 Poster: A snowHead
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Would love some advice!
Am planning - Covid permitting- to organise a group trip to Italy for feb half term. Quite a wide range of abilities: one family of beginners, some intermediate and some very good skiers. One looking to do snoe showing or cross country too
Not bothered about nightlife. Will book an Airbnb or series of apartments close together. Ideally driveable from Calais. We went to champoluc last year and it was fab- fell in love with Gressoney la Trinite but not sure if ok for beginners? Thought about Livigno but it’s quite a lot further.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Snowysarah, I would have said Champoluc but you've been there. Your other "wants" would suggest a valley based resort to give you the variety. If you want Cross Country then I'd say La Thuile probably ticks the boxes. Your good skiers can also head over to La Rosiere if they wish.
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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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Hotel de champoluc with inghams...
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Pila not bad if you are moderate skiers
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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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We are going feb half term so Inghams/ package out of question price wise I think, sadly.
We did champoluc last year for £4.5k all in - driving/ferry/lift pass/kids ski lessons/food and accom
Will look at pila.
The cross country is not a deal breaker. It’s just one person for the off afternoon.
4 beginners. Otherwise good skiers.
Wondered also about valtournouche/cervinia?
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Why not do 2 or 3 resorts?
I stayed in Courmayer which itself is nice enough but also skied a day each in La Thuile and Pila. You can even get the local bus to La Thuile but if you’ve driven then they are all easily within reach on a daily basis from Courmayer. At the foot of Mont Blanc it’s just a mile or two out of the tunnel so very easy to get to.
Aosta town/city is also not a bad base, it’s not a ski resort as such but you can get a high speed gondola up to Pila.
I love Livigno, it’s a really nice town with lots of good shops and the skiing is pretty good. It’s also fairly snow sure and a day out to Bormio is possible if you have a car. Last time I drove there I was in my Lancia Delta Integrale, proper Top Gear style trip! Unfortunately it isn’t the easiest place to get to - driving or on a package holiday. Worth the effort though.
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I did Aosta Valley in Feb 2020. Did Courmayeur, La Thuile, Pila, Cervinia & Champoluc/MonteRosa. We commuted from a base near Aosta, but it was a 45-50min drive to the further resorts. Probably not advisable with such a varied group. Best to pick a larger resort and stick there.
With such a varied group, I'd suggest Champoluc or La Thuile. Champoluc is probably quieter though. Not sure about beginners at Champoluc, but at La Thuile they will have to go up to mid station for the flatter blues. Some nice progressors there and good challenge for better skiers, plus the connection across to La Rosiere in France.
Cervinia is good for all abilities, with great progressor blues to the left of the bowl, just above the nursery area. Beginners may be able to do a cheaper pass or points ticket until they need to go higher up the bowl. The better skiers will love the Zermatt connection. Impressive setting, but the resort itself isn't that pretty though. Valtournenche has cuter buildings, but it's blighted by the road carrying through traffic to Cervinia. The home run at Vt wouldn't suit beginners, they would have to download on the gondola.
Courmayeur and Pila are a bit too small for a week, but combine both with La Thuile might be nice, but that wouldn't suit the beginners who presumably would need to book into ski school at one resort.
Another Italy option would be Bardonecchia or one of the Milky Way resorts (Sauze d'Oulx, Sestriere, etc) accessing from France via Frejus Tunnel.
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I'd also suggest Bardonecchia. Never stayed there, but skied there on a couple of occasions and really liked the ski area. It was very quiet with slopes to ourselves, and one day we repeatedly skied Jafferau top to bottom all day and it is probably my most memorable day of skiing in nearly 30 years. Half-term might be a bit more busy, but I doubt you'd get the crowds experienced in a French resort.
I haven't stayed there but I've spent a lot of time looking for accommodation as I do want to visit soon. Residence Tabor on booking.com catches my eye, the layout of the apartments seems a bit different but they appear to be recently renovated and good value. In general, I've heard that Bardonecchia offers good value and is often quoted as one of the cheapest places to ski in Italy.
The resort is just the other side of the Frejus tunnel, about as easy as it gets to reach an Italian resort from the UK. You could also do a couple of day trips to the nearby Milky Way resorts, but I don't think they're included on the lift pass and you'd need to buy day tickets. I'd say there's just enough in Bardonecchia itself to keep you interested for the week.
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| luigi wrote: |
| With such a varied group, I'd suggest Champoluc or La Thuile. Champoluc is probably quieter though. Not sure about beginners at Champoluc, but at La Thuile they will have to go up to mid station for the flatter blues. Some nice progressors there and good challenge for better skiers, plus the connection across to La Rosiere in France. |
Agree with luigi, we did La Thuile as a mixed ability group some years ago and it was very suitable. The connection to La Rosiere is really good fun and suitable for most abilities if you budget the time. When you stop for lunch in La Rosiere you realise how much cheaper food and drink is in La Thuile. Within the town in La Thuile there are several nice restaurants at a range of prices, all were very good as you'd expect in Italy. La Thuile is also quite a charming village at night, the walk from the resort into town is very pretty. We didn't stay out late but there didn't seem to be much nightlife beyond a decent cocktail bar/restaurant that did nice drinks. Also a good cheese shop within the resort complex if I recall. The skiing was good, and for the not so confident skiers lessons were reasonably priced and easy to book. I was at the more experienced end of our group and really enjoyed the more challenging runs which are exhilarating - one of two of the black runs are just outstanding. Some have been used in World Cups.
Also, there is a really cool bar/restaurant off one of the red runs called the Offshore Bar that has very quirky and interesting items of decoration. Great for a hot chocolate.
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@Snowysarah, We’ve been to Courmayuer for the past 5 years at half term, we obviously like it, however the past 3 years we have had 2-3 days at La Thuile and 1 at Pila ( we have a hire care) now that our son is no longer in ski school. I’d say that La Thuile would suit your groups needs best, it’s beginner area is better than Courmayuer, and its also better for the more experienced skiers. Can’t give any advice on what it’s like at night, but can say Courmayuer is a very pretty town for a walk around in the evening and has some nice restaurants. You can get a various passes that allow from 1 day in another Aosta resort through to one where you can ski any resort on any day, and most passes will give you a trip on the Monte Bianco skyway, which is spectacular, go one afternoon, get there for 3pm which will give plenty of time to go to the top and back.
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