 Poster: A snowHead
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I'd welcome your thoughts on family skiing in Cervinia during January. My friend from Australia wants to take her family skiing in Italy, with my kids and I potentially tagging along too. She's an experienced skier, while her two kids (11, 14) and husband have done a week each. All three beginners took to skiing well last time and were doing blues easily with the odd easier red thrown in by the end of their first week.
My question is whether there'd be enough for them all to ski for a week in Cervinia and the surrounds. I see from the piste map that the area is mainly reds, with only a few blues. My friend doesn't want to take her family to a place that's over-challenging and wondered what people's views on the Cervinia reds are? Are there some easier red pistes for them to up their skills on near the Breuil-Cernvinia base, or would it be a poor choice for their family, given three of them are still essentially learning.
The reason they're considering Cervinia is because it ticks other boxes - being Italian, reasonably close to an airport, high up for lots of snow, and with an extensive ski area to keep thing varied over the week.
Any help much appreciated
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Not being a Beginner it is difficult to say -- However, an Italian red is (generally) easier than a French one for example.
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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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I've never been to Cervinia so can't help with local knowledge BUT I'd suggest that all the learners do ski school for the week - mornings - and the instructor will ensure they're on the right terrain for them. All trying to ski together all day could be a bit of a challenge, especially if none of you knows the area beforehand, as weather could be difficult.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@mike_cave, Cervinia is an intermediate paradise - lots of wide motorway pistes. I don't remember there being lots of beginner areas but probably because I wasn't looking.
I enjoyed the week we had there but I'll admit I'm in no real rush to go back - and it wouldn't be my first choice if I was coming from Australia. For me..
- it was very windy. The ski area closed for a couple of mornings due to high wind, when there didn't seem to be any wind surrounding resorts. Even on normal days the wind could get up, esp on the upper slopes.
- the better skiing was on the Zermatt side. I didn't find the runs on the Cervinia particularly memorable, although enjoyed the runs into Valtournenche.
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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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it wouldn't be my first choice if I was coming from Australia
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Mmm. good point.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@mike_cave, I have skied Cervinia and it is a decent blue run resort. It's a while since I went there but I don't remember the red being too difficult in decent conditions. I managed to ski down quite a few of them with my 6 year old (at the time) taking him between my skis for any steep sections.
I would expect that there are some easier reds that your beginners will be able to move onto. The central section of the piste map above Plan Torrette has some reds mixed in with blues so they should escape back on to the blues if things got too tough.
I don't remember the reds at the top of Zermatt being too bad as well if you get the area pass. If you are coming back from Zermatt with beginners I would avoid piste 7 because it is quite exposed and has a long medium steep section. Although 7 is a lovely run for more confident red run skiers.
The resort has the added bonus of the pistes being extra quiet on the Cervinia side because a lot of people seem to go straight over to Zermatt in the morning and stay there most of the day. If the linking lifts close then Cervinia is busier.
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first few days there are plenty of blues to get warmed up. Reds even though are steep, but also wide, so they are not so intimidating for beginners. A few years ago was in Cervinia and my strong beginner girlfriend had plenty of good time running laps in blue marked runs, then stepped it up and started doing some reds.
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I'd echo what others have said, the areas above Salette and between Plan Maison, Plan Torrette and Theodulpass it would sometimes be difficult to tell the difference if it wasn't for red or blue markers and the home runs back into Cervinia seemed fairly mellow too although the last bit of Falliniere did get mighty lumpy by beer o'clock. Red 7 off Plateau Rosa felt weird and off camber and was bloody icy when we were there, I think they shut it on the Wednesday as it had got so bad and red 13 (or maybe 16) was an icy chossy mess too.
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As above it's pretty easy and cruisey. Though can get nastier when it's windier or greyed out (as can any pure alpine ski area in January or whenever).
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Thanks very much for all your comments. Plenty for my friend and I to discuss.
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