 Poster: A snowHead
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Going skiing with the fam for a week on the 15th Dec
Picking between these 2 as seem to be the best 2 resorts close to Torino airport which is where we are flying to
If we choose Via Lattea we will most likely stay in Sestriere
Monterosa is quite open - Stafal for the elevation, Alagana or Champoluc
Having snow in the town would be ideal and I believe Sestriere has the highest base elevation from the options I mentioned
Biggest factors at this stage would be, which will be less packed from the 15th to the 22nd Dec, and which would be better for a 2 year old to have their first time on skis, even if its just getting their balance/playing in a baby snowpark 
Thanks !
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We love optimists
No opinion on Sestriere.
If Monterosa it's probably first proper week of season? Snow in town not really guaranteed anywhere. IMO Stafal is a hamlet not sure you can even get a glass of wine after 6pm other than in a hotel bar.
Alagna almost certainly requires a cabin up to ski and I don't think there's a baby park at all? I will say though the TO's website is excellent.
Champoluc village wise should be fully open, baby park at top of cabin out of town at around 1950m, (which is more or less your "base elevation") with several bars/restos accessible and assuming nice weather populated but not too much with Milanese very yummy mummies sunbathing (in December bikinis not guaranteed).
Nowhere will be busy.
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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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Sestriere is high, but doesn't always do well for early season snow. You may find yourself skiing on a handful of white strips of artificial snow. However one of those will certainly be the very gentle nursery slope right next to town.
I doubt anywhere will be too crowded that week. For Sestriere (don't know about Monterosa) it will fill up at weekends if the snow does turn out to be good, Italians from Turin come up for the day.
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Definitely Champoluc. I’ve skied there in December a number of times and have always had good conditions. Obviously nothing is guaranteed with early season snow conditions but generally Monterosa would be a better bet than Sestriere for snow.
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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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Thanks guys
I’ve dropped Sestriere on account of the town not being too nice
Now deciding between La Thuile and Champoluc, both of which are supposed to be great for kids
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@Jimbo94, hold on, hold on, you aren't allowed to just throw a wild card in! 
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If we are talking wildcards is Pila not a good option?
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@Jimbo94, cool
Restaurants in town: the Sapin does the best steaks I've ever eaten. Andrea at the Essentielle is pretty talented and creative usually with seafoodishness. We've had a couple of nice meals at the Breithorn. Much better than the menu suggests. Lo Bistro used to be very good but has gone upmarket with prices and very dowhill with quality. They may have noticed.
On hill: Novez was rather nice last year (walkably up from Crest bubble station). We also were liking Paradisio on the piste Lago Blu but didn't go there last year (we had a somewhat truncated season). You can't really go very wrong.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Jimbo94, I might have misunderstood your post, but hopefully you're not under the impression that Monterosa has 180km of slopes. The linked area spanning the three valleys has about 70km. Slightly bigger than Pila, but only by a bit (though Monterosa has a much better sense of travel).
The ski area is great, but you can easily ski all the runs in two days. There are some other small areas on the lift pass but they are not linked by lift (and some of if them are a very long drive away).
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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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@Jimbo94, nah Monterosa's plenty. Mrs U grew up from a skiing perspective there we've done 2 or 3 weeks a year there since we met 20 or so years ago
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You know it makes sense.
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| under a new name wrote: |
| @Jimbo94, nah Monterosa's plenty. Mrs U grew up from a skiing perspective there we've done 2 or 3 weeks a year there since we met 20 or so years ago |
Sssshhhhh, let the piste-km fetishists go elsewhere, keep the Monterosa for those of us who actually like skiing.
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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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Not quite sure what you really want. There is you, the two-year-old ... and who else?
Don't have high expectations for the toddler, with luck they will enjoy playing in the snow as long as they can be quickly warmed up after; on the other hand a first play at skiing (on skis that pretty much are toys) only needs 10m or so gentle slope for half an hour at a time. And you may well find age 2 too early.
You obviously fancy plenty of mileage for the sort of skiing you did pre-parenthood. But early season you are only guaranteed that up high, and Tignes-Val d'Isere isn't accessible from Turin. You will have to compromise.
And who are the rest of the family? A spouse with different skiing desires? Other children?
I think your priority given the dates has to be snow record, but nowhere is guaranteed. As I said above, Sestriere wins on height but it still too far south to be reliable; for some reason Montgenevre often does better but no guarantee (French end of Via Lattea, but easily reached from Turin). Even if there is snow, conditions might not be ideal: I have been to La Thuile at New Year - so two weeks later - and the snow was great but the conditions kept the link over to La Rosiere closed (variously wind and low cloud/precipitation). By reputation Cervinia has the same problem with the link to Zermatt.
(By the way you talk about the town in La Thuile being "man-made". The way it actually is, there is a cluster of modern functional buildings around the ski base including most of the tourist accommodation and some soulless restaurants. The real town is about 10 minutes walk further down the hill, fine for adults but not for 2-year-olds to do, and that is pretty nice and characterful with some pleasant restaurants).
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Poster: A snowHead
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@JayRo, that's a bit unfair. Nothing wrong with a smaller ski area, but @Jimbo94 specifically referred to the number of kilometres so was surely reasonable to correct it?
Regardless of its piste extent, Monterosa is one of my favourite ski areas so far and I said I thought it was great in my last post.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Reckon from experience of skiing with parents of a 2.5 year old in monterosa that you might have less time than you think to ski yourself... so you might want to consider pila where the sprog gets ski fun at village level, it's easy for you to do snow fun stuff after (Champoluc is harder for being able to ski together on easy slopes after lessons, except for that one learner slope), and you have some nice enough skiing... depends on your priorities I guess, bus even with ski esprit in champoluc my mates skiing time was not extensive...
But if that'steaching grandma to suck eggs, don't worry about the KM in Monterosa, it's beautiful and varied and you'll have a nice time!
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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.
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@JayRo, I understand mate, not a fan of crowds either
However I am also not a fan of doing the same runs over and over (Haven't really got into off piste yet, since I guess that would open up the Monterosa ski area quite a bit more)
@j b, Last year we went to Madonna di Campiglio (Was my 2nd time there), for a week with the family, it was lovely of course but still ended up a bit bored of some of the same runs that feel short, and that is 150Km including Pinzolo and Folgarida/Marileva
So you understand a bit better, it's not just my family, there is also my brother and my father in law, and we usually get in a lot more skiing, then meet up with 6 year old after ski school sometimes and ski a bit together. My girlfriend gets tired of skiing too so sometimes she stops and stays with the kids, and I continue to ski - usually from lift opening to lift closing and often skipping lunch and just having a packed sandwich from breakfast 
So, although Km of slopes is not everything, case in point Madonna di Campiglio, which is a beautiful resort with beautiful slopes - as I'm sure Monterosa is too, I also prefer to do different runs, and enjoy nonstop skiing, than doing the same runs over and over
I am skipping Cervinia because of the weather, bit risky for the young ones, can be very windy and you get pelted with ice etc, better to have a resort with some nice sheltered tree skiing too
So yes, my number 1 priorities are snow record and reliability, and good stuff for the kids. This means Dolomiti Superski (Which would probably be my 1st choice as I love it there, is not ideal because of the base elevations and eratic snowfall records) and other big areas are not that necessary since I will be with the kids a lot too, but ideally we have at least 150Km. For example Serre Chevalier is a very large ski area and also close to Turin, so that would be a better option I think
Lastly, it's not just Turin that we are considering, Treviso is also on the cards as we have direct flights from Malta which are cheap with RyanAir
Austria is also on the cards technically, but a bit more complicated as we have no direct flights to Austria from Malta and would need to fly to Munich and have a bit of a longer transfer
My apologies for the essay, and thank you all for taking the time to give me advice, you're a great help !
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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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@Jimbo94, if you're all piste skiers the sella ronda area will be a surprisingly safe bet in mid December. Their snowmaking skills are second to none and they can open up insane amounts of terrain even before the natural stuff has fallen.
The South East position also shelters the slopes from Atlantic warm fronts rather better than most locations in the alps, which is great for preservation. Add into the fact that some of the slopes above arabba get high indeed.
This article on weathertoski is quite interesting:
https://www.weathertoski.co.uk/weather-snow/the-complete-guide-to/early-season-snow-conditions-in-the-alps/
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Best of luck! I too spend rather a long time obsessing and optimising my trip choices!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Think I am just going to stick with Champoluc, I'm sure I won't be disappointed, there is Antagnod 10 mins by ski bus away for my 2 year old son, and if I get bored of the pistes I can just do some off piste, which I've been dying to get into anyway
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@JayRo, ok no worries. I suppose you're right that a lot of UK skiers see piste extent as a key metric in planning a trip, and only visit large areas. Not a bad thing though compared to people who don't mind repeating a smaller number of runs over a week - just different. I'm not sure your crowds point is valid for mid December - hardly anywhere should be busy then.
@Jimbo94, *if* the snow is good then I believe Monterosa is excellent for off piste. If you found Madonna di Campiglio too small than I suspect you may find Monterosa rather small too. However, you don't need to worry about short runs - there are several really satisfying, notably long runs. There is certainly quality, if not quantity!
Should have mentioned before that I did a multi-resort trip to the Aosta Valley in March last year, including Monterosa Ski. Have a look at the trip report / photos to get an idea of the skiing if you want (though the weather and snow weren't great): https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=159354. @ElzP also did a whole season in the valley that year, so her excellent trip report is also worth a read.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Jimbo94 wrote: |
| However I am also not a fan of doing the same runs over and over |
Yeah, that's what I don't understand. Some of my all-time best days of piste skiing have involved lapping a small number of runs for most of the day, working on aspects of technique, and/or improving the way I handle tricky terrain. In contrast, the days where I've not repeated a run have often involved a much higher proportion of more tedious runs included for the sake of getting from one place to another.
Each to their own, I guess, but I just can't understand how anyone who liked skiing could get bored of doing the same run multiple times in a day.
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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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@JayRo, I can understand what you are saying. But honestly if you haven’t tried the Dolomiti SuperSki out and the Sella Ronda etc, the feeling of travelling over such great distances and breathtaking varied landscapes and runs (almost none of which are tedious) is unmatched imo, and whenever you want you can repeat a run if you’ve really enjoyed it
What’s also nice is spending less time on lifts, which is not always the case everywhere. I absolutely hate spending 5mins on a lift to then go down the slope in less than 2 minutes, hardly seems worth it. From what I understand although the km of pistes are limited in Monterosa, the length of them at least gives a good feeling of travel
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@Jimbo94, just for the avoidance of doubt, and to avoid disappointment, the way Monterosa's main lifts are organised you often have only 2 options - go onwards or go back. The main circuit sort of only has one direction.
But the pistes are indeed long ... The only other thing to note is the meeting after ski school thing might somewhat constrain your mileage as you won't have time to get across to Alagna (or Punta Jolanda) and back again. So you might have to abandon your girlfriend sometimes...
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You know it makes sense.
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Thanks, you guys are mentioning a lot of things which really help with the planning, many of which I wasn't even aware of
Is it not possible to go to Alagna and back in 3 hours ?
Unfortunately I think we might need to change because I just read that Frachey which is where one of our booked accommodations is, does not have a valley run, which I'm not a fan of (But perhaps I will just accept, only place I've ever been without a valley run is Mayrhofen) and Antagnod which is where we had another accommodation booked (both with free cancellation), is not piste linked to the Main Ski Area, although I am of course aware that it is the best place to be based for the kids owing to the baby snow park
So trying to see what to figure out 
I have accommodation booked in La Thuile also, so perhaps if it's roughly the same size as Monterosa maybe that's not a bad option
Also not sure yet if we are getting a transfer or renting a car. If renting a car, could just drive 30 mins to Chamonix once based in Champoluc
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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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@Jimbo94, don't think it's 30min from Champoluc to Chamonix - are you thinking of Courmeyeur?
On that actually, if you're in La Thuile you could go over to Courmayeur for a change if bored? And ski over to France (La Ros) and back if so inclined.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Jimbo94, from Frachey you can probably get there and back in 3 hours if you don't hang about. It's only 5 lifts out and 5 back but I'd suggest it would be fairly "utilitarian" skiing.
Where are you thinking of in Frachey? There's not a lot there!! It used to have a resort run, but it got trashed when they put in the Funicular (and was usually pretty agricultural).
Not a lot in Antagnod either and there's a baby fun park on the plateau at Crest above Champoluc - and a couple of bars restaurants for those looking after kids.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Jimbo94, Frachey to Alagna and back in three hours? I think that would be ambitious. Maybe just about doable, without any detours, for a fast skier. To be honest, I'm starting to think staying at one end of the Monterosa ski area may not be the best option for your requirements. The make-up of your party is so varied that you need to have a degree of flexibility depending on how you are all feeling, which along, thin ski area doesn't really give.
You definitely can't get to Chamonix in 30 mins from Champoluc. It's much further, and the tunnel in between is expensive too. Check on Google maps.
La Thuile / La Rosiere is bigger than Monterosa in terms of piste extent. If someone can confirm that a decent number of slopes tend to be open by mid December, I think it's a more suitable option for you.
If you have already booked multiple accommodation options then I would suggest you may be overthinking this a wee bit. It's always tempting to keep researching to find the "perfect" option but a lot will just depend on luck once you are there - weather, snow etc.
IMHO it's a tricky time of year to plan a ski holiday so you may find that perfection isn't achievable. Plus the options around Turin are quite different from all the typical-Brit mega ski areas, so it might be quite different to what you're used to.
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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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@Jimbo94, I will read through the latest shortly as it may make this suggestion irrelevant but would staying up the mountain at something like Hotel Orso Bianco www.sportinia.it I think) work? Lift and ski school outside your door, very family oriented, ski hire within and at about 2.1k metres there should be space to play in snow. For the youngsters too. Probably only works for an arrival within chairlift times, though for a surcharge I think they could sort a skidoo transfer up the mountain * edit, it's Sauze d'oulx so back to Via Lattea, although checking their website prices (seem to begin 23rd December) it may not be open
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Mon 30-10-23 14:38; edited 1 time in total
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@denfinella,
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You definitely can't get to Chamonix in 30 mins from Champoluc
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HAH! You very definitely can't! 2hrs or so? Assuming no tunnel queues ...
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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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| denfinella wrote: |
| @Jimbo94, Frachey to Alagna and back in three hours? I think that would be ambitious. Maybe just about doable, without any detours, for a fast skier. |
Really? It depends how much you stop (and faff), but I would see no problem in doing Frachey to Alagna and back in time for morning coffee.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Oh then probably it was La Thuile where I read that it was close to Chamonix, my bad 
@denfinella, The thing is since we are booking late its not easy to find accommodation, so I just quickly booked 4 places within the space hour in the 2 resorts that we had at the time, just not to lose them and because I'm busy with work and am trying to plan this thing in between everything !
I have never gone on Brit-mega ski holidays I've mostly been to anywhere that is a decent size so far, the smallest funnily enough being Madonna di Campiglio and the largest definitely being Val Gardena and the rest of the SuperSki
Since this is a family trip I'm honestly ok with having less kms to ski, but would want ideally at least 150Km
Turin is a good option because there are around 10 Resorts which are within 2 hours drive from there.
@toyah807, that would be perfect for me, but to overcomplicate matters even further my parents are joining who are non skiers - my dad just loves walking around and comes more to stay with the kids, so doesn't have to be shopping etc, but Sestriere being an uglyish town full of concrete is not really nice for him that's why we dropped it, and the fact that as you are saying Sauze may not even be open there means it's not an option sadly
If we don't find anywhere close to Turin that fits what we need, then could just open up lots of other options that have longer transit times - I mean whats an extra hour or 2 of transit really ? Just easier if its quicker
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@Jimbo94, makes sense. I meant the hotel not being open more than Sauze but as you say, sportinia doesn't fit your needs anyway. Though even talking about it may tempt me back someday soon, I enjoyed staying there (albeit a few years ago)
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@toyah807, Yeah I've heard a lot of good things about Via Lattea, so will be one to check out sooner or later !
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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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@under a new name, The problem is I couldn't really find anything good in Champoluc for our group - Only 2 places I found that seemed decent where in Frachey (Apparently only a 10min walk away from the centre of Champoluc though) and Antagnod
I actually have a booking in Alagna as well, which I need to pay for by today or I lose it. The kids area there (Wold) doesn't open until after we leave, and I read online that Champoluc was more kid friendly, which is why I switched to the otherside of the resort
Gressoney I've heard is nice also, but not sure if it fits our party
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@Jimbo94, bit more than 10 minutes walk!
Hotel de Champoluc?
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