Gressoney verses Cervinia

A snowHead

We are looking for somewhere to go next year, at half term. My Wife is a nervous intermediate, whereas I would catogorise my son and I as adventurous intemediates.

My son and I have done most of our skiing in Grandvalira, where we could could cover the whole area, any of the reds, a few blacks.

My Wife still likes to stick to the easy blues she knows.

So looking for something new. I like the look of Gressoney Monterosa, my son would like to go to Cervinia.

Looking for comments on both resorts and how they might suit us.

Seen plenty on Snowheads previously which seem to favour Gressoney, but particulary interested in a comparison between Grandvalira, Gressoney and Cervinia to put it into context.

A snowHead

bruisedskier, me, I would go to Gressoney. But if I was going with a 'nervous intermediate' who sticks to 'the easy blues she knows', I would think twice about this. The Monterosa area, I believe, suits confident intermediates and upwards. Runs are mostly red and long (and the scenery, though fantastic, is pretty wild). Really only a couple of blues in the whole of Monterosa (and you have to use reds to get to them).

The other thing to consider is how busy places will be at half term. Italian resorts nothing like the French - but I suspect that Cervinia may be busier. How about La Thuile as another option in the Aosta valley?

Don't know Grandvalira - so can't help with a comparison.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I have been to both, Gressonay would be my choice, BUT you can hear a garage door slam at two miles in Gressonay at night, it's very quiet.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

jbob, does the quality of skiing sway you, or do you prefer quiet resorts?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I haven't been to Gressoney but I have recently been to Cervinia and it's an easy ski area. Blues are very easy and most of the reds could easily pass as blue. The more challenging skiing is over in Zermatt but you will need an international lift pass for that. I think Cervinia/Zermatt is a larger ski area than Monte Rosa.

You'll need to Register first of course.

My head says we should head to Cervinia, but I like what I've read about Monterosa and I know the Monterosa valleys will give more of a sense of exploration for my son. I have a plan that we'd explore whilst my wife is in ski school and meet up to ski together.

Is Champoluc a better choice of base in Monterosa ?

Slightly confused because having considered Monterosa as being too difficult for my wife, I read a Inghams brochure which gave Monterosa a favourable (4 blue stars) for beginners, with a comment - "Skiing in Champoluc for beginners - The ideal terrain is located at the top of the Punta Jolanda chairlift, a great area to gain confidence for the first day on skis. Most blue runs can be conquered by the end of the week."

Strange 'cos even I can see Punta Jolanda is in Gressoney. I guess if there are only a couple of blues in the area that's no big challange, and if you've made it to Gressoney from Champoluc what's the worry wink

Not too worried about night life. No, or low, queues and quiet pistes would be nice though.

I guess I'm asking whther or not there is any validity in the above quote or whether it's sales rubbish.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

JHBGerry, It's all about the skiing.
bruisedskier, Gressonay is strange, it's very busy at weekends with Italians, but very quiet in the week. There is the odd difficult run but mostly the pistes are fine, with a lot of off piste if you want it. Plus great mountain atmosphere.
Cervinia is mainly wide motorway skiing. You can ski in zermatt but if that's the type of skiing you seek go there.

After all it is free

Can anyone comment on the...

"Skiing in Champoluc for beginners - The ideal terrain is located at the top of the Punta Jolanda chairlift, a great area to gain confidence for the first day on skis. Most blue runs can be conquered by the end of the week."

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Spud9, thanks for that.

Could you shed any more light on:

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

bruisedskier, Sorry for the delayed reply.

Don't know anything about the ski schools, other than that they exist, which is a start I suppose.

In general the reds in the area are pretty easy, and providing you pick them with care (i.e. you check them out first), shouldn't worry a nervous inermediate. The easy reds I was talking about in my last post are either side of the Colle Bettaforca, which is the ridge between the Gressoney and the Champoluc valleys. The red run from Colle Bettaforca down to the mid station on the Gressoney side (run G1 on my piste map) is particularly easy; long, wide, good snow and no more tham French blue run steepness. The run from the Col the other way back into the Champoluc valley is also easy.

One problem is that both the above runs are quite tricky to access from either Gressoney or Champoluc. A nervous skier would be better starting either at Frachey (up the valley from Champoluc) or Stafel (up the valley from Gressoney).

Generally I would say that the runs in the Champoluc valley are easier than those in the Gressoney valley (with the exception of the easy piste from Colle Bettaforca towards Stafel mentioned above). One piste to be wary of on the Champoluc side however is the red Sarezza-Contenery (C6 on the piste map open in front of me). This has a short section dropping down between two high rock walls, giving a slightly couloir-ish feel. Your wife may find this intimidating. Unfortunately this run is the link from the skiing directly above Champoluc to the skiing above Frachey- and onto the rest of the Monte Rosa skiing. This is why you might want to start from Frachey if staying in Champoluc. Getting back from above Frachey to Chompoluc is straightforward, largely on a blue run.

Personally, if I went in a group with a nervous early intermediate I would stay in Gressoney and start skiing each day at Stafel.

Final point, the piste map does the main Monte Rosa lift network no favours. By including some of the unconnected outlying areas , and leaving plenty of room for the big mountains in the background, the map squeezes the joined up lift served skiing into a tiny area. The majority of the Gressoney skiing is crammed into an area an inch and a half square in the centre of the map, making the ski area look tiny. It's not; Monte Rosa is a large scale resort with long runs and lifts and big vertical.

Hope this helps.

I'm sure you and your son will love it, especially venturing over to Algana

snow reports

Spud9

Thanks for the info.

We're sold on it, so we'll give it a go.

Thanks everyone for their input.

Help!!

Gressoney verses Cervinia

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