 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi Guys,
Looking for advice on the above, they are very close to each other, but is one better than the other for access to schools, ski rental, supermarket etc? Apt available in bth around the same price at the moment, so toss up between the two.
Kids have a week each on snow in Finland.
Will be coming from Turin Airport most likely, so probably have a rental car.
Cheers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'd be very careful about booking either place in advance - snow cover is woefully unreliable in this part of the Alps, sometimes even in mid season. I would only consider booking once there has been a big snowfall and you are sure it is not going to melt!
What time of year are you going?
Being total beginners would reduce the risk somewhat, but it sounds like you already have a little skiing experience so will want a decent number of runs to explore.
If you still want to book in advance then there are more reliable options accessible from Turin: Montgenevre, Sestriere, Val Cenis, Aosta / Pila to name a few.
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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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Thanks denfinella,
One of the main drivers here is cost - with 3 kids and 2 adults a cheaper ski pass makes a big difference, along with shorter transfers etc. However, if there's no snow that is all kind of moot!
Planning a week from the 18th to 25th of Feb, so hopefully will be some snow by then.
I might go book the flights and car and then worry about accommodation closer to the time. However, the budget stuff is fairly thin on the ground.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'll also look at the other option you mention.
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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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@oink, booking the flights and car hire sounds like a good plan.
That week is French school holidays, so remove Montgenevre and Val Cenis from my suggestions as they'll be busy and accomodation probably expensive.
On the plus side, February is about the best time for snow reliability. If accommodation cost is a key concern then it might be worth taking the risk (is it refundable?).
Hopefully someone else will have more local knowledge to share. Prato Nevoso / Artesina don't get much attention on this forum but there must be someone! I haven't been but am aware of the climate in that part of the Alps, and know they have had some desperately poor recent seasons.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We went to Prato Nevoso in our motorhome for a long weekend ( from Valloire not from Cornwall  ) in February a few years ago. Loads of snow and one of the friendliest most fun places I've ever been to. The accommodation, cafes and shops are all centered around a large bowl at the bottom of the runs, though some accom is 100s of metres up a hill overlooking the bowl. All sunny.
It does link with other areas but I didn't go outside of the local 3 or 4 lifts. Busier at the weekend but quiet in week.
Ps. There was a UK school group so obvs English speaking instructors.
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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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Altitude is an issue here.
But the effect of global warming is different than you would think. Positive, in fact.
We will get retour d'est more ofthen, than 20 years ago.
And thus, more often Piemonte (aosta downward to Limone Piemonte) and the Hautes Alpes (Serre Che, till Isola 2000) will get plastered.
The logic for this is
1. Global temperatures rise
2. Temperature increase much stronger on the poles, than on equator
3. Smaller temperature gradient > smaller pressure gradient
4. Jet stream weakening
5. Jet stream gets less zonal (W > E) and will start meandering
6. Increase of the proportion of northern and southern flows over the alps, decrease of zonal flows
7. Increase of the frequency of retour d'est
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| oink wrote: |
Thanks denfinella,
One of the main drivers here is cost - with 3 kids and 2 adults a cheaper ski pass makes a big difference, along with shorter transfers etc. However, if there's no snow that is all kind of moot!
Planning a week from the 18th to 25th of Feb, so hopefully will be some snow by then.
I might go book the flights and car and then worry about accommodation closer to the time. However, the budget stuff is fairly thin on the ground. |
I lived in Piedmont/Lombardia for 3 years and skied most of the small resorts in my time. They're all great for a day out in the right conditions but pretty dull for even a low intermediate if you're spending more than a couple of days there.
Unless you've already booked, does it have to be Half-Term? One of the big selling points here in Ski Amade is that after Mid-March kids ski free on Family Passes or with a full paying adult. It was a real deal maker for us when we still had to pay for our teenagers. Probably a €500 saving on its own. We are usually booked out for Easter way in advance but there are plenty of good options with flights (from Dublin?) direct to Munich or Salzburg (60 Min transfer). There's also a family pass option for train transfers from both, plus you shouldn't need the Hire Car as everything is linked or free on the buses. Just a thought.
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Fri 18-11-22 22:57; edited 1 time in total
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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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The nice thing about Italy is that they don't have public holidays at midterm.
So when AU, CH and FR are filled to the brim with tourists, personnel is overstressed, waiting lines are horrendous, prices go through the roof.
Then all is well and relaxed in Italy. Especially the western part. Because Germans do have holidays, and exclusively go to the Dolomites. Not Piemonte.
But, when going to Piemonte, I would choose Bardonecchia.
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Thanks all for the great advice. Flights are booked, and has to be that week due to Irish mid term the week before making all flights out of the country a ridiculous price. Later in the year we start clashing with some of the kids school assessments so that week is the best option to minimise this (and the cost of the flights). Also booked already for the ferry to Spain for the Easter break so late season is out.
Small ski area isn't going to be a problem as we are very inexperienced and had most fun on a few long blues in Finland last year as a family. The reds were fine for me, but two of the kids were not too happy on them and much preferred working on technique and building confidence on the same few runs.
I'll book the car this week and then look at accomodation, gear rental,lessons and ski passes as a whole before deciding where to go.
I guess somewhere that has a nice village / small town feel would be good as my wife enjoys skiing, but not everyday and likes to have the distraction if a nice town etc for the days she is not feeling like skiing.
Anyway, really excited for this trip, as our Finland one was a winter holiday with a bit of skiing thrown in, while this will be our first family skiing trip.
And the food in Italy is a very big after bonus.
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You know it makes sense.
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@oink, based on your most recent comment I would say Pila / Aosta (staying in the latter, with gondola up to the slopes) would be absolutely perfect for you.
Small area, but includes some lovely long blues. Most of the lower reds are on the easy side.
Snowmaking on the vast majority of the ski area so booking accommodation early wouldn't be risky.
Aosta is a beautiful big town with loads to do off the slopes and good places to eat. You wouldn't even need a car as there's a central train station. Lots of cheap Airbnbs and other accommodation - pick somewhere both central and within walking distance to the gondola.
Check my signature for my Aosta trip report (but ignore all the days when we visited other ski areas). We visited in bad weather and unusually poor snow conditions but still had a great time. I wrote a specific paragraph on Pila (linked at the top), and also one about Aosta somewhere else in the same thread.
One minus point - we found ski hire to be expensive in Aosta, though cheaper at the top of the gondola.
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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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Thanks denfinella, I'll check out Aosta / Pila also.
Car booked now too, so one more step done. I'll get to examining lift passes, schools and accommodation and figure out a rough plan. the variance in lift pass costs can be quite considerable but could easily be balanced out by using cheaper accommodation if available i guess.
I love planning holidays 
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Poster: A snowHead
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I find this resource helpful when planning. It shows all the resorts listed by region, larger ones are in bold type.
https://www.bergfex.com/italien/
It has lift maps, links to resort websites and usually has some basic liftpass pricing that makes it easy to compare costs across various resorts in the Ski Area Finder section (link below). You can usually order the resorts in price order, or by number of lifts, km of piste, etc
https://www.bergfex.com/italien/suchen/
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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OK, so i've booked an apartment in Frabosa Soprano which appears to be connected with Prato Nevoso and Artesina with the same ski pass. Went for this as it was cheap enough, has two bedrooms so no making up beds in the living room etc and mid Feb will hopefully have a good dose of snow there.
If anyone has been and has any advice on ski schools, rental or good places to eat please share...
Very excited now.
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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 need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Just bumping this up the list to see if anyone has any advice on the towns, eating etc?
I am looking at ski school in either Frabosa Soprano or Prato Nevosa. If anyone has any direct experience of either I'd love to hear it.
Dug the ski jackets etc out of the attic over Christmas to make sure the kids still fit in theirs - only a few weeks of planning left.
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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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Just back from a half-term school trip to Prato Nevoso
We had a nightmare with the ski-school and most of our beginners weren't off the training slopes by Wednesday (started on Sunday) and the instructors were not organising the groups properly. I spoke to a family that had a similar experience with their 12 year old put in a group of small children. All of this could well have been down to a busy half-term and you may find that things are a little more relaxed outside of the UK school holidays. I think you need to be a little 'persuasive' if you are having issues
Problem is that the 'main' slopes are a tricky Blue and a Red with a few steeper sections so the gap between learning and progressing is quite wide. Even more so as the only way up is an old, non-detachable 4-person chair that stops more than it goes.
There is some snow forecast for next week (I think) and the lower slopes need it but snow making is out of the question as the reservoir is empty due to the dry summer (and dry last winter). From the top of La Rossa was still in good shape (as was the snowpark) but the busier slopes were very slushy by 11 o'clock!
P.S Our group hired skis from Beppe Ski and the kit was very different in quality across the group. I asked for a more top end ski around 180cm and they gave me a pair of 172s that had just been returned (bindings wet from snow) and no wax or edge service and refused to change them. Luckily I had some wax and an edge file in my kit otherwise they would have been un-skiable!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Sitting in the ski lift now. Just deposited the kids in school. So far it's been up to 18 degrees in the day time. Pistes are icy first thing. Slopes around frabosa soprano are tough going on a board at my level. But still enjoying it. Went over to Prato yesterday afternoon and tried the blue to the left of the chair while the kids did the magic carpets. It was slushy and bumpy but I thought it was way better than the fresh piste from the morning. Could also be that I had a few warm up runs in the morning and was getting back into it.
Ski school is pretty chaotic in frabosa. Kids are better than the group they are in, but reinforcing the basics is not a bad thing for them at this stage so we will stick with it for the next day or two.
Rented skis from M2 sport in frabosa, after the apartment owner rang the guy in the shop the evening we arrived while we were drinking grappa with them and their friends. No idea how much it is yet, but the guy pulled out new skis for two of the kids and changed one pair of boots after a morning without any problem.
Frabosa is small, but beautiful.
About to try out a black from the highest chair in frabosa that the liftie says is more like an average red, no other way down, so hopefully it's ok.
From frabosa the piste choice is pretty slim, Prato was better.
Loving the weather, the apartment is brilliant, and the general Italian laid back vibe is great.
Did struggle to find somewhere for lunch yesterday, eventually got takeaway pizza and focxacia in Prato after a long search around 2pm. Kids were starving.
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Survived, the black 
Two small toe side slides, never had that happen before, though might have been nerves at the top, was thinking I had bitten off more than I could chew!
Back up for a second lap before the kids finish in school.
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If the 'black' is anything like the two marked black runs in Prato, you'll be fine
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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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| garfy1971 wrote: |
| If the 'black' is anything like the two marked black runs in Prato, you'll be fine |
It was grand, probably at the edge of my comfort zone at the moment, but practice makes perfect....
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Update on snow conditions, melting rapidly 
Brown starting to come through at the beginners area in frabosa. So much melting.....
Button lift closed yesterday at frabosa as no snow left for the drag up.
What is here is slushy from early on.
We have two more days here, and I would say friday will be sight seeing, which is fine cause wife hasn't rented skis as she has been enjoying the sunshine.
Might drive around to artesina this afternoon and see what the blue runs are like over there.
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FAQ
