Skiing in Italy - there is snow other place!
Living in northern Italy gives us the opportunity to ski at weekends and even for the day.
We are within two and a half hours of the Aosta Valley and have therefore skied in Pila, La Thuile and Valtournenche & Cervinia.
With views of the mighty Matterhorn and surrounded by stunning scenery, Valtournenche’s ski area is served by a good lift system which connects the town with Cervinia as well as Zermatt in Switzerland. Just make sure you have the right pass and ID for crossing the border!
La Thuile is an unspoilt resort with links to La Rosiere in France, although it does involve a long but do-able drag lift back into Italy. Even at half term, we enjoyed quiet slopes, a modern lift system and hardly any queues. There are great runs for beginners with lots of impressive intermediate slopes. The views are stunning and there is a big bowl where there is kite skiing available. There is a good choice of restaurants on the slopes (we found one with the most incredible views!) and a nice little town for aperitivi and regional food.
We have skied in Pila many times. The drive to Pila from the Aosta Valley is spectacular – especially when Mont Blanc comes into sight. The ski area offers mainly red runs, some very wide and manageable for progressing skiers with a few black runs and some good off-piste. The resort offers beautiful views of Mont Blanc, an excellent snow record, superb snowmaking with a good selection of authentic Italian restaurants for those long lunches and bombardinos. I love the runs through the trees!
If we do stay overnight, we stay in the Roman town of Aosta with its authentic atmosphere and good choice of bars and restaurants (many in wine cellars).
At New Year (2017/18), we skied in Passo Tonale with plenty of quiet, easy runs accessed by chairlifts but with plenty of red and black runs through the trees. There is a gondola that takes you from the bottom all the way to the glacier too. Great value for money and some great restaurants on the slopes! At Easter (2018), we skied in Bardonecchia - home to the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics - which was sunny and gentle slopes for beginners and intermediates with very few queues and linked to Montgenevre – part of the Milky Way. I can point you to a fab cocktail bar in town too!
Other ski resorts we have tried: close to Lake Maggiore is the small resort of San Domenico and a short drive from Milan is Piani de Bobbio. We have yet to explore the Dolomites as a family so that is on the ‘ski’ bucket list for next season!