 Poster: A snowHead
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Surprised this hasn’t been kicked off yet.
Had a couple of hours this morning. Pistes in good shape, if firm. Run down to Dollen doable with a couple of bare patches.
Not much else to say!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@under a new name, Good to hear its looking good, we have just arrived about an hour ago, will do reports for the days were here, planning on a few days in La Thuile and Pila
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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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Will be there middle of March. Any tips worth sharing would be most appreciated.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Overheard a guide at a restaurant in Courmayeur yesterday saying that last week there were lots of injuries due to icy patches. There were stiill a few in places where the snow was windblown, but the 30cm snowfall Thursday night improved things immensely.
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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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Was at Cervinia/ Zermatt today, glorious sunshine, mild, just a bit of high veiled cloud.Hope to hit La Thuile tomorrow (Sunday) as fine mild weather is looking to hold.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Mixed day weather wise today, sunny with a thin, to thicker cloud cover, visibility ok for most of the day. Snow conditions and OK in most places, we stayed on the Plan Checruit side, there were some icy patches exposed later in the day. Crowds were OK busy in the morning but after 2pm it seemed much quieter with little if no ques for lifts and some empty pistes.
@brovert, what in particular are looking for, food or skiiing tips ?
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@geoffknight How to get to other resorts, tips for lunch, advice on beating the queues.
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In La Thuile today, very similar weatherwise to what @geoffknight reported. Veiled cloud in morning in La Thuile, got thicker late morning on way to La Rosiere with resulting flat light. Sun came out on French side as blue patches appeared from West, by midday it said 11C on chairlift thermometer at 1900m, though the soft corn snow was enjoyable and easy to ski. Heading back to La Thuile the cloud was thicker and it felt a bit chilly in the shade in the afternoon. Sun tried to reappear and lit up the peaks in late afternoon. Mont Blanc had its cap on most of the day. Snow we encountered today ranged from soft & forgiving, to polished hardpack, to corn snow, to bare scraped icy patches, but overall I would say the snow in La Thuile was slightly better than the other resorts visited in last few days. There were small chopped up icy chunks at Cervinia lower down, Courmayeur had places where the snow had been windblown to reveal the frozen rain crust.
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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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@brovert, I’ll do some detailed stuff for you later, Luigi has good knowledge also I think.
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@luigi, you seem to be doing a tour of the Aosta resorts, something that had been on my list! Are you based in one place and commuting each day or staying in different resorts each night?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Late post for Monday, overcast all day, rain started about 1pm, up to 2400m, started turning to rain about 3.30, conditions of the Plan Checruit side much better than Val Veny sector.
Went to La Thuile today, glorious wall to wall sunshine, hard pack and boiler plate early morning, with chairlifts over the Chaz Dura ridge closed, but the links to La Rosiere open. Quite windy and cold, lots of wind blown snow on the pistes made it an enjoyable day.
@8611, were staying in Courmayuer and doing a few days in La Thuile, there is a regular bus link, but we have a rental car.
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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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Back from a cracking day at cervinia. Parked at valtourneche. 75m from gondola. Three lifts and a drag all went quick as looming at epic mountains in sunshine.
Run down to cervinia was mainly nice. Just a bit narrow and icy at bottom then ended up at road and had to walk 500m uphill to lift that was shown on map as linked
Good couple of laps of theodulpass after lunch with the boys in hero snow then up to plateau Rosa and down ventina to finish. There were a few powder moguls up high then a bit of ice lower down but nothing too bad. The boys skills are coming in well. Wife downloaded on the gondola
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Tue 18-02-20 20:39; edited 1 time in total
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Thinking of Courmayeur tomorrow. Had planned la Thuile but snow forecast and despite having winter tyres and chains there’s no point asking for a drama.
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You know it makes sense.
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@MHskier, That’s our plan also, no point being up on a plateau without trees
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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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@MHskier, How long does it take to get from courmayer to cervinia? Does one ski pass cover the entire area? Is there a preferable resort along the valley when for when visibility closes in.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@brovert, it was about 1.5hrs when I googled it a few weeks ago.
Went to Pila today as there was heavy snow and poor visibility forecast in Courmayeur and La Thuile, we had slight flurries of snow with the sun trying to break through. The overnight snow helped the pistes as they were quiet icy yesterday we were told.
15cm of fresh fell today in Courmayuer and La Thuile with sun and sub zero temps forecast for tomorrow, looking forward to a good day.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi, would be really grateful for expert advice . We are staying in Courmayeur 7-9 march -skiing sat-mon. Thinking of visiting la thuile for 1-2 of these days. Any advice re parking in la thuile? Also the monday will be quieter at both resorts any views re how busy / parking in la thuile sat v sun (can walk to lift in Courmayeur) many thanks.
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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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Courmayeur was tough going today. V v windy on top. Much of the new snow blown off piste and lots of ice. Couple of better runs amongst the trees lower down but overall pleased to get back to the car park with us all in one piece.
A plus is the car park at Entrves for the val veney lift up. 25 m car to lift. Recommended.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Was at Courmayeur today. Brilliant this morning as fresh powder everywhere, although a tad windy, so didn’t venture to the very top. Spent a couple of runs after lunch down through the trees back to Dolonne gondola base and back up to keep out of the wind, final part of the afternoon calmed down a bit, but was quite challenging in places, as the fresh snow had blown off a bit in places, but all in all a great if tough days skiing.
@retsil, you can park near the gondola base in La Thuile for €5. Probs get there reasonable early on a weekend though. At 8.45 on a TuesDay we had the pick of the carpark, on your left just before you get to Gondola staition.
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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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@t4tomo, thanks for the advice, hope wind blows the snow back on piste!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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If the weather is fine, then there’s is a lot more skiing at La Thuile / La Rosiere than in Courmayeur (although even if you spent all 3 days in Courmayeur you’d still have a great time), but if the weather isn’t great then Courmayeur has much more tree line skiing and you can choose to ski on the sheltered side of the ridge, depending on where the wind is coming from, whereas La Thuile is quite exposed.
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Spent today in La Thuile again, wall to wall sunshine and low temps, but the wind increased during the day, lots of exposed patches of ice on piste and wind blown snow made it interesting towards the end of the day, not sure where to go tomorrow as yet, either La Thuile again or Courmayuer, any updates on Courmayuer welcomed.
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| 8611 wrote: |
| @luigi, you seem to be doing a tour of the Aosta resorts, something that had been on my list! Are you based in one place and commuting each day or staying in different resorts each night? |
Back now, stayed just east of Aosta near Nus motorway junction and weather was kind, so was able to commute each day to the 5 big resorts... Courmayeur (Dolonne), Cervinia/Zermatt, La Thuile/La Rosiere, Champoluc (Frachey), all around 40-45mins and on Tuesday did Pila just 10-15mins away before catching the evening flight home from Milan. Free parking is available at all, though at La Thuile the main car park wanted €5.
It's very doable if you don't mind the driving, which was very scenic. The accommodation in the Valley is very reasonable in winter, a lot cheaper than in resort. Most restaurants are local pricing too. Local takeaway 12" pizza was €5-€8 depending on topping, Lidl in Aosta was handy for supplies.
Getting the day passes meant waiting in line about 5-10mins at Cervinia, La Thuile & Courmayeur, walked straight up at Frachey and Pila. You can swallow the extra cost of the multi-day Aosta Valley pass. It's more expensive per day than day passes at most resorts, but it doesn't include Zermatt unless you pay extra (on a 6 day+ pass) and you would have to decide in advance without knowing for certain about the weather viability of crossing the Swiss border.
The A5 motorway isn't cheap, was about €15 from Milan to Nus, then a similar amount from there to Mont Blanc. You have to pay the same amount once you pass Aosta East, whether you go all the way to Mont Blanc or turn off beforehand for La Thuile or Courmayeur. The SS26 main road is pretty free-flowing, used it to return to base some days.
You can hire skis at Gal Sport at the Pila gondola base or Ski Sport House at Chatillon, it took some haggling to get decent kit out of them though.
Last edited by After all it is free  on Fri 21-02-20 11:08; edited 1 time in total
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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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| retsil wrote: |
| Hi, would be really grateful for expert advice . We are staying in Courmayeur 7-9 march -skiing sat-mon. Thinking of visiting la thuile for 1-2 of these days. Any advice re parking in la thuile? Also the monday will be quieter at both resorts any views re how busy / parking in la thuile sat v sun (can walk to lift in Courmayeur) many thanks. |
Last Sunday was really busy at the La Thuile base, it's going to be everywhere on a Sunday, with week-long visitors first day on the slopes, plus local day trippers. Last Sunday was full of Brit half-termers too. By March things might have quietened down a bit though.
By 9.30, the roadside parking was full, the surface car parks were full, so they were sending cars into the underground car park. I went up the St Bernard Pass road (the turning past the one to the gondola base) and found a couple of free surface car parks with spaces next to the Hotel Chateau Blanc. It's a bit of a walk from there through Entreves to the base area, but the nice skibus driver stopped and picked my son & me up, he said he took pity on my son and wouldn't have stopped for me! 
The good thing about La Thuile is that any crowds were soon lost on the mountain with its good uplift capacity and there weren't really any significant queues on the Italian side. The worst queue was 5mins at Les Eucherts in La Rosiere as it was busy with the French School Hols as well as Brit half-term.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Fri 21-02-20 11:04; edited 2 times in total
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| brovert wrote: |
| @MHskier, How long does it take to get from courmayer to cervinia? Does one ski pass cover the entire area? Is there a preferable resort along the valley when for when visibility closes in. |
As geoff said Courmayeur-Cervinia is around 1.5hrs each way, it's a long way there and back and they'll want €30+ return if you use the motorway down to Chatillon.
Yes, there is the Aosta Valley Pass. But if you buy a 3-5 day or longer Courmayeur pass it would allow a day (6-10 day pass allows 2 days) in other Vd'A resorts inc Cervinia, but not Zermatt.
Courmayeur and Pila have a fair bit of treeline skiing, La Thuile has the steep runs from Les Suches down to the base.
I didn't try them but there are numerous smaller resorts in the valley that might have treeline skiing or be sheltered on a bad weather day.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@luigi, thanks that is really useful info re parking.
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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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Another day spent in LaThuile today, clear skies, still a bit windy and evidence of wind overnight with a few wind blown patches on most pistes, with Pistes No7 over the Chaz Dura ridge closed early morning, we ventured over about 12 and it was evident why it had been closed, so spent the rest of the day on the old slowwww Chaz Dura lift doing laps, nice snow and quiet.
Last day tomorrow so will be in Courmayuer, forecast is for clear skies and low temps.
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Me and my two boys have had good value out of the aosta valley pass. We did Monterosa yesterday, Monte bianco skyway this morning and la Thuile this afternoon.
Not skied LT before and really liked the setting. Beautiful views in all directions at the top. Most posted were in good nick higher up. Exceptions were the ones above and around there arnouvaz lift. Lower 18 and 30. Pretty sketchy with solid ice.
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You know it makes sense.
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@luigi, thanks, I had it in mind to stay in Aosta some time and tick them but you forget just how far it is up each valley. Think if I did it I'd just stay in each one.
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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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Had our final day on Saturday in Courmayuer, very warm all day, 7 degrees at Plan Chécruit by 10am. Stayed high up on Combo Morratta where the best snow was, and also reasonably quiet. It’s the start of Canavale weekend so lots of people on the mountain. Lovely lunch in Chez Oliver, then drove to Milan for overnight stay, just waiting for inbound plane to come in, then we’re off home until next year.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Our last day was in Pila on the saturday and it was very busy initially at the pass booth, gondola was quick but more queus at the top for the two main lifts there. Went high after that and mid-sized waist for lifts was manageable in the warm sunshine.
Probably needs a full hols report but we had a fantastic time - decent spacious airbnb in St Cristophe, Pila car park 10 min drive for three days, also Courmayeur, La Thuile, Cervinia, Monterosa and a trip up the Monte Bianco skyway.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Apologies if this is the wrong thread for this, I'm staying in Aosta for a short trip (getting the gondola up to Pila) - is it necessary to hire snow chains for the drive from Bergamo? We won't be driving anywhere else.
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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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You won’t need them as it autostrada at valley floor level, but it is a legal requirement to have either winter tyres or snow chains in Aosta Valley between Oct and April.
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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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@mb567567, Chains should come as std with a hire car from Bergamo, and do need to be carried as a legal requirement.
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FAQ
