Mrs Stoner Sr has just out of the blue offered suppressing babysitting Stoners Jr in March next year so that Mrs Stoner and I could go ski/snowboarding for the first time in 6 years 😯 😯 😯

I snowboard (natch, Im clumsy and have terrible sense of balance)
She skis.

We’ve been to:
Kitzbuhel
St Anton
Morzine (many times)
Nendaz (Valais)

Mrs S just suggested Italy. I have no idea what resorts/quality of snow etc is there, so anyone with any experience care to shout out a few resorts/piste areas for me to do my googlethang with?
Something we can fly towards and get a transfer to would be the easiest, assuming we can stay near a navette stop or resort centre.

Courmayer is nice and you get chamonix too… Which rocks !

Livigno is a great place. I really enjoyed the skiing there. And the village is really nice too.

It’s a bit add as it looks just like an Austrian village, but that’s no bad thing.

It’s really cheap too as its in a Tax Free region so the whole resort is Duty Free.

Went to Livigno a few years back in march, was a great place for piste quality, lots of nice off-piste tree runs too. Few gnarl blacks but mostly nice swooping red runs. Transfer was from Innsbruck I think? About 2hrs by shuttle bus. It’s quite quiet at night, an irish pub, a few bars/a club but nothing too raucous

Have you tried 3 valleys area of France?

If you liked St Anton, Verbier also gets my big positive vote – It has a bar with amazing live bands for Après ski every single night, what a winner!

How nice of your parents too!!

Stoner, will mail you some pointers.

I really, really like Courmayeur (learned to ski there in late 80s / early 90s, first ski hol there with GF, now mrs rkk01 etc).

I would say that it’s at it’s best for (early?) intermediate type skiers – there are some lovely long reds down through the trees, but with some steep narrow sections. There are also lots of flats which would be a pain fo a boarder.

Have also been to Cervinia, which is better for skiing and boarding, especially with access to Zermat when the weather is good. Good wide fast reds, and the Ventina is reputed to be the longest posted run in Europe – from Kleine Matterhorn all the way down to Cervinia. Makes he leg burn an the heart bellow with all that is thrilling in life!!!

Sella Ronda? Any of the villages on the loop.
If you pick Arabba, then can sneak in a quick visit to Venice too at the start/end of the trip.

Personally I’d pick one which borders France, as you get a lot of options. We really liked La Rosiere / La Thuile and Montgenieve / Sestriere. We’re in Arabba this year (arrived last night).

I’ve done a day in Cervinia during a week in Zermatt. The run down from the Kleine Matterhorn is pretty spectacular as mentioned above. Zermatt is stunning too – 4000m peaks in every direction including the Matterhorn.

My folks have been to the Dolomites a few times and love it, not sure which resorts though. The food in mountain restaurants in Italy is great and cheap if my experience was anything to go by.

As Footflaps says La Thuile has a nice mix of runs through woods and in the open, and over the border into La Rosiere is a good day out although a pain on a board going back. Would stay in either again

Had a great week in Cormayeur a while back. Had day trips to Chamonix (was very busy) and Pila (some really nice wide slopes plus some tight chutes).

And had a rest day(the day after my 40th birthday celebrations 😉 )taking the cable car up to the restaurant on Mont Blanc.

Cervinia is nice and connected to Zermatt which is a great place to ski. Really quirky, like nowhere else. It would be pretty poor for boarding, though. We hardly saw one boarder on the Zermatt side. I’ve been to Passo Tonale a few times. It’s a nice area with a good variety of runs. They work hard to keep the snow good as well. Not the prettiest town but most of the hotels are close to the slopes.

cheers guys, lots of places to look into on top of some stuff from CFH too.
Going to enjoy this evening thrashing my googlemojo and fantasising about carved turns, powder-god boarding and no kids….*sigh*

I also thought La Rosiere / La Thuile had the best views of any resort I’d been to (inc Zermat). The view from the ridge as you traverse between the two sides was just stunning.

Above the clouds by brf, on Flickr

We used to cross back into France at the end of the stay and ski all the way down as the sun set, after / as the lifts all shut.

Sunset by brf, on Flickr

Mist over French valleys by brf, on Flickr

Had the Italian side to ourselves at New Year:

Sunset in La Thuile by brf, on Flickr

If you like sunny cruising around and scenery then I can’t recommend the Dolomiti Superski area enough. I’ve based myself in Selva and Possa-di-Fassa before.

Went to Canazei in Val di Fassa last year, definitely recommended.

There is a different approach I took with some mates a few years ago. Stay in the Aosta valley ( not sure I’d re moments the very basic hotel we had but other options must be a available) and drive to a different resort each day with the val d’aosta ski pass.

We did pila( ok as warm up day) courmayour (Good fun), cervinia (big pistes lots of concrete buildings and best of all access to zermatt) and completely unknown to me the brilliant monte rosa area. Starting at champulac the 3 valleys offer some great skiing plus lovely villages and food. I’m tempted to go back for a week there on own. Great pistes and amazing off piste too right up against the same mountains as zermatt.

Of course, that very pictured drag lift between La Rosiere and Italy goes on FOREVER on a board! Plus the runs back are flat and the lift operators are miserable… still, the views are nice, as is the semi boardercross track if the snow’s good.
Passo Tonale is good for intermediates. The whole area linked to Sestriere is great all the way over the Mont Genevre and Sauze D’Oulx has some lovely runs. The whole area is good since the Turin Olympics.
However, if you can afford it forget Italy and go to Tigne / Val D’Isere! Great lifts, amazing runs, spectacular scenery good atmosphere…

I’m taking the missus to Pila in March – she went with school and she loved it. Doesn’t look like the biggest of areas but might be my chance to try skis instead of a board.

I was in Bardonecchia last March, not a bad area, but a nice chilled little town. The Chalet was exceptional.

Pedlad: I totally agree and have been organising my snowboarding trips this way for years. There are loads of opportunities for this in the alps as quiet smaller resorts are clustered and rarely more than 40 mins from a major valley town. Previously I have based myself in:

Chur ( Swiss)
Sion (Swiss)
Lucerne (Swiss)
Radstadt (Austria)
Innsbruck ( a wonderful base)
Possa di Fassa (Italy)
Landeck (Austria)
Aosta (Italy)

Can recommend Alagna (part of the Monte Rosa area) if you like serious off piste and good value accommodation. Great guides and lots of challenging runs. Not great if you only stay on piste as you can ski the whole area in a day if you hammer it.

Booked with Zuba Ski, can highly recommend these guys. Very good !

http://www.alagna.co.uk/

Had a day only in Courmayour, it was lovely.

Montgenieve last year. Would go back again.

Shudda gone to Courmayour the year before but broke my hand (x 5) two days before. My pals recommend the place.

I’ve only been to Sauze D’Oulx, which I really enjoyed. The people and food were so much better than France. Added bonus is it’s only 90 minutes on the coach from Turin. Which I feel is one thing to look out for with Italian resorts – monster transfers.

Haven’t skied in Courmayeur but did visit for a day – really nice town.

torsoinalake – Member
I’ve only been to Sauze D’Oulx, which I really enjoyed. The people and food were so much better than France. Added bonus is it’s only 90 minutes on the coach from Turin. Which I feel is one thing to look out for with Italian resorts – monster transfers

Yep. Agreed. But then, some of French resorts have monster transfers too! That’s why I pick Serre Che, every time. Not too long a transfer, but a great place!

Sauze is ace for food, I’d agree, especially the Orso Bianco, but the skiing? Not the best IMHO.

Yes, it’s part of the Via Lattea, but I find that’s a little too strung out for just a week, IMHO. So, again, to Serre Che. 250km+ of pistes and more slack and back than you can shake a stick at. Plus, some lovely mountain food! And lovely food in the valley too. Not a place for party animal apres-nuts, but then I suspect Stoner will be reaching for his comfy slippers and cocoa every night, like every other over the hill boarder! :- )

Came back from Arabba in the Dolomites on Saturday. Loved every minute of it. Check out some photos on the ski thread…

Did Cervinia last Christmas and had a great time there too.

Went to Sauze D’Oulx last year staying in th eBrand Bosco hotel and had a fantastic trip. Great snow and lots of runs to go at and a good hotel with excellent meals.

Serre Che… used to love that resort. I ended up running a boozer there many years ago. a great lillte resort with some big resort skiing. And there used to be a lot of unhinged characters there.

I think there are some great recommendations above and there are some great little resorts in Italy but if you’re a boarder and haven’t been for 6 years make sure you check out how many drag lifts the resort has cos they will hurt you and those Italians do love their draglifts!

those Italians do love their draglifts!

Virtually 0 in Sella Ronda.

I can think of only 2 in what is basically quite a massive area. Both are there just to gain a bit of vertical, and even then, 1 is totally avoidable, and the other you only really if you do a long touristy scenic day out.

No experience of other Italian resorts. Seen (and had to use) many more drag lifts in France and Switzerland (just for balance).

thanks for all the info. Had some fun poking around at Sestriere/Sauze.

However, on further consideration I reckon we might not be able to squeeze a full 7 days for a package trip out of Stoner Sr. Stitching together our own holiday in a place we dont know very well is a bit of stretch, so I reckon we’ll instead touch a up a mate to use his chalet in Morzine for 5 days. By my reckoning, sleazy jet flights from brizzle to geneva (£200), plus car (£160), plus ski passes (£200) will work out as pretty good value. A week with Neilson or Cristal in Sestriere was going to be £1200 + ski passes for a basic package holiday for the two of us and we’d be stuck on 7 day flights.

Will have another look at at the end of the year and if we can make it work with kids ski skool and creche might have a go at Italy. Youve all made it sound quite appealing.

Had a good trip to Gressoney many years ago. Loved it but, looking at the map on-line, it looks small now.

Stayed a few nights at the Rifugio Gabiet right up the mountain.

I had my first ski trip in 20 yrs in March to Cormayour and really got bitten by the bug again…..loved it!

However I found the skiing there quite limited and we went off for a day at la Thuile which was fabulous.

Also recall Serre Chev as a fabulous resort, so varied and best of anywhere I’ve been.

Really enjoyed East Tyrol in spring time. I know it’s in Austria but St Jakob only just as right on Italian border Dolomites. Great spring time skiing

Even though a lot of Italian resorts have everything one could want from a skiing holiday, you are better off in a French resort imo.
I love Tignes and if you can make this a regular yearly event get over there.

Just think Stoner, you can now spend 2 days reading last years and this years STW ski and snowboarding threads.

you are better off in a French resort imo.

+1