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Madonna di Campiglio and Champoluc

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
We wish to ski in Italy in January and I think have narrowed it down to either Madonna or Champoluc. Can anyone comment on either resort and perhaps recommend good (and convenient) hotels etc?

Thankyou
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Never been to Madonna but have skied Champoluc and loved it. Champoluc is part of Monterosa ski domain that includes Gressoney and Alagna. If you are intermediate or above you will be able too ski from Champoluc through Gressoney to Alagna and back in one day. I did not spend too much time on piste but from what i had skied i cant remember any particularly challenging runs. However if you are into offpiste then you want be disappointed, the place is awesome. Last thing to point out is that Champoluc is a small town and apreski options are limited. I hope this helps.
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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?
By the way hugg, welcome to snowheads. I just recalled that there was an thread on Monterosa earlier thi year. Try the search function.
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I went to Grssoney la Trinite for a few days in March & absolutely loved the place.

It is very quiet though, with apres ski confined mainly to hotel bars.

We stayed at the hotel below, which I would highly recommend. The lift is about 15m from the hotel & you can ski back to the door.


http://www.valverdehotel.it/inglese/gressoney.html
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Thanks for the comments.
Ssnowman, what was the food like and are the rooms big eneough to swing a (small) cat?
Regards
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
hugg,

Food was excellent, although the room wasn't large it was certainly big enough.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Never skied at Champoluc but i have been 3 times to Madonna and love the place for tree line skiing and scenery. I have stayed at Relais Des Aples and Milano Hotel which are both good and near to the lifts.
http://www.campigliohotelmilano.it/

There is plenty of good Mountain restuarants and most of the skiing is on reds and blues.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
hugg, what sorts of skiers are you? Family?

What sorts of hotels do you like? £ or £££££?
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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.
David Murdoch wrote:
hugg, what sorts of skiers are you? Family?

What sorts of hotels do you like? £ or £££££?



David,
Thanks for your reply.
My husband and I are lower advanced (not good on couloirs) and the kids are both intermediate skiers. We are willing to spend about 2500 euros for the 4 of us (2rooms)for accommodation and some meals for a week...lift and lessons and ski hire and travel would be additional.
Regards
Hugg
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
I've been to Madonna twice, the first time in the late 90's and last time in 2004.

Firstly the skiing is fairly limited and not very challenging. Best described as cruisy. The grooming is excellent though, so if you like cruising blues and easy reds, it's a good place to brush up you technique and gain confidence. If you're looking for more of a challenge, it's probably not the best place to go. Lift queues are not usually a big problem, but I noticed it was significantly more busy the last time we went in '04. Nobody in the UK had heard of it the first time we went! Expect a good 10 min queue for the main gondolas out of town, but then no significant queues out on the mountain.

As surfski mentioned, the scenery is great and the town itself is unspoiled. The food is fantastic on and off the mountain and there is a nice friendly atmosphere all round. It makes a welcome change from many of the purpose built French resorts.

We stayed in the Chalet Hermitage which is a top notch family run hotel. The mountain views are exceptional, the rooms are spacious and it has a warm family atmosphere. It's not in the centre of town though, so it's a 5 min free shuttle to the lifts. We thought it was well worth it in this case. Michael Schumacher stays here regularly, which you can take as a good recommendation.

http://www.chalethermitage.com/sito.asp?lingua=eng

To sum it up, it's a great place if you want to escape the hustle and bustle of large purpose built resorts and enjoy cruising the slopes. Both times I've treated it as an early season relaxing warm-up for later more challenging trips. And did I mention how good the food was? Never been to Champuloc, so I can't make a comparison.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I second what uktrailmonster has written. To avoid the queues at the main gondola out of town you could stay further down the town where there is a chairlift that goes from near the bottom of the Miramonti black run. We stayed at the Diana Hotel (three star) near there which was brilliant with great food, and also the Milano which was also OK. I've been there twice - once early March and the other early April, and neither time did I have trouble with queues. It was great fun.

Never been to Champoluc, the skiing area always looks a bit limited in size for a whole week, whereas in Madonna you've got quite a big local area plus you can ski over to Folgarida and/or Marileva for the 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.
Quote:

Never been to Champoluc, the skiing area always looks a bit limited in size for a whole week

It looks limited becoz the piste map is rubbish, the worst I've ever used. The ski areas are actually about the same size, once you add on the Gressoney and Alagna valleys.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Did Champuluc for a long week end and enjoyed it thoroughly.Easy cruising runs with an off-piste untouched several days after snow fall. Resort became significantly less busy during the week. We stayed in Hotel Kalifornia a short walk in snowboard boots outside of Champuluc. Mad hotel as each room is themed to a particualr band or singer and their music plays as you go in the door. Rooms very good though. Very good bar and OK food. Quite cheap I think and it is the night life of champuluc. Not convinced there is enough there for a week but then I like 3 valleys and other big resorts.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Thankyou all so much for your comments. I think we will be choosing champoluc as the off-piste skiing sounds wonderful...particularly to someone who has to ski on Australian skifields. The question is now whether to stay in champoluc itself or in Gressony.I understand the guides are based in Gressony but is it more difficult to go skiing each day from there?

If we stayed in Champoluc, we thought we'd stay in the Hotel Champoluc because it's the closest to the gondola and I'd heard that you can ski in-ski out.

Any further comments would be helpful.

Thanks again
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Quote:

the guides are based in Gressony but is it more difficult to go skiing each day from there?

Well, that depends where you are staying. As with Champoluc, some of the accom is near the lift, some is not. If you want access into the main lift system, make sure you look at Gressoney la Trinite. Gressoney St Jean has its own lifts but they go into a separate smaller area which is not linked.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Gressoney la Trinite has 3 or 4 hotels right next to the lift & you can ski back at the end of the day.

Access to other slopes is not a problem, Gressoney La Trinite is more centrally situated than Champoluc.
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