan, a very rough count (as slope lengths are on the website) I got to around 90 kms from just the linked villages - Champoluc/Gressoneys/Alagna. Adding in Antagnod, Brusson and Champorcher (which is some distance away) will probs take it over 100kms and that I'm not sure every single variation of each slope was mentioned ...

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I wouldn't worry too much about what the numbers say. I've been there every year for the last 5 years and am going again in March. I go for the mix of on- and off-piste but even if you just stick to the pistes, it's a really large area and there's more than enough to keep you enthralled for a week, I would say. That is, unless you're one of those skiers who like to ski every run just once, to 'do' the resort, then get bored (I never understand that mentality).

After all it is free

Agree with @J2R, there's lots of great skiing there, especially if you do some off piste.

The true number of piste kilometers is probably closer to the 70km mark. So, if you purely look at the pistes it doesn't seem very large compared to the mega resorts, but it's all good quality stuff. Getting from one side of the area to the other and back is still a full day out. I'd take Monterosa over the 3 Valleys any day.

@sah, Champoluc+Gressoney+Alagna definitely a lot more than 70kms for the linked by skiing parts. Numbers are on the website. I counted loosely.

If the "circuit" of the PdS is about 80kms (it used to be anyway) then that's about the same skiing time as Champoluc to Alagna and back I think.

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@under a new name, 73km is the new official figure for Monterosa, quoted on wtss.
As mentioned above, the Telegraph also reported the "recalculation" a couple of seasons ago which arrived at 73km.

I think it's pretty accurate. If you add up individual areas you'll probably get some double counting which would skew the figures.

Interestingly the Wikipedia page says 180km.

The numbers don't tell the whole story; it's a big area and, like I said, lots of good off piste to explore. I think most other ski areas are still exaggerating (e.g. St Anton claims 300 km of piste - big as it is there is no way is it 4 times as big as Monterosa), so it's hard to compare fairly.

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It's a great area but the fact that it spans 3 valleys tends to make you think it is bigger than it is. I'd say by way of comparison that Courchevel alone offers more piste skiing than Monterosa. Its when you factor in offpiste that Monterosa moves up the scale. don't let that put you off - scenery, atmosphere and food are all quite special

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Concur that Monterosa is a fantastic area having been there 4 times. Plenty of pistes to keep you happy for a week plus a brilliant selection of little restaurants/bars/cafes to stop at during the day & where you can still get an expresso for 1 euro (actually have only realised how good after visiting other resorts such as Courmayeur & Les Arcs & finding them so much worse) But when you add in the off-piste there's enough there for a lifetime...

Hi all, thanks for the replies.

The size of the piste area is not a huge deal to me, as I understand the off-piste is top notch and I have always wanted to ski the area, partly because of the scenery and the food.

I was just intrigued how the area had shot up to 180 km after the ski lift company admitted in 2013 it was only 73 km and wondered if the area had enjoyed any new lifts and runs in the last 2 years.

Have come to the conclusion that its the TOs who are inflating the figures for their own ends as Crystal, Inghams and Ski Total all claim 180 km whilst the official website for Monterosa makes no mention of any figures and I would imagine if 180 km was the true figure it would feature quite highly.

You know it makes sense.

So, @sah, a surprisingly swift copying and pasting from the Monterosa site into excel gives just shy of 82,000 kms for the linked area and 114,000 kms for everything on the lift pass.

Each piste has its own identifier and name and I see no double counting...

Data here (if it works) http://bit.ly/1VMf9Aw

Not sure if they've counted the descents off Indren... no time to check.

Also not checked that all the named pistes are really what one should count.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

One thing about it, too, is that in many resorts there are loads of minor variants which presumably count towards (and effectively exaggerate) overall piste totals, whereas in the Monterosa area so many of the pistes are completely distinct (and often very long).

A snowHead

Adjustment: St Jean isn't linked in by skiing so I make the linked by skiing total 74,000 kms.

If it was me, I'd be using the 114 Mms number myself, even if including Champorcher is rather cheeky.

A snowHead

@J2R, long is a good point.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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@Vintageryan, what I don't know if the lengths quoted are as the crow flies or literally what you'd measure if you skied down with a measuring wheel on the back of your skis.

Even knowing the historical piste map from 30 years ago and there wasn't that much more skiing - Champoluc anyway.

It all changes when the link into Valtournanche goes in... wink

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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@Kingofthec, so... safety, feasibility and environmental studies have been done. Referenda of the Ayas, Gressoney and Alagna populations came back with a reounding "Yes".

I think it's now just a question of finding final funding.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Love the area, even if there aren't 100's of KM's of pistes travelling from one end of the area and back certainly gives you a 'sense of travel'

If you aren't staying in Alagna I hear the taxi back to your base is rather pricey..... Toofy Grin

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Real size of Monterosa ski area

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