 Poster: A snowHead
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My husband (C) and I are in the very fortunate position of taking a years career break from life in the UK to pursue various interests, one of which is skiing. I have a career break for the entirey of 2024 and C has quit his job as he intends to change careers following this trip. Stage 1 consists of ~2 months skiing. Prior to this trip I have spent 1 week skiing (along with many weeks snowboarding) and C has spent 2 weeks skiing. Our aim is obviously to be reasonably good by the time we finish and to have a very loely time!
Inspired by ElzPs thread from a previous year we've headed to the Aosta valley for this period of time. Whilst the season lift pass is very expensive, accommodation and food even out to other areas. We currently have an apartment booked in Aosta for 3 weeks followed by an apartment in Valtournenche booked for a month. We're currently uncertain of our plans for March so this may get extended!
We flew from Manchester to Turin on a very very empty flight and within 25 minutes of landing we'd collected our bags and got on a bus to Turin Porta Susa (€7.50 each). From here we bought a ticket from Turin to Aosta (€10.05 each) however this actually resulted in a train from Turin to Ivrea and a bus replacement to Aosta. All in all a long day but not too difficult.
The next day after a very long sleep we bought our season passes and hired our skis (from Technosport - €150 each for 2 months for intermediate skis!!) and headed up to Pila to find our ski legs which have apparently gone missing over the last few years!
We're now 9 days in and have skiied at Pila for 7.5 days and also had a day out to Courmayeur. Pila has been a really great place to learn. Last week there was almost nobody on the slopes, the blues are wide and forgiving and there's some easy bits of red to progress on to. The snow is also well managed. If you're advanced it may be a bit dull but for us it's been perfect. Our apartment is just under 15 minutes walk from the gondola and in the interest of saving a bit of money we've been strapping our skis to our rucksacks and putting out boots inside to carry them to the lift. We've then been putting our boots on in the gondola (or taking them off for the way home) and this has worked great. We had to share a lift on Saturday so this didn't work but otherwise we've had gondolas to ourselves. This has worked remarkably well,much better than we expected to be honest so the time penalty of not staying on the slopes was less than we thought.
On sunday we got the bus to Courmayeur (super easy, takes about an hour, €7.80 return paid on the bus in cash). Courmayeur was beautiful but the skiing was a bit of a shock after Pila, much busier, the blues are much narrower on the whole, we found navigation quite difficult and it was icy in patches. In summary I need to be a better skiier to enjoy Courmayeur but I'm sure I'll get there.
Aosta is a really love town and whilst we haven't eaten out really yet other than some treats from the bakery we will so recommendations welcome!
In the next two weeks whilst in Aosta we intend to head to Cogne for the day for some cross country skiing and also to La Thuile for the day. Any other suggestions much appreciated but I fear we'll run out of days!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Welcome to Snowheads, @nelstrop,  Looking forward to reading about your adventures. Sounds like Pila was the ideal start.
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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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Sounds fun.
We will be in Aosta from February 2. We will have a car. If you’re keen we could give you a ride to Cervinia/Zermatt or Monterosa for a day if the weather is suitable.
Do you speak Australian by any chance? 
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What a wonderful adventure! Looking forwards to hearing more.
Pila is a fabulous little resort, a great place to develop your technique. And by all accounts (well, @ElzP's) Aosta is a good base. We also found Courmayeur's reputation was better than its skiing, though to be fair we suffered from the weather that day. La Thuile has a lot to offer but be aware that most of the lower runs down to resort are quite tough, don't be embarassed to download the last stretch.
And €150 for 2 months ski rental is the bargain of the year, most places charge well over half of that for a week.
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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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Oh fabulous, nice to hear my ramblings inspired you! Your thoughts on Pila vs Courmayeur sound familiar... also well done for using technosport, they're the best and such good value, probably because they're a bit out of town.
In Cogne, just watch yourself if you decide to go alpine skiing, the reds aren't the easiest. Cross country is a lot of fun, you will fall...  There's a cracking pizza place in the centre of the village (I'll have a look through my trip report later and dig out the name, and other restaurant recommendations!)
Edited to add - if you're in Valtournenche and Mongnod is open, I'd be interested to hear what it's like - looks nice for a day especially for intermediates. It was shut the whole time we were there, like many of the smaller resorts, due to lack of snow!
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@sbooker, thank you although we're heading to Valtournenche on the 29th January so will aleady be next to Cervinia - a veyr kind offer though!
@j b, I'm hopeful that La Thuile will be a more enjoyable experience!
@ElzP, Your ramblings were incredibly helpful! I still can't get over how cheap Technosport is to be honest, I've paid that much for a weeks hire before. I think we'll probably only cross country ski in Cogne but a useful heads up thank you! I'm hopeful that we'll make it to some of the smaller resorts as snow is definitely less of an issue this year!
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@nelstrop, Cogne is so pretty, hope you enjoy!
You may want to take @sbooker up on the Monterosa offer, it's a stunning area. If you're happy on blue and easy red, go up to Frachey and get the funicular rather than starting at Champoluc (if in that valley!) as the Goat might be a pain. The skiing round there is beautiful even if you only go as far as Bettaforca. The ski back to Champoluc is fine.
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La Thuile defo recommended, better skiing and more easy skiing than Courmeyeur I thought when I did a week at various Aosta valley resorts. Pila is great especially for the pair of you getting your ski legs, although sure your boarding experience helps. Monterosa is super but its pretty much all reds and i imagine public transport up there is a ball ache.
Last edited by After all it is free  on Thu 18-01-24 18:28; 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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@nelstrop, another envious person here! I’ve skied Courmayuer, La Thuile and Pila many times, all great places, Courmayuer and Pila will be busier at weekends as they are both easy access for weekend and day trippers.
As you progress with your skiing do go to as many places as possible, the skiing in Courmayuer and La Thuile is great once your able to comfortably ski on reds and the occasional black ( or not if you don’t want to ). Everywhere will be busy with the UK half term weeks, try and find runs which are out of the way and you’ll not be fetched too much.
If funds allow, treat yourselves to a trip the Therme baths in Pre St Didier, and also take a non ski trip up Monte Bianco the skyway on a clear day, the views and while experience is stunning.
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@t44tomo, from memory, the reds at Monterosa were generally no worse than the red off Couis 2 in Pila, so if OP has done that it would be fine probably. IIRC, there's a steeper bit from Santa Ana to Staffal, and I downloaded from Gabiet to Staffal the other way to avoid the black - and avoid the walk!
I think the home run into Champoluc village has been re-graded black, but you can download from the top anyway. I didn't hate that run when there but it was quite quiet so perhaps it gets icey and chaotic when busy?
@nelstrop, not sure if you've also seen this fab trip report, contains lots of pictures! https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=159354
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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As mentioned above, Courmayeur does get a lot of weekend visitors, so if you return, it may be better midweek
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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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| ElzP wrote: |
@t44tomo, from memory, the reds at Monterosa were generally no worse than the red off Couis 2 in Pila, so if OP has done that it would be fine probably. IIRC, there's a steeper bit from Santa Ana to Staffal, and I downloaded from Gabiet to Staffal the other way to avoid the black - and avoid the walk!
I think the home run into Champoluc village has been re-graded black, but you can download from the top anyway. I didn't hate that run when there but it was quite quiet so perhaps it gets icey and chaotic when busy?
@nelstrop, not sure if you've also seen this fab trip report, contains lots of pictures! https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=159354 |
Correct, that Couis 2 red would compare well with Monterosa's reds, which are pretty wide and flowing. yes home run to Champoluc (del bosco) is regraded black but very red tinged, only tricky if very busy on a weekend, and you can gondola down. Sant Anna to Staffal has a black which is quite steep, but also red alternative (and a gondola download alternative).
The Black (used to be a red) off the top of Sarezza down to Frachey side is quite narrow and steep at top for a short distance, and can only be avoided by a bus up to Frachey. That said the steep bit isnt that long at all and can be managed with a good side slip technique or the "balls of steel" method of just going for it relatively straight down the middle and worry about slowing down as the slope eases off as favoured by my son. The way back Frachey to Champoluc is just a red run then a blue run.
Gabiet to Staffal black again only has one steep-ish pitch but quite wide and very red like. Below that its a gentle track / road and quite enjoyable.
So yes Monterosa quite manageable once OP is comfortable on most reds, but access without a car might be the issue, but well worth the 50mins or so drive from Aosta, but defo go midweek, as its popular with day trippers from Milan & Turin.
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You know it makes sense.
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I have indeed done the reds from Couis 2 at Pila (in fact I think I've now done all the reds other than 18 which isn't open and whichever ones are closed for race training!) so hopefully if we do make it to Monte Rosa I should be ok - the reds are gradually getting easier at Pila as I get a bit more technique and confidence!
C has been ill for the last few days so we haven't made it to any other resorts as I've been skiing on my own! We had our 3rd lesson on Thursday with another planned for Monday and another on Thursday (booked a 10 hour low season package which fitted nicely with our time in Pila). WE had a big dumping of snow on Tuesday night so Wednesday was a very fun but very exhausting powder day (my technique leaves something to be desired!). Thursday had some lovely grippy snow although it was quite warm so slushy low down. It was beautiful but incredibly cold (-10) in Pila yesterday and on Friday and very busy yesterday which was a bit of a shock to the system and threw my skiing abilities for a while but I did come around. It was alsos icy around the approach to Chamole which after the grippy snow threw me too! Still trying to master the steep start to red 3 but getting there! I'm hoping to book a cross country skiing lesson at Cogne on Tuesday and then head to La Thuile on Wednesday before what looks like a massive thaw kicks in (~+10 degrees!)! Feeling pretty tired today so going to head up the Mont Blanc skyway at Courmayeur for a day of sightseeing rather than exertion!
Haven't managed to sample any food yet due to C's illness however I did go around the Cryptoporticus which was very interesting and the ticket also includes the entrance to a couple of other museums so I have those to entertain myself with when tired!
@ElzP, thanks to the link to the other trip report - also super helpful!
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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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It's been a while since I've done an update but we've done a number of things since then.
Sunday 21st Jan I took the bus to Courmayeur and went on a trip up the Skyway which was amazing! Getting there by bus was easy, a direct bus from Aosta to Courmayeur and then the blue line within Courmayeur links from the main bus stop to the Skyway. I wasn't sure how long it would take so I booked my skyway ticket once I was on this second bus. This is done on the website and is pretty easy although with the season pass they didn't seem too bothered about times. The view from the very top is amazing and it's really nice to see the peaks from another angle. I've done some mountaineering on the Conville course from the Aguille du Midi on the other side of the glacier and so the change in perspective was lovely. It's genuinely worth going up and I'd imagine the skiing down is incredible. It was a very clear day and the sun came out whilst I was up there so worth the day out and a nice break for my tired legs.
Monday I had another lesson (number 4) where the instructor took me down black 10 in Pila which was surprisingly ok so definitely making progress! still struggling with ice but that will come
Tuesday 23rd C was feeling better so given that we were running out of time in Aosta we headed to La Thuile. This is fairly easy but not super quick. Bus from Aosta to Pre St Didier (€7.20 return per person). Get off at stop SS26 and walk up the road to the Pre St Didier centro stop where the free Courmayeur-La Thuile shuttle stops. These link up quite badly so there's a ~25 minute wait and the shuttle takes about 20 minutes but drops you at the gondola. La Thuile seemed lovely but it was insanely windy. The link to France was closed and just being on the lifts was absolutely baltic. We ended up lapping the runs on the Arnounaz lift as this was the only non windy area. Run 18 form the top of the Argilian Express was like being in Scotland in a storm - hard to move! The pistes had a lot of wind blown snow so a mix of powder, ice and frozen snow formations which made it super hard to ski! We did manage to do most of the runs on the La Thuile side of the hill, San Bernado side was closed. Also managed the run back down into the village which I was quite proud of! All in all an experience, beautiful views and a plan to come back.
Wednesday 24th - another day in Pila and the Grimondet lift was finally open - wahoo! Run 18 is really nice, a lovely mix of challenges, steep, bumpy in a nice way - just great! Finally went out for food now C is feeling better. We went to La Grenette as quite a lot isn't open on a Wednesday in January and it looked nice. A really nice setting inside but expensive and we've come to the conclusion that we're really not too fussed by Polenta! We had a nice time but probably wouldn't go again for the cost although the wine was nice!
Thursday 25th we got the direct bus to Cogne for some cross country skiing (€6.60 return). We got an instructor for an hour and hired skis from thr hire shop next door to the tourist office (€14 each for the day). So much fun and so hard! All we really learnt is that we aren't so great at standing on one leg!) Highly recommend having a go and we will definitely do this again. C was dubious about cross country skiing but actually enjoyed it a lot! Also got an apple strudel from the bakery on the main street which was divine!
Friday 26th had our final lesson and full day in Pila. Still working on finding edges, carving and short turns but progress has been immense in two weeks. The first time I did red 9 from the top of Couis 1 I found it genuinely terrifying - now I find it absolutely fine which is a lovely revalation! Pretty much the whole resort is open now although red 1 is getting quite thin with the higher temperatures. We've skied everything other than black 8 and 11. Favourites are red 2, 13, 14 and 18. Overall Pila is an absolutely lovely resort with really good pistes which have been very empty whilst we've been there. I've only queued for lifts on 1 Saturday and I've yet to come accross a moguled piste at the end of the day.
Saturday 27th - Final morning in Pila although to be honest I was feeling quite tired and had a brief meltdown so not my best skiing. Lapped red 18 a few times, did a couple of others and called it a day. May have a day back here before we return our skis to Technosport as I'm going to miss Pila! Headed to the hole in the wall pizza place when we got down (Il Capriccio) which was really bloody good! Spent the afternoon wandering around the food tents that are up for the Fiera di Sant'Orso. Unfortunately we're leaving before the full festivities kick in which I hadn't realised upon booking our place in Aosta but got a glimpse of the food tent and a craft tent in the main square!
Sunday 28th - Last day in Aosta so we used this for another day trip to La Thuile. Managed to get up and get the earlier (7:45) bus but unfortunately the linking shuttle bus has been cancelled so still didn't arrive until gone 10. Thankfully a much less windy day - we couldn't believe how much warmer it felt! We headed straight over to France to La Rosiere. We headed over as far as we could with the intention of coming up Ecudets - the lift was running but bizarrely the runs down to it were closed so I'm unsure how that works! Had a very steep drag lift to get back up to the ski area. We managed to ski most of La Rosiere although whilst it was much warmer than earlier in the week the snow was dubious. It was a really strange mix of slush, ice and almost frozen golf ball ice lumps. Slopes seemed to altnerate from slush to ice as they went steeper and shallower which was very hard! It's definitely worth going to the top of the Mont Valaison lift - the snow was awful but the view from the run coming down is absolutely spectacular. Heading back we skied some of the San Bernado area but the snow was even worse there so after one run we headed back to La Thuile. By then the slush had refrozen so not a super pleasant experience so we got the gondola down and went for a beer and Aperol Spritz! All in all a great day out, a lovely resort with really nice runs but could do with better snow - glad I'm not there all week!
We left Aosta on the 29th to head to Valtournenche so I'll separate that out!
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Poster: A snowHead
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@nelstrop, brilliant. I'm extremely jel that Grimindet opened for you - we didn't get that in our whole 2 months! Am chuckling at your hole in the wall pizza love - we had a similar place in Aosta we frequented and adored, probably explained our massive weight gain... but the potato and rosemary slice...
Well done on black 10, you will definitely enjoy monterosa I reckon - if you get the chance go for it.
Sounds like you're loving it, and it's making me want to revisit - everything from Gros Cidac to Couis 2. Did wonder - did you get your cross country day in Cogne?
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FAQ
But I agree, looks worse than it is. Funny eun that one, gets in your head.