 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi
We are a mixed ability group with flight booked to Milan for Feb 06. Pila sounds nice as the hotel (Chalet des Alpes) is right on the slopes and the guy seems helpful. Could have sworn I'd read a good review of the hotel somewhere but can’t find it now.
Has anyone been to the hotel or resort that can give any advice?
I have emailed lots of hotels in other resorts within a few hours of Milan. Pila seems to be the best bet for what we want (ski in and out accommodation that is relatively affordable).
I see the ski school is morning and afternoon -does anyone have any experience of the school. Suspect that some of the children will moan about being at school all days but they are likely to learn more that way than picking up my bad habits!
Any thoughts appreciated about Pila or other Italian resorts and hpotels that can be receommended. We are travelling independently and favour smaller family run hotels that are on the slopes if poss!
Cheers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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aidancostello, welcome to snowHeads. I can't help with your question, but you're sure to get some good advice before long.
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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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aidancostello, welcome to snowheads, Pila is just above Aosta, you might find it a tad small but there are other larger resorts not too far away, La Thuile and Courmayer are also in the Aosta valley.
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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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I had one week in Pila in 2002. A very mixed group of nearly 30 from my work, including several complete beginners. We stayed in Aosta, Hotel Europe 4*, between Courthouse and central open square. Pleasant hotel, good food and facilities, also used by business people and non-skiing tourists. Only five or ten minutes walk from hotel to lift and then 20 minuntes in a bubble lift to access the skiing area. The ski school (or one of them) had mostly English teachers, I think they were a mix of BASI trainers and others doing their BASI training. Most of our group had group skiing lessons and enjoyed them. One lady (of a certain age) did not like her group lessons and wanted to give up skiing, but was persuaded to have a private lesson. She enjoyed that and continued skiing for the rest of the week.
Pila is a small resort, great for novices, but better skiiers will ski every run in three or four days. On the other hand (see another Snowheads thread - cannot find it now, can anyone remember it and provide a link?) you can enjoy and get get many benefits from repeatedly skiing the same run or runs. If all of your group are dedicated skiiers then staying in Pila may be good, but the resort has a small range of shops, restuarants, bars etc so has limited options after skiing. My recomendation would be to stay in Aosta itself. The lift up was very efficient but you have the advantage of accomodation in a big old town. Lots of non-skiing things to do. Several places of historical interest. Vast range of shops, bars etc. Access to real Italians and real Italian culture.
Had one day skiing in Courmayeur, about 35km and 50 minutes by coach from Aosta. This was a worthwhile change of resort.
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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.
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Thanks to you all.
I am amazed to have had several replies so quickly and out of season too! I am one of the more experienced skiers. Three of us are more experienced and would do the runs within the three or four days by the sounds of things but I don't mind doing the same runs twice. It sounds promising for our group who are mostly first second or third time skiers and not advanced by any means.
Will watch out for more replies.
If anyone can recommend anywhere else close to Milan I would be grateful. It needs to be ski in and out and suitable for beginners or less confident second timers. Quite like the idea of resorts not full of English people and covered by the big package companies.
Thanks so much!
Aidan
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In reply to hibernia, it was with Interski.
aidancostello, Pila has great skiing for "beginners or less confident second timers", I do not know how close or convenient the Pila accomodation is to the skiing and lifts. You also say "needs to be ski in and out", this may mean you dislike carrying skis and wearing boots for long walks - no problem. Interski have a building close by the bottom of the Aosta to Pila bubble lift. We left skis and boots in that building, it has lots of storage areas with seating etc so changing footwear is comfortable. You then just walk a few flat yards to the lift. The top of the lift is adjacent to a piste.
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Pila has a good, varied ski area. It is on the small side tho, so better skiers may want a change of scene by the end of the week, but there are runs for all standards and some off-piste in the right conditions.
We stayed in Aosta, which was okay, but a bit over-rated we thought. Maybe we were in the wrong part, but I didn't rate the apres. Gondola access up to Pila easy enough.
As far as other resorts in the area are concerned, I've not been to La Thuile but hear it is okay for beginners & early inters. Cervinia is snowsure but better skiers will need to go over to Zermatt as the Italian side is v dull, but that could be an option. The Monterosa area is not so hot for beginners, but great for inters. I would stick with Pila/Aosta and have a day out to Courmayeur, which is easy to get to from Aosta.
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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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aidancostello, IMO La Thuile is a much better option, it's not ski-in ski-out but it's a nice village with some very good skiing and given decent snow conditions some very good off-piste above Piccolo San Bernardo and Fourclaz. You've also got the option of skiing in La Rsoiere in France on the same lift pass. There's over 150 kms of piste on the ESpace San Bernardo pass and there is also the chance to go heli-skiing from the St Bernard, so you're unlikely to be too bored or have to ski the same run too many times unless you want to. Some of the best mountain restuarants in Italy are in and around La Thuile.
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aidancostello,
My in-laws go there every year. They are 81 and 79 though!
Don't let that put you off too much in that they also take my niece who's a bit of a demon skier and learnt to ski there. It is still the case that Interski tend to dominate things a bit, so if you do want to avoid lots of compatriots on packages it's not your best bet. No one has mentioned that they have really extensive snow making, so if it's a poor winter (I pray that that isn't the case) you would be well off in Pila.
I'm don't think i can agree with the ice perv, that Cervinia is V dull. There's nothing scarily demanding in terms of off piste, but plenty of good, challenging pistes and the between piste off (if that makes sense!) is safe, but fun. I wouldn't write it off.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I have looked at La Thuile and La Rosiere. Some in the group are adamant that we go for somewhere ski in and ski out which is why Pila is favourite at the moment. There are quite afew children so it does make life easier being right on thd slopes. Also none of teh hotels I jhave contacted in other resorts havebeen as helpful or are simply booked up.
This information is great so thanks to all of you and anyone else who joins the debate!
We would be arranging lessons with the local ski school rather than interski because they will only do lessons for people who have booked with them rather than "independientes".
The other attraction about Pila is that despite being peak season (Feb half term) the lift prices and ski equipment prices looked pretty reasonable based on last year. They even do free passes for under 8's I think. I had got the impression when I first started looking that it was not much visited by UK skiers but that might not be the case.
Quiet apres-ski is not a problem. With young children it tends to be just sitting in the hotel bar after the children have gone to bed anyway.
How many years have you in-laws been going there Steve? Can't be too bad if they go back year after year. Have read some very good reviews of the resort on goski.com and ifyouski.com.
Cheers
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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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aidancostello, tempting to say that they were the first British Alpinistes there back in 1926, but sadly not so! They only started skiing in their early 60's. Hope for all of us!
I think they've been going to Pila for about 9 years and really enjoy the atmosphere and scale of the place. I think they do chaep passes for the over 70s too!
Reading a bit more about the make up of your group, I can see why you would like it too. In-laws have always gone Interski and I think have always stayed in Aosta.
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We skied Pila a couple of years ago, and had a great time. Atmosphere was very welcoming and the upper part of the resort was a lot of fun. Limited runs, but we kept coming across little wrinkles which had us going round again and again. One word of warning - there is a channel down to the town which is a green run, well used by beginners and learners, but which is also the home run for everybody who has been zooming around the reds and blacks. I though this was a little unnerving at the end of the day, especially for anybody who was a bit wobbly. We stayed in Pila in a hotel at the bottom of the baby lift (which wasn't running) and had a fine time.
David
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You know it makes sense.
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Thanks all and David and Steve for the more recent posts. Any more opinions or tips welcomed to help explain to rest of group the pros of this resort. Sounds ideal for our group.
regards
Aidan
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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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We did a weekend in Pila the season before last staying in Aosta.
Aosta town itself is a bit overrated IMHO, it lacks any real ski resort atmosphere, probably because it isn't one.
It's a convenient place to use as a base to do the Aosta valley if staying for longer.
We only found one lively bar and that was on our first night (Friday), pretty quiet after that.
It has got the walled old town and plenty of shops and restaurants if thats your thing.
I liked Pila, it had a lot of variation to the pistes but defintely too small for a week (3 day max)
Surprisingly for a small resort the black runs are actually black runs.
Also the pist map is quite small and gives little protection from the elements if you forget to take a windproof layer 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Was there for a day two years ago (Cervinia, our base, was closed due to high winds). Pila had better snow. Echo other posts, it's a bit small BUT I've skied for ten years in a much smaller place. Good bowl skiing at the top, scenery not bad at all, and much more variety of runs than Cervinia. Looks like a good bet given your requirements and there's always the possibility of going elsewhere for a day.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks Cedric, Rich et al.
I'm more and more encouraged. Thanks for the feedback. It looks like the others in the group like the sound of it. Think we are nearly there. A couple of minor accommodation problems to solve (fitting five into a room for four) but it is not insurmountable. Having tow children seem to work better with the Pila hotels.
There are two ski schools it seems. The ski school of Aosta Valley and the ski school of Pila. Any thoughts on them?
Other comments on Pila still welcomed though - hotels?? Chalet des Alpes and the Lion Noir are the favourites at the moment -only two hotels to reply actually. It was one until today when after tow months the Lion Noir contacted me.
As a seasoned researcher on skiing websites I have to say I have not come across anywhere so friendly and helpful as here after several years using the web for ski and other research.
Thanks everyone…..
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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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the ice perv,
You must have been going to the wrong places! I did the BASI Gap course in Aosta/Pila and loved the place. For skiers staying in Aosta most of the apres revolved around the Old distillery, aka "the pub" and then a little place round the corner from the Hotel Bus known as the duck bar, which would kick us out about 5am. If you want to venture beyond the "ski resort" atmosphere place then there are a few typically Italian clubs that are a laugh.
I didn't get bored skiing Pila for a season. But then I was concentrating on my technique, rather than wanting to cover a lot of distance. There are only a couple of challenging black runs (the wall being one) but there is lots of excellent off piste.
If you are looking for any form of apres then stay in Aosta. If you want ski in ski out then stay in Pila.
Interski do primarily concentrate on school trips, but if you're with Interski classics (the adults) you won't see much of them - they stay in different hotels. Interski's ski school only caters for their own guests. The Italian ski school in Pila is meant to be very good. Interski which has a number of excellent English instructors, and also trains BASI instructors employ Italian instructors during busy weeks.
And the best thing - Pila really is the sunniest place in the world!
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