 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi All,
Just got back from pila, last trip of the season for us 
Arrived at Turin to pick up car for the easy 1hr 30mins drive to resort.
On drive up from Aosta the snow started falling and from the look by the sides of the road they had definately had a decent amount of recent snowfall. Stayed at the Hotel Chance in resort, fantastic hotel, food the best we have ever had on a ski holiday only downside being a very steep uphill trek to the piste, or the other option was to chuck the ski's in the car and drive the 2 mins to the free car park.
Snow conditions fantastic all runs open and not crowded at all. Went 'snow-tubing' on the new area recently opened right in front of the hotel, decent little run in a rented do-nut with a nice travelator to carry you back up to go again! cost was 5 euros for 3hrs of tubing! very popular with the small kids! (and the big kids like us!)
Started snowing again thursday afternoon which meant we woke up to approx 5inches of powder on friday, cloud kept drifting in and out and as a result none of the locals had come up to ski so it was very very quiet. Top of the mountain runs shut due to avalanche risk.
Saturday was very clear and the locals decended in force! It really is true when i have read other reviews saying pila is quiet during the week and busy at weekends, we had trouble finding a parking spot! if you can, go to pila midweek and leave before the aosta crowds arrive. There were a few school trips in resort with interski, but to be honest we hardly noticed them, we expected there to be alot more school groups then there were.
Most reds on the easier end of the scale and some would definately be classed as blue elsewhere. I am a nervous intermediate and managed nearly all the runs that were red without too much trouble. There is a seperate learner area at the bottom of the resort served by two travelators which is practically deserted all the time, and would be a great place for total beginners as there is a very long and easy blue that winds its way all the way down almost from the top, would give beginners a real sense of travelling. For beginners who progress quickly would easily be tackling some of the reds by the end of a week. Don't be put of by the number of reds on the piste map, most are very easy and often wide and empty. most runs are tree lined and its a very pretty place with stunning views of mont blanc and the matterhorn. As it sits in big bowl you never seem to get high winds but we noticed that most mornings low cloud comes down early but will generally clear by mid-morning, although we are not too sure whether this is a regular thing or just happened when we were there.
There is also an ice rink and you can also go dog-sledding if that's your thing!
overall would definately go back to pila, but would go sunday and come back friday to avoid the crowds.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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cbowls30, Glad you enjoyed it. One of my favorite resorts with lots of good memories.
Out of interest, was your hotel new, built in the last couple of years ?
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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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yes it was, i think they said they had only been there 3 ish years? rooms were the best i've ever seen in a ski hotel, and the view, well, breathtaking dosn't quite do it justice! Apparently is was an old barn they bought and re-developed.....
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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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Just got back too and apart from the broken leg with one of the group, had a great time, as usual. We do the Sunday to Saturday concept and the biggest queue we had was 7 people !
Do a fuller report soon
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