 Poster: A snowHead
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OK, I know it's a question that provokes a rather subjective answer, but will my wife and I be as challenged and exhilarated after a week in either of the above resorts, as we are in L3V.
We love 3V, but feel like we should venture out for something different, and these have popped up on the radar.
Cheers in advance, folks....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@t40ora, what exactly do you love about the 3V? That would help others provide an opinion.
For me, i love the 3 valleys but, like you, also like to try other resorts. I went to gressoney in January and the positives were that it was dead with no lift queues at all throughout the week. The food was also some of the best i have had on any mountain. If you intend on doing any off piste then the moterosa would be ideal but there is no apres there and no real atmosphere. Have you skiied in Saalbach?
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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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@o11y, +1. I think Gressoney is great for a long weekend ... if you like the sense of travel that the 3Vs and the Espace Killy offer you are likely to be bored. Having said that there are some lovely runs around and the food on the mountain and in the villages is absolutely superb. Why don’t you consider hiring a car and combining a few days at Monterosa with a trip to Cervinia?
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| franga wrote: |
| @o11y, +1. I think Gressoney is great for a long weekend ... if you like the sense of travel that the 3Vs and the Espace Killy offer you are likely to be bored. Having said that there are some lovely runs around and the food on the mountain and in the villages is absolutely superb. Why don’t you consider hiring a car and combining a few days at Monterosa with a trip to Cervinia? |
Interesting you say that, I'd say if you'd stayed in Champoluc you can get a great sense of travel inc some lovely long runs over to Gressoney, onto Alagna, lunch there and ski back
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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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@kitenski, sorry, I should have worded my response better ... there are some lovely runs around, the black and red combo from the top of the Salati pass down to Alagna is a personal favourite of mine. And you can definitely register quite a bit of mileage in a day ... but I don’t think it’s comparable to getting to Orelle and back from La Tania which is what we did today. I can definitely recommend the Hotel de Gletscher up in Staffal - owner managed, friendly, modern and with food to die for.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@franga, I guess it's just "different" to Trois Vallees, and you can't really compare the two, (I've been to both many times).
If you've not been I'd recommend it for the whole experience. It's cheaper than France by a long way!!
I guess we need a reply to @o11ys question to work out what the OP is looking for....
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Via Lattea / Milky Way would definitely be a good next step after the 3V
There isn't literally as much KM of piste but the area is similar in scope, although more awkward topographically. But the excitement of discovering the area's secrets will more than make up for that.
Challenged and Exhilarated - or your money back, I promise 
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Very simple answer to what we love about 3V is the travel! Ski a whole day not repeating a piste, then so the same for the next 5 days (more or less) .
And the Orelle to A Tania type trip is our bag.
Food is fuel; we can eat well at home, we just need energy.
I'm just worried about getting bored after a couple of days of repetition...
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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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You can ski all the posted in Gressoney / Champaloc / Alagna in less than a day
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Ah; so looks like we'd be repeating most of the runs? Although we stay on piste, my wife in particular is an inveterate explorer! She loves to get a bit lost.... Makes for some interesting times at the end of the day, but certainly exhilarating!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@t40ora, yes I'd say you'd repeat some runs in Monterosa fairly quickly.
Have you looked at the big high Austrian resorts? Saalbach, Ischgl or the Arlberg (villages/areas to discover inc Rendl, Lech, Zurs, Warth, Stuben....) Or Cervinia in Italy?
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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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@kitenski, no, but I think it will give my wife the opportunity to investigate some more options! I'll nudge her in that direction.
We are looking at going out in about three weeks, so I reckon wherever we go we should still have good snow...
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You know it makes sense.
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Skiwelt. Lots of skiing and opportunity to ski Kitzbuhel.
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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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@t40ora,
I did the 3V a few years ago and LOVED it. Huge area and even though it was warm, we found great snow up high on North facing slopes. I don't think I have ever skied more KM in a week. I have not skied Sestriere and Monterosa but they are on the list.....
A few weeks ago I was on the BB in Arabba. No friends or family were available for a trip this year and the week of Feb 5th worked for my schedule.
The Dolomiti Superski area is unbelievable. The biggest obstacle to doing big KM is the scenery and the several hundred reasonably priced piste-side Riffugio's. Have a look at the Dolomiti Superski app for phone or laptop; it works quite well. Our last day we did Arabba to Brunico and back no problem at all (fast skiing, lunch in the gondola, confirm the route and bus schedule beforehand). In 6 days the only runs we repeated were the ones close to Arabba that we had to use to go further afield. Oh and we still did not have time to do Alpe Di Suisi or Cortina....I was concerned that the area would be a bit tame for me.....I am no longer concerned. Look at all the reds and blacks and then ski them at 90 kmh plus because they are empty and are groomed very well. Then proceed directly onto the chair or gondola without waiting in a line. What a blast! I was also concerned as the area does not have a good natural snow record....you mention that you will be going in 3 weeks....the snow 2 weeks ago was everywhere and no ice in sight. This is a good year to check this one off the list. All this considered, if you are looking for off piste, I can`t really comment. Our groups were on-piste focused and I was happy to comply. There was snow off piste but the little bit that we tried was skied out and wind crusted. If we had fresh snow during our visit.....maybe next time 
St. Anton was mentioned above. I did that for a week last year with a friend and we loved it. Very different to both the 3V and the Dolomites. On piste I found that speeds had to decrease because the pitch in general was steeper (perhaps a ski with less than a 21m radius would be a bit more sane). I was also not in as good shape as I should have been....We did some side piste and clearly the off piste possibilities are endless but it was not a good snow year. There are lots of long distance exploration options. We found the bus system to access Lech, Zurs and Warth/Schrocken to be a better option than ski and Flexenbahn because we gave ourselves more time in a specific area with fresher legs.
Basically, this being a good snow year, if you are more interested in a big area, steep runs (although Lech, Zurs and Warth have more cruisey stuff), ungroomed itineraries and German oompa disco tunes each evening at the Mooserwirt.... St. Anton would be a great choice. If your preference is ripping endless groomers at crazy speeds, I cannot imagine finding a better spot than the Dolomites (but I am open to suggestions if anyone knows of another goldmine).
Hope this helps.
Cheers
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all, I'm following this thread with interest. We've considered Chompoluc/Gerssoney the last few years, but always persuade ourselves out of it. I heard great thing about the place for price and quietness, but the lack of "new terrain" for the whole week, and covering it all in a few days worries me. Our group of 15 also like a little bit of apres from 4.30 to 6 ish - or at least the option to. we went to Obergurgl twice and the infamous Nederhutte was fab, but don't need that level really!
This year we stayed in Villandry, near les Arcs, fab ski in/out bt again very quiet or on the way home drinkies, the 1 bar half way down wouldn't serve us at 5pm as lifts had closed.
So we are also considering the Sella Ronda as has been mentioned in this post. But still like the idea of Champoluc....
I'll keep reading the suggestions here.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@micheleperry, I have no idea where Chompoluc or Gerssoney are, but Monterosa is more that it looks. Long runs, etc. plus terrific food and wine.
Apres ski? Not really an Italian thing. But that’s not the end of the world...
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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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@Freerider - I'm not talking out all night drinking madness apres, just a beer or two straight after skiing before heading back to get ready for dinner. Think my spelling might be off, I was talking Gressoney / Champoluc in Monterosa - you hear different things from different people about it!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| micheleperry wrote: |
| @Freerider - I'm not talking out all night drinking madness apres, just a beer or two straight after skiing before heading back to get ready for dinner. |
That is perfectly possible in Champoluc and Gressoney.
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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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In Champoluc you will get cured meats and pizza to chomp on during your after skiing drinks too.
Fabulous area but all done for a piste skier in 3 days if not repeating is your thing. Off-piste is a different beast with lots of side terrain, itinenaries and the off-piste only mountain 
I have been to 3V, EK & Portes de Soleil a few times each. Just returned from Avoriaz and believe it cannot be beaten for a whole week of skiing rarely the same piste twice. Off piste better in 3V and EK IMHO though
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Thanks for the ideas, folks.
Bad news is, that due to pressures of a new business, we won't be going mid March as hoped 
However, we will try to get out about a month later - so I may well resurrect this thread, with the added twist of where might there still be snow!
Happy skiing all; I'm going away to quietly whimper in sadness.....
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@t40ora, just got back from the Monterosa and loved it to bits - fantastic scenery, loads of kms, loads of variety, great food. However if you have an aversion to repeating pistes, the nature of the resort probably counts against it: a series of longish links to different areas with a little skiing in each area.
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