 Poster: A snowHead
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On this years boys trip we were determined to go somewhere new. We have done various trips to the 3v, Espace Killy and to the Ski Amade. After weighing up all of the flight options, and also our specific travel date peculiarities, We, well I, chose Pila in the Aosta Valley with Easyjet flights from Newcastle to Geneva £85. We flew out on monday 12th March and back late on the Saturday. There was ten of us, ranging from fat cripples (me) to very good skiers.
We hired a minibus and a car via Carhire3000. The mini bus was especially cheap at about £400 and was great for transferring and storing all of the skis. We hired from the French side as it was massively cheaper, and a shorter walk to the hire car storage area!. The bus had 11,000km on the clock, a Renault Master, but was battered to bits. I could even see the paint on the car park exit bollard that some previous user had stuffed it into before reaching the public roads! The car did not bother with a vignette but we in the bus bought one for €40 from the 1st customs office on the road. Next cost was the Mont Blanc tunnel which was about €50 return (always buy a return, valid for 7 days and MUCH cheaper).
The drive was fine but once you hit the Mont Blanc tunnel there is a mass of tunnels from there to Aosta, a very dull drive. We passed Cormayeur and descended down to the town of Aosta where had booked to stay at some apartments. There had been little snow across the French and Italian Alps for a number of weeks and the temperature as we reached Aosta (Alt 600m), at 5pm was 23c !!!!!!!.
We found our gaff, Casa Giorgis http://www.appartamenti-aosta.com/sito/pagen/chisiamo.htm. Parked in parking area 60m away and wandered along. We had struck gold; 2 very nice apartments, 6 single beds in each in a lovely small courtyard 50m into the pedestrian precinct of Old Aosta. The price included all bedding and cleaning and was €25 per person per night. The only downside was that was very little snow on the mountain tops.
We dashed out to Sports Gal at the gondola station to collect our rental gear, which was fine and very cheap, booked through SkiSet using the snowHead discount. Back to the gaff, unpack, shower, change and out for a meal and a few beers. The first night we walked into the magnificent old town, had an ok meal and a few beers.
1st morning, 5 min drive to the gondola, park right outside and bought a 4 day Pila Pass (€125). (This gave us 1 free day at another Aosta resort). No queues at all so into the gondola for the 17 minute ride. It is a good bit of kit and allowed us to chat, relax and soak in the views. We were full of trepidation about the snow as things were looking BAD. It was out of the gondola, clip in and ski down, well slide down over corrugated iron, frozen, groomed slush to the Chamole chair.
The snow: Typical spring conditions BUT if you planned the day well one could have great skiing all day. We were stunned as to the quality of what the north facing slopes had in store for us. The off piste was a no-no, but some great piste skiing to be had. One day some friends of mine came from Cormayeur to ski and they said conditions in Pila were way better, This persuaded us to stick to Pila for the period. Because the resort was so quiet there was never any mounding of the snow and it was always a pleasure to ski the snow, even late afternoon. The temperature down in Aosta at 5pm was usually 22-24C every day!!
The Pistes: A couple of the best pistes were shut all week for racing and the sun facing ones on the far right were also shut but we had plenty to keep us happy. A couple of good blacks but the rest were red and blue. Some very interesting runs though. Certainly enough to keep us happy. A great beginners area at “mid” station and I would say that with all of the pistes open intermediates could happily spend a week there.
Mountain Food: We ate almost exclusively at the resto at the top of the Chamole chair. Reasonably priced, fabulous vista in the sun on the terrace and spectacular local grub. One day our table of 4 shared the following: Wonderful breads with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, Meats and cheeses, rocket salad with thinly sliced chicken breast, a balsamic syrup and shaved parmesan, side dishes of roasted peppers & other veg, and spinach with butter. Pannacotta with passion fruit. Drinks and a complimentary grappa to finish - €15!!! (This was better in every respect, apart from service, than even the Ours Blanc in Les Menuires)
So we liked Pila, a really nice spot perhaps because we enjoyed lapping many of the interesting runs.
Lets move on to Aosta, an industrial valley town, lots of hideous bits but a magnificent area that varies between mediaeval and Roman. Our apartments were lovely and we were welcomed like kings in the local bars. Our restaurant of choice was the Bataclan http://bataclan.it/home.asp which was 80m from our home. The welcome, food, music and ambience were just tremendous and our bills ranged from €15-30 pp depending on how big a night we were having. There was a bakers directly opposite the apartment and shops and take-away establishments nearby. The drive to the gondola was 5 mins and the parking free and easy. A big supermarket is right next to the gondola. We got used to the Gondola journey and it was modern and comfortable and at 17 mins allowed one a bit of relaxation after a couple of beers in the bar opposite the top station.
On the Saturday we elected not to ski as the blue skies had been repaced with cloud and drizzle so we detoured to Annecy, walked the town and lake in the sun and…. Yes you guessed it, had a spot of lunch. For a mix of delightful town and good skiing Aosta old town and Pila comes highly recommended from 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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Pila is a great resort and, if you need more than you get in a usual resort, Aosta town is pretty good.
You can avoid the tunnels on the way to an from Mont Blanc by taking the old road. This adds about 15 minutes, saves about €8 in tolls and is a lot more picturesque.
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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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+1 on the above, old road every time.
Frosty the Snowman, Very full and similar to our findings which is why we go back every year. If you do not ski at the weekends it is generally very quiet. 90% of the time we have no lift queues at all.
We stay up in the village and get it organised by Carole at Pilaski.co.uk as it is the same price as DIY but loads less hassle. Saves the 17min Gondola trip. Our hotel is right on the slopes so only 20m walk from the garage/store to the slope.
Also have to agree about the on Mountain food/drink prices really good value. Yes it is a small resort but we do not mind doing same runs over as I never get them right anyway. The grooming guys really do a great job - we were there in Feb and it was flipping hot then. The ones that were shut for you had brown patches on them in the afternoon, but next morning were fine again.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Jake43, yes, I was frequently very full 
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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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Frosty the Snowman, So were we we had to stop eating lunch as we were too full to eat the 5 course evening meal.
Up in Pila an evening in the Yeti bar will be finished off by them leaving a bottle of Lemonchello on the table (gratis). as there is only 3 of us we have not managed to get to the end of the bottle yet, although one night we did a very good job on it.
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I did MonteRosa, Cervinia/Zermatt and Pila in January 2012.
Pila is not high and the sun can melt the snow away easily had the resort not formed by cutting piste out of a forest. I do agree that it is a nice little place to ski. However a meaningful comparison of what Aosta Valley could offer one should try out Monte Rosa (made up by 3 valleys of Alagna, Gressoney and Champoluc) and Cervinia (fully linked with Zermatt of Switzerland). These are bigger resorts with altitude but close to the town of Aosta.
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Great trip report Frosty the Snowman, Brings back v happy memories. Stayed twice in the Plan Bois hotel right up at the v top of the resort, a mad ski to the back door following a grappa or bombardino. For anyone reading this who is heading out there, if the Montanara pizza place is still there (as part of Plan Bois) then def go for it as a lunchtime pitstop - a really nice wood-fired job and top notch pizza. The other advice I have is to stock up on Italian gourmet goodies in that megamarket at bottom of gondola in Aosta - lots of great stuff at super value prices.
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Frosty the Snowman, good read.
Would rather ski Pila than Cervinia for sure.
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sounds a great place. I am getting fond of Italy; off to Genoa on Sunday for a week's Italian language course.
Those tunnels aren't fun, especially in bright sun, in and out of the visibility. The old road is fine, though the frequent changes of speed limit take a bit of concentration. Having spent hours camped in a car with broken clutch at the entrance to one of Aosta's huge steel factories my memories of the town aren't very rosy, but must go again, and see the old bits, this time. Anywhere in northern Italy, within striking distance of Turin and Milan, it seems that it's best to avoid skiing at weekends.
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