 Poster: A snowHead
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We're just filling in our Serre Che season pass application for next year, and amongst the free days in other resorts nearby (L2A, ADH, Milky Way, and Puy St Vincent), is an additional offer of 6 free days in Courmayeur. So, what's the skiing like, is it worth a detour through the Mont Blanc Tunnel on the way to Serre Che in mid-March, and where can we stay (we may have the dog with us)?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Helen Beaumont,
I stayed up in Val Ferret..forget the name of the hotel but its popular with hikers. And Courmayeur IS worth a detour, I'd say.
Helbronner is a good lift from which you can get down onto the VB and bus back or the skiing in Courmayuer has some good fun slopes and excusions. The best lift, I think, is Entreves but make yourself familiar with the way back as its not always possible to ski back down but this lift has the least queues and the best/most parking. Dumping the car for the main Courmayuer lift is painful as the lift is centred pretty much in the village. The piste skiing is fun Italian-style cruising IMO.
Nice snacks/toasties on the hill, oh, and pretty sunny
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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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Currently considering the Hull-Zeebrugge ferry option,on a Thurs or Friday evening, as we can be across the channel earleir, and down to the slopes the same day. Newcastle-Holland way too expensive.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Helen Beaumont, I've enjoyed skiing at Courmayeur - plenty of scope for everyone and a fantastic setting. I've been unlucky with mountain restaurants, but others rave, so I've just been unlucky I reckon. I've never actually stayed there. Skanky is a devotee, I think.
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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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Nothing wrong with Courmayeur as one would be skiing next to Mont Blanc. It is at the Italian side of Mont Blanc Tunnel. A bit far from Serre Che/L2A, ADH, Milky Way, and Puy St Vincent.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Helen Beaumont, Sorry to hijack your thread, but have you taken your dog before & is it affected by the altitude?
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We have skied a couple of times and stayed in Entreves. There is a good hotel there called Auberge de la Maison with a fantastic restaurant opposite but I can't remember the name. On both visits the snow was good and the restaurants relaxed and good value. Well worth a visit.
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saikee, I know it isn't next to Serre Chevalier, or lcose to the other resorts, but as we have a free lift pass, and were looking for a new resort to ski, we thought we'd give it a go. geri, we took the dog twice last year, she wasn't affected by altitiude at all. In fact, as it was cold, she was full of energy, and demanded long walks every afternoon. The colder it got the more lively she was, and it was -20 over Christmas. When it snowed she went really crazy!!!
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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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Helen Beaumont, is that common to all the resorts on the Grande Galaxie pass? Never skied Courmayeur, sounds like a good trip for a day off.
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Lizzard, I don't know, it's new this year.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Helen Beaumont, not finding it on ADH or 2Alpes, but neither website is the best I've ever used, I have to say. Possibly I will be stuck with Alpe du Grand Serre for extra days out as usual. Will certainly be using my four Serre Che tickets though (assuming you have snow again this season).
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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 went to Courmayeur a couple of years ago. I enjoyed it, though you can ski most of the good stuff in a couple of days. Get right to the very top if you can - there's a small gondola that takes you up but it only runs for a few hours a day because of the weather. There'll be hardly anyone up there, so the ski back down is nice and quiet, but steep at the start and quite narrow. You could get some off-piste in up there, too.
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Helen Beaumont, I am amazed that your dog can go even crazier than it is normally 
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You know it makes sense.
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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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Courmayeur is great - especially the second valley - very picturesque with great off piste terrain
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Poster: A snowHead
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Nice place Courmayeur. Not especially large, so easily skiable in a day if you keep moving. Not been for a few years so memory may play a few tricks - but I can get up-to-date info. from the family.
http://www.courmayeur-montblanc.com/inglese/home_ing.htm
The Youla is the small cable car to the top. There is one that goes higher (Arp) for purely off-piste, but it runs even less frequently and may not get renewed when its time comes up - worth it for the views though. The run from Youla is great but unless you go off-piste not always worth the wait.
The side above Val Veny gets a lot of shade but goes quite a long way down, so if the conditions are poor can quickly shift from ice to slush. If the snow's good though the slopes are generally quieter -except around lunch, and very good. The restaurants at the bottom of the Zerotta chair are good and can be a very good sun trap.
The path between the bottom of Internationale & those slops can get a bit hairy at the bottom (just above a restaurant that I've never visited) and a lot easier if not too busy. It's only short though and really only causes problems if you're lacling in confidence or there's someone like that strewn across it (I've been one of those, so think I can say that guilt free). Internazionale (image from bottom of slope) and Gabba (short) are both great fun, though you Internazionale can be tiring if you're out of practise. The Val Veny cable car from Entreves tends to be quieter than the main one in town, and you can get to it first after the tunnel. There's also no wlaking involved from this lift, whereas you'll often have to walk from the main one.
The "main" side of the mountain above the town has the main wider slope between Plan & Col Chercrouit, with a few parallel lifts and slopes. This is where most of the lessons will be. The smaller two chairs up from Chercrouit on the right (as you look up the hill) lead to a slightly different area of skiing with a good restaurant (requires poling) at the top of the left hand one (from where you can see Cervinia/Matterhorn). This lift also leads to a great slope called Stadio (slope under the background lift in the image). The right hand one goes up to Pra Neyron (new lift I link) from where it's possible to ski to a chair that joins up with the top of the Zerotta lift. The left hand one often has a smaller queue so I've often skied it at busy times. Just below the top of the Zerotta lift (where there's an outdoor swimming pool in summer) is a good little restaurant/café with snack food but well done and a great view.
I've only done a couple of the blacks and not very well, so can't comment on them really.
There will soon be a new gondola up from Dolonne at some point (see film at link above). Those who went with Mark Warner long enough ago may remember the Hotel Telecabinne with the two-man bucket gondola that ran up from the hotel in Dolonne. I think that there has been some discussion that this may eventually replace the main lift from the town centre, but I'm out of date with the news there, and may have got the wrong end of the stick.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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skanky, thanks. And everyone else.
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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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Helen Beaumont, if you plan going let me know and I'll get some restaurant recommendations for you (aside from K2 for pizza and Maisn d'Philipo(sp?) for spectacular).
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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skanky, OK, now to find some accommodation, they all seem to accept 'small' dogs.
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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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Every time I have had a week with guides in Chamonix, skiing off piste, we have spent a day in Courmayeur. There is some wonderful off-piste, much of it far off-piste (especially the runs from the tiny top lift (I can't remember if it is "with guide only" like at the Valluga). Also Helbronner (Italian side of Mont Blanc) can be very exciting, but south-facing so the snow can be crud.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Helen Beaumont, more recently (relatively speaking) I've always stayed in the Camosci because we know the owner. It's a good hotel, with the two main downsides being (a) quite a walk from the town centre (b) it can be very difficult to get served in the bar (no barman half the time). If you have a car though, it's on the way out to the Val Veny lift so getting there is easy - but the owner will run you to the lifts if you want. My parents have stayed at a couple of others (Scoiattalo and another right by the main lift) in summer which they have liked. Years and years ago I stayed in the Edelweiss and that was good then.
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Definitely worth a visit. Much pleasanter than average town and good restaurants, beautiful scenery, potentially good but crowded skiing. That's my dim recollection of it.
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Weekends and wednesday afternoons are the most crowded (Wed afters as that's when the schools ski). Bad weather, and you can have the slopes to yourself. The Gabba area is also normally teh quietest, and Stadio is also generally a quiter slope. Buts yes, when it's full, it's very full.
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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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The Gabba will be anything but quiet on 23rd November!
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thanks for that Skanky - I have booked to go to Courmayeur at the end of January and am looking forward to skiing the VB ( if it is open! ). There was a separate thread on the VB six weeks back or so that I started.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Helen Beaumont,
The tiny hamlet of Val Ferret is almost all hotels AFAICT...bound to be something there at the last minute...and its handy for Val Veney and the Entreve lifts which get you into the Courmayer lift sys.
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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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| skanky wrote: |
| Actually, Val Ferret is also good cross country skiing (I've tried it) and off-piste area . |
There has to be a joke lurking about Val Ferret's off-piste area. Perhaps Scarpa will supply the punch line.
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You know it makes sense.
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I may have found some accommodation, says it's at La Saxe?
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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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Uphill from the main town, on the other side of the valley from the lifts. The K2 pizza place is somewhere up that way.
You can see it here. The Val veny cable car is off the Piazzale del Funivia at the top of the map, and the main cable car is at the bottom of the map.
Which hotel?
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Poster: A snowHead
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skanky, a private apartment.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Helen Beaumont, ah right. Very quiet and residential up there.
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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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skanky, I don't mind taking the dog to a hotel, but I find it's better to leave her if we have an apartment. Less people going to and fro past the door.
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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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Helen Beaumont, makes sense.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Helen Beaumont, I wouldn't of minded but I did have my snout in there at the time
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Frosty the Snowman, 
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As skanky pointed out there will be a new 8 person gondola between Dolonne and Plan Checrouit which is due to open in 2006/07. Also the old Pra Neyron chair at the top of the gondola will be replaced by by a six-pack. ( source - where to ski and snowboard 2007 ).
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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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AxsMan, still searching for the accommodation. The one I though was Ok has now sais they won't accept a three night stay, only one week, despite what their ad said.
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FAQ
(took me a while to dig out the hire car!).
