 Poster: A snowHead
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3rd family ski trip with 9 yr old daughter... Last two were in Morzine / Les Gets, which were great but touch and go with snow last year. She's most comfortable on blues and managed a short easy red last year.
Wife and I are big fans of skiing in Italy and I have read on here that it suffers less with Feb half term crowds. Love Courmayeur for the town and food but not great for a week with child maybe. Really love the Dolomites but it's a v long transfer and looking for self catering or cheap hotel or B&B.
Haven't been anywhere else in Italy, so does anywhere fit the bill?
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 21-10-24 10:43; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@frosty75, Pila often gets an admirable mention.
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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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+1 for Pila
Madesimo
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Another vote for Pila.
My daughter loved it, and it was surprisingly calm during half term / carnivale too 
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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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Pila does suit your requirements but you might find it a bit small if you're already discounting Courmayeur.
Folgaria (N.B. not the same place as better-known Folgarida) is similarly suitable (and similarly small).
For somewhere a little bigger you could look at Corvara, but you've already identified the long transfer issue.
Mongenevre is just over the French border but is apparently less affected by half term crowds than most other French areas, and the transfer is usually from the Italian (Turin) side.
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Thanks for the responses. I did start looking at Pila and it might well fit the bill. I then had a look at the piste map and it seemed to be mostly reds. Are these the mellow Italian variety of red?
Size is perhaps not an issue as I was thinking of hiring a car if we went there so could take a day or two out elsewhere in the Aosta valley... Maybe even take in Courmayeur for a day trip.
If staying in Pila does the gondola to Aosta run all evening if we wanted an evening down there?
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Would love to do Corvara... But transfer and price would be an issue.
Went there a couple of years ago with some mates but we were not constrained by kids or school holiday pricing.
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Not Selva. It's particularly non beginner friendly.
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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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| frosty75 wrote: |
| Thanks for the responses. I did start looking at Pila and it might well fit the bill. I then had a look at the piste map and it seemed to be mostly reds. Are these the mellow Italian variety of red? |
Pretty much.
My daughter was 6 at the time, is (or was then) relatively timid and had 1 week on snow plus a few dry slope sessions previously. She happily skied all over the bowl with both me, and in lessons.
| frosty75 wrote: |
Size is perhaps not an issue as I was thinking of hiring a car if we went there so could take a day or two out elsewhere in the Aosta valley... Maybe even take in Courmayeur for a day trip.
If staying in Pila does the gondola to Aosta run all evening if we wanted an evening down there? |
Pretty sure it stopped at the end of the ski day, meaning the only way down in the evening is via the windy road.
If you wanted to be able to easily get to other Aosta resorts by car, and to go out in town in the evening, you may want to consider staying in the town.
We stayed on the mountain as ski in/ski out was a priority with a small child.
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+1 for Pila …my son was 5 and after a few failed attempts to get him skiing, he finally learned in Pila.. slopes are very gentle and instructors kind and attentive to kids . He had some private lessons there which were well priced
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Sounds like plenty of votes for Pila but maybe not as a base to drive out from.
Looking at accommodation, if we ended up self catering, what's it like for supermarket / shops up in resort?
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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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Stay in Aosta. Short drive to the large Pila Gondola car park. Access all the Aosta Valley with ease, and a vibrant town with good restaurants and local activities. We never bother with the drive to Pila, just get the valley lift. It is also next to the Gros Cidac supermarket if you choose to self-cater.
Pila grooming and snow-making is excellent as its main focus is hosting ski-race training teams. Simplistically speaking if you think of Pila like a tree, the trunk is green, the lower right side is blue, lower left red and the upper canopy is red/black, meaning you can progress over a week without getting caught out.
Les Contamines in France could be another good option for you.
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Alleghe in the Dolomites? 2hrs from Venice, less in a hire car that she cheap from there (or the towns own transfer is also cheap). Nice village/slopes and other day trips available if its too small. Lots of  s go back year after year for the PreBB so it can't be bad (lots of info if you trawl the bash threads from previous years)
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You know it makes sense.
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@frosty75, yes, stay in Aosta, not Pila
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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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| Tazz2bme wrote: |
| surprisingly calm during half term / carnivale too |
Just to note, those two rarely coincide as Carnevale is a moveable feast, around 40 days before Easter.
I found the Pila village lifts quite busy with UK teenagers on school trips at HT in 2020. Not sure if that's still an issue?
They were mostly beginners, so we didn't see many higher up the mountain.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@frosty75, I rate La Thuile highly for learning, there’s a nice selection of blues on the main plateau, and reds once they get more adventurous, stay in The Planibel complex which has SC apts and at the gondola station, or if you are DIY, stay in Courmayeur which is far nicer town and ski both, may not work if your daughter will be in ski school, though.
FWIW I’ve skied both quite a few times, and will be staying in Courmayuer for a week this season and plan to ski both.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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| frosty75 wrote: |
Really love the Dolomites but it's a v long transfer and looking for self catering or cheap hotel or B&B.
Haven't been anywhere else in Italy, so does anywhere fit the bill? |
There are a number of resorts in the southern part of the Dolomites that are about 2 hrs from Venice, Treviso or Verona airports.
https://www.dolomitisuperski.com/en/Landingpages/Map
Or Madonna di Campiglio in the Brenta Dolomites about 2hrs from Verona
https://www.skirama.it/en
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Note, if staying in Aosta, that there are (or, at least, were) reasonably priced ski+boot lockers next to the lift station. The car park gets rammed quickly and we were sufficiently close to walk to/from our apartment.
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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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Wife and daughter like the idea of staying up on the slopes in Pila. We don't need much in the way of nightlife so long as there's a handful of restaurants and bars.
Question: There appears to be two main clusters of restaurants etc. at 1800 and 2000. Is it easy to get between the two in the evenings after the lifts shut?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| luigi wrote: |
| Mollerski wrote: |
| Not Selva. It's particularly non beginner friendly. |
That's funny, I learned to ski there! I guess I didn't know better at the time...or maybe it was the best decision of my life!! 
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I completely agree that Selva is fantastic for aspiring/confident beginners. The steps up are quite significant in terms of where you can go and therefore, the sense of acheivement must be high (I didn't learn to ski in Selva).
However, I've had nervous skiers in our groups over the years and it's been a bit of a nightmare. Getting off of Ciampinoi either way is a major obstacle and Dantercepies both ways slightly less so. Taxis or Buses to Plan De Gralba or Ortisei for Alpe di Suisi tend to be the only ways out. Otherwise they're stuck in the village on nurseries or Risaccia. Not ideal.
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| Quote: |
There appears to be two main clusters of restaurants etc. at 1800 and 2000. Is it easy to get between the two in the evenings after the lifts shut?
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It's about a 10-15 minute walk, probably quicker going down than up! I would avoid walking through the tunnel under the hotels, where you can need to dodge the cars, and walk down the side of the piste instead.
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| 22 dropout wrote: |
| Simplistically speaking if you think of Pila like a tree, the trunk is green, the lower right side is blue, lower left red and the upper canopy is red/black, meaning you can progress over a week without getting caught out. |
Brilliant. I'm actually the type of weirdo who loves perusing a piste map and navigating, but my wife is very much the opposite. This guide should work well!
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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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Sestriere.
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Snow sure, lots of blues for kids, ski in ski out options and short transfer:-
Turin / Milan - Cervinia - 1.5 - 2.5 hours
Bergamo - Passo Del Tonale - 2 hours
Venice to Passo San Pellegrino (or Alleghe, St Martin de Cassarosso, Zoldo) - 2 hours
Have done Tonale and San Pellegrino with kids, both excellent, loads of easy blues right on your doorstep. Hotel San Marco in San Pellegrino - superb value ski in ski out right beside two lifts and perfect baby slope, kiddie ski cross, with small pool / wellness and soft play area and kids club type activities.
San Pellegrino a bit nicer than Tonale which kind of feels like a duty free resort. Superb world cup black on the other side of valley have the sense it doesn't get too busy as there isn't much accommodation up there.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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As pointed out those Dolomite resorts also even closer to Verona.
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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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We're all booked for Pila now. BA to Milan is pretty good value (for HT week) and a family run hotel that seems great value with ski in/out. Managing flights, hotel and hire car for under £2500 for the 3 of us, which is important as I need to reserve funds for my other non-family ski trip/s 
Like the look of San Pellegrino... maybe next time.
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| frosty75 wrote: |
We're all booked for Pila now. BA to Milan is pretty good value (for HT week) and a family run hotel that seems great value with ski in/out. Managing flights, hotel and hire car for under £2500 for the 3 of us, which is important as I need to reserve funds for my other non-family ski trip/s
Like the look of San Pellegrino... maybe next time. |
That’s fantastic. Shows what can still be done through independent travel and an open mind on countries/airports/village.
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You know it makes sense.
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Hi! I'm a ski instructor from Cervinia and I can tell that is very beginner friendly, lots of wide and easy blue slopes!
it's around 2h drive from Milan Malpensa and and 1.30 from Turin Caselle.
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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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@frosty75, that's excellent value
Link to hotel for future reference?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| CatherineVuill wrote: |
Hi! I'm a ski instructor from Cervinia and I can tell that is very beginner friendly, lots of wide and easy blue slopes!
it's around 2h drive from Milan Malpensa and and 1.30 from Turin Caselle. |
I agree, and like it too.
Initially went, as skier, to learn with a board from scratch. One of the best weeks tuition I've had, excellent teaching, terrain to learn on from absolute raw beginner on a board, good town to stay in (small hotel at end of main street) great food, and learned so much in a week. I like the attitude to teaching there too, pragmatic, helpful and very productive.
Should beca consideration here.
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