Any advice about Montgenevre?

A snowHead

We are going to Montgenevre for New Years week. We are a mixed group, from me who is comfortable on any groomed run and interested in ungroomed terrain, through a number of intermediate adults to 1 child who has never skied and another who has done 2 weeks some years ago. None of us have been to Montgenevre or anywhere else in the Milky Way before.

Any advice? My particular questions are below, but any word of wisdom are gratefully received:

this piste map

From here

Thanks in advance for any help.

A snowHead

Yes, Milky Way is the whole of the piste map you linked to (and only that).

(I've removed the rest of my post as the info was incorrect!)

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

Private lessons. Contact ESI A peak Montgenevre. Very good school.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

http://www.montgenevre.com/en/hiver/slopes.html

This link should offer you the ‘Montgenevre Only’ piste map ( the yellow button on the left, Monts de la Lune as opposed to Via Lattea on the right.

On the Montgenèvre map the lifts shaded yellow can be used with a Montgenèvre ski pass. I believe that a six day pass offers one day in the wider Milky Way (Via Lattea) area.

There is a Montgenèvre app with good webcams and some other info (pistes and lifts open etc) but otherwise rather less developed than apps from other resorts.

I will be interested in replies too as we are also heading out for new year week.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We bought a Via Lattea/Milky way whole area pass when we went. However, we didn't actually get any further than Claviere so could have made do with the Mont De Lune pass. We were intermediates when we visited but did have lessons everyday which meant we were restricted on the distance we could make each day. Had we not had lessons, we probably would have made it further round the ski area but still, there is enough skiing to be had in the MDL pass.

When we visited 2 years ago, the link wasn't open across the top (due to a legal issue) from France to Italy. Meaning that you had to go via the bottom through Claviere itself, which can be a drag as it's a bit of a slog across a very flat golf course.

I think I remember reading somewhere that it's now open again but may be worth having a scout around.

We really liked the ski area and Monty itself. We went last week of Jan and the pistes were quiet and lift queues non existent. It may be busier in the more popular villages such as Sestriere or Sauze. From the looks of it, there was plenty of "side country" places to ski just off the groomed pistes. Saying that, when we were there it chucked it down with snow. A lot of the pistes were groomed but some where left kinda half and half if that makes sense. Half groomed, half powder. I have a short video in my signature of our time there (it was my first ever time filming, so it's not a work of art!).

Monty isn't a place for mad apres ski! But there was a very good bar opposite the main meeting point called Le Graal.
We ate out at a place called Le Jamy which I would recommend, but not sure if it's still open anymore. But there is a decent enough choice of places to eat.

One thing to note is that depending on where you are staying, a few of the streets in Monty are quite steep and can be a pain to walk up (or indeed down) in ski gear. There is a free minibus service that has lots of stops in the village however that you can hop on.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Have been to Montgenevre 4 times.

Highly recommend A Peak for ski lessons.

Also Le Graal is great bar for lunch and also has live music on Weds and Fri nights. Great atmosphere.

Another really good place to eat is Caesar’s which is at the end of the main street (towards the swimming pool, away from the French border).

No idea on off-piste, sorry.

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

Another vote for A Peak for lessons. Have used them many times and they are great. Have coffee/lunch in Italy. Recommend Kilt pizzeria in Claviere for food

After all it is free

Mountain food is much cheaper and better in Italy. I second Caesars restaurant. You can also access Italy from the Alpet side, then a short walk through Claviere. There is an excellent freeride area in the Godrans bowl. I'll be there on the twelfth Jan.

If anyone needs to buy cigarettes, get them in claviere,much much cheaper

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

If your on a board, duck under the fences to maintain height for the traverse left Toofy Grin

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Don't miss out going up Le Chalvet. There's a nice bit of (steepish) side piste to be had, and the desserts at the Terrasse restaurant are huge, and the views well worth it. Very Happy

snow reports

Good news from Montgenèvre is that there is lots of great piste skiing at all standards, negligible queueing other than at low level early on, and the sun is shining. Gondrans bowl is a lovely place, as is Chalvet above half way. You can get around the whole area very quickly, more so than the map may suggest. Smashing mountain food at Gondrans restaurant, yes not cheap but where in Europe is, at basically £1 = €1?

Less good news is that icy patches are appearing, there are some holes in the snow, a few pistes have been closed (it looks to me, more for long-term protection, though it may be because of ice). Access to Clavière is, as others have said, along a very flat section and the snow above Claviere (off the Col Boeuf) is poor.

So - it could do with a dump sooner rather than later. If you want off-piste/ powder, or to use Monty to explore in Italy, it ain’t happening here just now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time, especially with Apremont at €8 a bottle in the local. Still more areas to explore including Rocher de l’Aigle and beyond.

Just my HO but hopefully it will be helpful to some - I was surprised how little there seemed to be on Monty on this forum.

Help!!

Any advice about Montgenevre?

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