 Poster: A snowHead
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I had 6 days skiing in the Aosta Valley arriving via Milan Malpensa and hire car on 21st Feb. Stayed in an lovely apartment in Aosta right beside bus station and just on edge of old town about 10 minutes walked to the gondola for Pila, although we drove to gondola base each day. We were two adults and one 4 year skier.
Day 1 Thurs 22nd Pila
After getting boots and skis for my 4 year old son which was an efficient process at Ski Service Aosta Ski Rental beside the free gondola car park and buying ski passes (6 day Pila pass that allows two days elsewhere in the Aosta Valley, €275 for adults and free for under 8s with adult pass purchased) we headed up the lift. It was raining in Aosta at 583 metres so expecting lots of snow in Pila where the lowest piste is 1540 metres.
First runs in moderate snow were in beginner magic carpet area just below gondola top station to help 4 year old find his ski legs. The Magic carpet area was quiet as it was just past midday and group lessons had finished for the morning. After a few runs we decided the amount of time on the carpet to the amount of time on snow was too much so headed for a chairlift. Took the Chamole chairlift which would give us 550m of vertical descent. Also this whole lift could be skied in the trees, Pila is an ideal resort for snowy or flat light weather as there are so many tree runs. It also brought us to blue number 5 La Chatelaine which would then join with blue 15 Grimod which we hoped would be a suitable piste for a 4 year old. Happily my son was doing great on this blue in the snowy conditions on what was his fourth ski trip but his first one where he was given freedom to ski totally on his own without a harness. So well was he doing we decided to move to some nice reds near La Nouva lift, especially as he was having trouble keeping his speed up on the flatter blue sections in the heavy snow. The last gondola to Aosta from Pila is offically 5pm but normally would run a bit longer but we were there on time and our kid had a lie down in the gondola to help his recovery for the next day.
Day 2 Fri 23rd Pila
We woke to see the views of the mountains for the first time with some impressive snow capped peaks from our apartment balconies. On the gondola up we could see all the new snow, officially 30 cm up high and 20 cm lower down. I don’t understand why Pila’s snow depth data never changed all week we were there even though there was at least 50 cm fresh snow and just checking yesterday still has 50 cm/30 cm as official snow depths even though last snowfall was 70 cm on Sunday at the top lift? It’s like they intentionally under report the snow depth. Perhaps someone here knows the answer?
It was a beautiful bluebird day on Friday with wonderful views up the Aosta Valley all the way to Monte Bianco. Pila is all in a north facing bowl and the snow held up really well. We had a rather long lunch at the very good mountain restaurant Societe, it’s hard to get up sometimes once you get settled for lunch and the sun is shining! With the sun out took lots of photos and videos of the impressive progress of my son. So a successful day two and the 4 year old still wasn’t tired even though he was doing much more skiing than previous trips. Had a look around the lovely pedestrian centre of Aosta that evening but needed to be in bed early as planned a road trip the next day.
Day 3 Sat 24th La Thuile/La Rosiere
As the forecast was for a sunny weekend and snow again after that I felt it wise to use one of the away days from Pila on a good day. We decided on La Thuile especially as we had mileage to cover to get to France and back and didn’t fancy that in bad weather. There wasn’t much traffic on the way to La Thuile where we arrived at about 9:30am. Parked in a paid car park near town centre as others were doing this and there was a queue up the road towards car park nearest gondola. Paid €5.75 for the day using the Easypark app. It was a few hundred metre walk to the lift but better than being in the car and as we passed the nearer car park it was completely full anyway. Another perfect sunny day in La Thuile.
We didn’t hang about as we were going to France. It seemed everyone else was also and the runs at the top of La Thuile on route to France were very busy which unsettled my 4 year old. Luckily the crowds soon spread out and the piste quietened down. After getting the lift up to Mont Belvedere a long blue run was required to get to the last connecting lift with La Rosiere. There were several times my son needed to be towed along this run as he has trouble keeping his speed up in the fresh snow conditions and he also had an edgie wedgie which makes keeping the skis in what we called the “chips” position difficult.
I think we got to France about 11:30am however at this stage my son was struggling, saying he was tired and not wanting to ski. In previous years it was easy to lift him and carry him down on skis, but he is quite heavy now so that is more difficult. Luckily we weren’t far from a nice restaurant called La Traversette beside the base of the Fort chairlift that had fine views of the backside of Les Arcs. An extended break was required with hot chocolate and croissants.
The snow wasn’t as nice in La Rosiere as it was in Pila or La Thuile. It was firmer and much softer as I skied lower down to the bottom of the Petit Bois lift. La Rosiere mainly faces into the sun, although the snow depth for La Thule/La Rosiere was impressive.
As my wife and son were resting up I had a quick ski down to the La Rosiere village, which is quite pretty for a French resort village with lots of wood. Most people seemed to be in the restaurants rather than skiing and the pistes were fairly empty. Bought a souvenir fridge magnet and a postcard to confuse my mother who thought we went to Italy skiing! Conscious of the time, 2pm and what I had read about a very challenging button lift to get back to La Thuile I gathered the rest of the family who seemed more energised now and headed up the Fort lift to get back to Italy. Arrived at the infamous Bellecombe I button and first tried my son on his own with my wife one ahead and me one behind. All was going well until my son caught an edge about half way up what I think is an 11 minute journey! So all the way back down to the bottom. After some discussion with the lifties (who were very helpful) we decided to have him go with me with the bar down at my knees. It felt like a very very long 11 minutes with me in a semi squat position for the entire journey but I could not afford to mess up or we’d be stuck in button lift hell. Fortunately the end eventually arrived and my legs could have a much needed rest.
There is also a Bellcombe II button for the masochists but we skipped that as there were other ways back. We decided to take the long blue 26 that became red 7 that sweeps around the boundary of the La Thuile resort on the way back. It is on or is close to the route of the Petit Saint Bernard mountain pass road. There was a recent attempt by a Belorussian delivery driver to drive from La Thuile to La Rosiere on piste to avoid the Mont Blanc tunnel toll. This would have been his probable piste route I reckon. Having skied it, I am surprised it is a red as it was mostly green with some blue sections, there were signs warning about the flat sections. The run did get fairly icy and a bit stepper near the end just before the Le Petit Skieur bar so perhaps that is why it was a red. On this run my son tried his first black which was a very short section alongside the red 7 piste. As everyone else on the mountain seemed to be in the bar we decided to stop also. We met another Irish mother and daughter there who were watching Ireland v Wales in the six nations on their phone, so we joined them for a drink and caught the second half of the game. Didn’t get time to ski most of the La Thuile pistes, perhaps another day. Saturday was a long day with the extra driving so the plan was to stay local for Sunday and go to Pila and get a bit of a lie in.
Day 4 Sunday 25th Pila
Another beautiful bluebird day in Pila with the conditions again near perfect with great visibility and crunchy snow on every piste. My son was in good form which always helps. Came across a ski test for Blossom skis www.blossomski.com, they are a small Italian brand from up near Madesimo I think. This was a good opportunity for my wife to test some all mountain skis as I feel her skis are a little short, narrow, stiff and lacking rocker. She really liked the Blossom AM74 skis she tried in 164 length and said they were easier to handle than her current ones. I tested a pair of AM85s in 184 length that are meant to be a 50 50 piste powder ski. They skied really well and I could test them on fairly firm piste and soft powder and they could do both nicely with decent float and great edge hold on piste. They aren’t the cheapest skis in the world but come in striking colours.
After lunch I was keen to try a slow two person lift called Couis 1 that went to the high point of Pila at over 2700 metres. I had hoped to get to it in Friday but the lift closed at 4pm rather than the advertised 4:30pm. Perhaps today as it was the weekend and normally busier the lift might work the full day. When I got to the top there was a great photo opportunity with views west and south towards the village of Cogne and its small downhill ski area and the highest mountain completely in Italy, Gran Paradiso.
On setting out to find some off-piste a sign warned to stay out of one area to skiers right of the lift as a freeride event was planned for early March adjacent to the Platta de Grevon black piste 27. So I stayed to skiers right of black 8. This was a steep off-piste section that required a lot of energy in relatively deep snow and only moderately wide skis. I did a few laps here before the lift closed and we all headed back down to Aosta for a well deserved rest.
Day 5 Monday 26th Pila
Monday was another snow day, the car park was much quieter, the previous day we had to go to the overflow car park but all the parking is close to the gondola so it wasn’t an issue. Started out on red 1 to skiers right of the Chamole chairlift. It was like a private piste hardly skied with a nice layer of fresh snow. On returning to the top my 4 year old declared he was hungry so we had a pit stop that turned into a lunch stop at La Chateleine restaurant beside blue 5. After lunch we went to the short Grimod chair and my son got excited seeing the snowpark. When he played there with my wife I went up the Couis 2 lift to the second highest lift served point at 2612 metres. Visibility was pretty poor up here above the trees and I think I skied black 11, it didn’t feel as steep as black 8 off Couis 1 I skied on Sunday. However the flat light and difficulty navigating wasn’t much fun so I met up with the others and stayed below the treeline for the rest of the afternoon. On returning to Aosta, the snowline had really dropped to just about town height, so maybe to 700 metres.
Had our only evening out in Aosta in an excellent restaurant called Bataclan near Arco di Augusto. Met a large English group there who told me they come often to Aosta as it is great value compared to ski resorts for accommodation and makes skiing much of the Aosta Valley quite easy.
Day 6 Tuesday Courmayeur
For our last ski day I was trying to decide would we ski Pila again or go for a drive. As our lift pass gave us two away days, the nearest big ski area options were La Thuile and Courmayeur. I’d also read good things about Crevacol that would be only 30 mins away by car although it was raining heavily in Aosta so it would be snowing in the ski areas and Crevacol didn’t have many trees I could see in pictures and the two lifts looked old from pictures I saw which may not be great for our 4 year old getting on and off. Another thing I didn’t encounter all the time in the Aosta Valley was covers for any chairlifts to protect you from the snow, no heated seats either!
So even though it would eat into skiing time I decided we’d go to Courmayeur as it was a slightly shorter journey than La Thuile and it was somewhere new to see. I had skied one day in Courmayeur from Chamonix perhaps 15 years ago but my memories of the ski area were distant. We parked under the gondola at Dolonne in the new looking underground carpark with easy access to the gondola by lift, €1.50 an hour from 8h to 16h, 50c an hour after 16h. This was the only car park in Courmayeur where I could ski back down.
On getting up to Plan Checrouit there was plenty of fresh snow, 50 cm I think! Visibility wasn’t amazing on the Plan Checrouit side as there aren’t many trees so headed for Val Veny side and skied down to Zerotta. Lots of trees over there and most people wisely were on this side of the mountain. There is a nice long winding blue over this side that would suit my son and there were a few stepper detours from the blue if more challenge was required such as Black 8 Diretta. I got lots of photos of what I think was Monte Bianco but in the cloud I could never clearly see the peak. It was quite busy in Courmayeur for a Tuesday, possibly lots of people had come over from Chamonix as I heard the snow wasn’t great over there at that time. Stopped for lunch in a lovely restaurant beside the bottom of the Dzeleuna lift called Le Vieux Grenier.
My son had been feeling quite tired today so didn’t push him, but he got his energy back after lunch and had some fun runs in the trees down as far as Zerotta. Crowds were thinning out and the snow was getting deeper, it was so deep the off-piste was up to my knees. At the end of the day the others got the gondola down and I went down the home run Dolonne red 25. This was a lovely final run, snow was getting softer as I descended further towards the base but even at 1200 metres everywhere had a good snow covering. Had a quick look around the town before heading back to Aosta.
Day 7 Return to Malpensa
After the task of packing and loading everything into the car we had a little wander around the pedestrian area of Aosta and had some lunch before heading back to Malpensa on the Autostrada (€23 tolls). In all my trips to Italy in winter and summer I never knew petrol stations have self service and staffed pumps where the price per litre is significantly higher. As I was running low but still over 100km from Malpensa I pulled into an service station but the pump wouldn’t extend far enough so I move car to another pump. An attendant arrived and the pump displayed 2.40 a litre even though the big signs at the entrance had it at 1.98 I think. Not understanding this I just got €20 worth as it worked out 60c a litre more than the subsequent refill just before Malpensa.
Overall it was an excellent ski trip, we were blessed with three wonderful days of snow and three of fine sunny weather. The snow conditions were absolutely perfect and it was the best conditions I’d experienced in many years. Aosta is a lovely town, Pila is a really nice ski area, not too big but not small either and would suit a mixed ability group. I like skiing tree runs and Pila has plenty of them. It never felt too busy and never any noticeable queues and piste congestion. It is good that you get two away ski days with the Pila ski pass and I think this is the same in other Aosta Valley resorts. The biggest thrill was that my son could ski blues and reds with confidence and was able to travel at a reasonable pace so you felt you were covering ground and not waiting around. Pila have big plans for a gondola from the Pila village height at 1800 right to the top of the mountain with a new restaurant at the top. It will be worth coming back just to see that! www.theplan.it/eng/whats_on/the-pila-cable-car-an-edelweiss-on-platta-de-grevon
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Peter Ross, enjoyable report. Your son did amazingly for a 4-year-old. I think it was understandable that by the afternoon he struggled with the energy and concentration for that famously long drag lift out of La Rosiere.
There have been a couple of other threads recently with suggestions of Pila for families with children, I think they will find your experience helpful.
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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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@Peter Ross, what a great report. Thank you.
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@Hurtle, thanks 
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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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@j b, I think for the drag he had his energy back but no practice on his own on drags. It was probably optimistic to even try him on his own although he's good on zip lines the skis getting snagged was a high probability.
Also for people bringing kids I had investigated the childcare options so I'll put it down here as may be useful for future readers. We didn't use childcare but have for some of the day on previous three trips.
In Pila the Pila ski school has a crèche but when I asked it sounded expensive at 30 euro/hr. There is another ski school with a crèche but not sure of price. There is an Italian website called www.sitly.it with a lot of childminders in Aosta or very near. Charges averages 10 to 12 euro an hour.
For Courmayeur the ski school has a crèche at top of Dolonne gondola I think, 80 euro a day including lunch.
In La Thuile the website stated there is a crèche in the Planibel Hotel at bottom of mountain beside lifts but when I emailed them said it was only for guests 
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@Peter Ross, thanks, an interesting report and again, well done to your 4-yr old - very impressive he made it to La Rosière and back!
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@denfinella, yes thanks, he proved himself in Pila the previous two days but it was a fair spin to La Rosiere and back.
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Another thing that came up in my research is there is a 100 euro six day pass for the smaller mountains in the Aosta Valley. The best of them in terms of Kms are Crevacol and Champocher. You can only ski a max of three days on one mountain. Nearest Aosta are Crevacol and Cogne which you can see from top of Pila and also very popular for cross country skiing. With this pass kids ski free with an adult pass and you also get a free ski lesson (although they may book out quickly) and some discount on accommodation. Certainly a good value ski pass in the era of 250 euro plus passes everywhere.
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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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What a great family trip, @Peter Ross. Top marks. I think a lot of us have discovered Aosta/Pila thanks to reports on Snowheads (certainly I did). It makes life so much more interesting than everyone going to the Haute Tarentaise!
Pila's lack of chairlift covers and heated seats is not unusual. There are some covers in the Dolomites (though I don't remember heated seats) but neither is very common in France.
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Great report
Had first day at Pila yesterday
Concur with what’s been written
We’ve had two nights out in Aosta and it’s a great, real town
We’re loving it
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Chapeau to the 4 year old - hes got some stamina for a youngster
"After some discussion with the lifties (who were very helpful) we decided to have him go with me with the bar down at my knees. It felt like a very very long 11 minutes with me in a semi squat position for the entire journey but I could not afford to mess up or we’d be stuck in button lift hell. Fortunately the end eventually arrived and my legs could have a much needed rest"
I've done the Bellecombe double, I've also done a number of T-bars elsewhere with small children and a Tbar across the back of my knees, so Chapeau to Dad for pulling that one off!
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@Peter Ross, super report, glad you all had a wonderful time!
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You know it makes sense.
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@Origen, I only notice the lack of covers when it's snowing or windy! I think Austria has more covers. I do remember a heated chairlift in Lech!
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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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@Mike Pow, glad you are having fun! Has the recorded snow depth increased at all? They must measure after the piste basher squashes it?
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Poster: A snowHead
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I did write one reason I didn't go to Crevacol is I wasn't sure about lifts and where to ski in bad weather. I did see another picture and it looks like the main lift is a fast 4 person chair. I read a report saying they had a great days tree skiing in Crevacol but looking at piste map it doesn't look that extensive on piste anyway but perhaps off piste different.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@t44tomo, it was the only way back so had to be done, but I had read on snowheads that it could be a challenge! It would have been fine without the button down at my knees!
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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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@Peter Ross, Crevacol is a nice little place but it only has 2 lifts and is South facing so quickly gets baked. However it has fabulous terrain off the backside through the forest to St Rhémy (requiring a car/taxi or very long pole along the tunnel roof to return to Crevacol)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Looks like the catch is that you have to book accommodation through the company, not a standalone offer.
And even so, the day tickets at those small areas are only around €20-25, so not a massive discount.
Most only have a couple of chairlifts and some nursery drags.
Except for the ones in Val d'Ayas, the distances between them are quite large too.
Might be fun, but if you only get one week a year, it might be worth spending a bit more to get something better.
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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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Great report @Peter Ross. I'm in Aosta at the moment... well, strictly speaking just outside it in this place I got for £135 for 4 nights via Booking.com. It's massive and in theory could accommodate 6 people, but with only 1 bathroom and the parking being a little tight, it's probably best suited to a single car group / family.
Just throwing this in here in case anyone else decides they want to visit the area!
Oh and @Mike Pow, not sure if you were at Pila again today or not, but Grimondet chair opened mid-morning (I might be wrong but thought it was shut on Tuesday) and they were bashing at least one of the pistes off Couis 2, so maybe there's hope that will be open tomorrow as well.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Peter Ross wrote: |
| @Mike Pow, glad you are having fun! Has the recorded snow depth increased at all? They must measure after the piste basher squashes it? |
No
Despite all the snow
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| jebroni3_16 wrote: |
Great report @Peter Ross. I'm in Aosta at the moment... well, strictly speaking just outside it in this place I got for £135 for 4 nights via Booking.com. It's massive and in theory could accommodate 6 people, but with only 1 bathroom and the parking being a little tight, it's probably best suited to a single car group / family.
Just throwing this in here in case anyone else decides they want to visit the area!
Oh and @Mike Pow, not sure if you were at Pila again today or not, but Grimondet chair opened mid-morning (I might be wrong but thought it was shut on Tuesday) and they were bashing at least one of the pistes off Couis 2, so maybe there's hope that will be open tomorrow as well. |
Yep
We had a fabulous day lapping the Grimond chair. Boot top to knee in the sunshine. Glorious.
Was going to travel away tomorrow but hoping they're going to open terrain up high. So staying put and keeping our fingers crossed.
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Tomorrow's my last day and I'm not going to risk driving to Gressoney, so going to head for LaThuile instead. Sunshine and little wind forecast, so hopefully that's what it will be, and hopefully Couis 1 & 2 get opened up for you!
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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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Thanks
Enjoy
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Couis 1 lift is still closed but Couis 2 is open
Have opened up a couple of blacks and at least one more red run
Enjoy!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| luigi wrote: |
Looks like the catch is that you have to book accommodation through the company, not a standalone offer.
And even so, the day tickets at those small areas are only around €20-25, so not a massive discount.
Most only have a couple of chairlifts and some nursery drags.
Except for the ones in Val d'Ayas, the distances between them are quite large too.
Might be fun, but if you only get one week a year, it might be worth spending a bit more to get something better. |
The daily prices for Cogne and Crevacol at €35 so 6 days would €210. So good saving. The pass is not linked to buying accommodation but there is a special offer if you bring children but might not be that much of a saving. You can also get a free ski lesson which would be worth approx €50. Although I did email Crevacol ski school for week I was there and said all lessons booked out, but Crevacol probably most popular of these small mountains. Here is the official website https://magic-skipass.skilife.ski/
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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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| Peter Ross wrote: |
| luigi wrote: |
Looks like the catch is that you have to book accommodation through the company, not a standalone offer.
And even so, the day tickets at those small areas are only around €20-25, so not a massive discount.
Most only have a couple of chairlifts and some nursery drags.
Except for the ones in Val d'Ayas, the distances between them are quite large too.
Might be fun, but if you only get one week a year, it might be worth spending a bit more to get something better. |
The daily prices for Cogne and Crevacol at €35 so 6 days would €210. So good saving. The pass is not linked to buying accommodation but there is a special offer if you bring children but might not be that much of a saving. You can also get a free ski lesson which would be worth approx €50. Although I did email Crevacol ski school for week I was there and said all lessons booked out, but Crevacol probably most popular of these small mountains. Here is the official website https://magic-skipass.skilife.ski/ |
Thanks
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Great trip report. Going to the Aosta valley at the end of the month (Monterosa) and not sure where to use my one day in another resort...
Didn't fancy Monterosa yourself for a day? I guess it's not great for little kids.
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You know it makes sense.
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@archors, I'd spent a week there before child and really liked it. It's quite linear which could make it a longer return journey like when we went to La Rosiere and the risk of running out of energy on return. It's also a longer journey from Aosta. Also had a week in Cervinia before which I remember as being coldest week of my life with a very strong wind! But managed to get to Zermatt which was tropical in comparison.
So choice was based on resorts I hadn't been to or hadn't really explored much, not too much of a drive from Aosta especially as snowing half days I was away and reasonable size and facilities (lifts, restaurants).
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Fri 8-03-24 11:00; edited 1 time in total
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks for putting me on to Cogne.
Went today.
Fantastic.
Grey day but had glimpses of the views on offer.
€35 for the day, and when you look how few runs there are you might feel it’s a rip off
But when there are only 30 people on the mountain, every run felt like it was a private resort.
Proper reds
Great grooming
Great conditions under foot
Could really let the skis run
Loads of untracked knee deep powder off-piste from dry & light to porridge at the base
Steep trees and lift lines reminded me of the best of N America
Could not be happier
Thanks again
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Sounds great @Mike Pow
How was the section of Pila sévère by Couis 2 on Thursday?
I went to La Thuile, conditions were gorgeous. Didn't take my "sunny" lens off all day 
Actually spent a large chunk of it in La Rosière, but mainly because I saw the number coming over from the French side when I got up to the top.
Had foolishly forgotten there was still one area of France on half-term, but numbers actually weren't too hideous.
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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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@Peter Ross - I did my drive from Aosta to Malpensa yesterday, stopping off at the outlet mall near Vicolungo (where there's a Salomon shop with some skis, ski boots, goggles, gloves, helmet, ski wear, standard wear, footwear, but no snowboards or boots)
When popping directions on from there to Malpensa, it turned out it was pretty much same travel time to go on regional roads as autostrade, but with added advantage of not paying the toll and passes through Oleggio, a decent-sized town with a Coop supermarket, McDonalds and a number of reasonably priced petrol stations only a few kms from the airport.
Might be worth considering for future trips. Toll was still just under €20 from Aosta Est, but my trip from Malpensa to Aosta Ovest was over €33... so I'm not sure if that included the premium the Courmayeur trip would normally add on?!
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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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| jebroni3_16 wrote: |
Sounds great @Mike Pow
How was the section of Pila sévère by Couis 2 on Thursday?
I went to La Thuile, conditions were gorgeous. Didn't take my "sunny" lens off all day
Actually spent a large chunk of it in La Rosière, but mainly because I saw the number coming over from the French side when I got up to the top.
Had foolishly forgotten there was still one area of France on half-term, but numbers actually weren't too hideous. |
Pila on Thursday was excellent. Wall to wall sunshine.
Still powder off the Grimond chair but a little heavier.
Pistes off Couis 2 were very good. A little 'glassy' in places where people had poo-poo the bed and skidded it off.
Powder to the side was well skied but still very enjoyable. Boot top.
Traversed into the bowl skiers left of the lift. Went right across and had untracked boot top back down to the Couis 2 piste. Then went straight over into the trees where it was boot top to knee.
Lapped that.
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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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Final day skiing yesterday (Saturday) and we drove up to Crevacol.
We skied it but we did not see it.
Some of the thickest fog I’ve ever skied made for some interesting turns.
It opened up for seconds at a time and I get the love for it.
Trees were best I’ve seen on this trip - nicely spaced and clean. Think they’re larch.
Great lunch at the restaurant.
Will return on a clearer day.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Mike Pow, thanks for the Cogne info, I think it was on Powderhounds I read the runs there were darkish red. On a powder day you really don't need many pistes.
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| Peter Ross wrote: |
| @Mike Pow, thanks for the Cogne info, I think it was on Powderhounds I read the runs there were darkish red. On a powder day you really don't need many pistes. |
My pleasure
Would love to hit it on a day like last Sunday (10th) when they had +50cm of new snow.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Wed 13-03-24 12:16; edited 1 time in total
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@jebroni3_16, I got on Autostrada at Aosta East also. So you saved 3 euro. But seems you had to pay another 10 euro on way by exiting at Aosta West. Good to know.
On way to Aosta I skipped the Aosta part of Autostrada as Google seemed to indicate not much different ETA on non toll road, but I think Google was wrong!
Thanks for tip on Salomon shop at outlet. Was it well stocked?
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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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Reasonably well, yes, although being a boarder, I wouldn't know about the boots and skis on offer.
The salesperson was telling a couple of East European customers about the goggles they had in English. Didn't really have those on display, or the pricing, but seems like they had the magnetic option.
It was definitely better stocked than the North Face shop there anyway.
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Going to be a while before I get my TR about Aosta, Pila, Cogne, and Crevacol up.
So any questions fire away here and I'm sure they'll be answered.
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FAQ
