Author Topic: 'All-mountain' skis and the occasional skier  (Read 1217 times)

Johnny2R

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Re: 'All-mountain' skis and the occasional skier
« on: January 31, 2012, 12:29:45 pm »
Hey Johnny -- great review.  Thanks for that.  Sounds like you had a super trip.  Post back and tell us about the resort you skied, landscape, Italian villages....and the food!

The base resort was Gressoney La Trinite, in the middle of the three valleys which make up the Monte Rosa ski area (between Champoluc and Alagna). Big lift-linked area with lots of great long runs, but the main attraction is the off-piste - Monte Rosa is the second highest mountain in Europe and is HUGE, with many sub-summits, and a whole mass of skiing off the back of it. Needless to say, with the snow being as it was, we were more restricted to pisted runs, but we did a lot of venturing off into areas off to the side of the pistes in search of interesting snow. As is typical of Italy, the slopes are peppered with lovely, cosy little mountain restaurants doing tasty food. Typical hearty mountain fare in this part of world seems to revolve around polenta more than pasta. Really good, and inexpensive, house wines by the jug were a little bonus.

The one major downside of the area is that it can be badly affected by winds - the lifts are very exposed and have been shut for a few days this month as a result. The wind also affects the snow, as powder quite quickly becomes wind-blown crust except in well-sheltered areas. On the second day there we woke to high winds and were dismayed to find all lifts closed. But we were able to take a bus 20 minutes down the valley to another small resort called Gressoney St Jean, where the lifts were all running and we had a fabulous day's skiing on tree-lined runs and off-piste among the trees, untroubled by the wind.

Alagna in particular is a magnet for serious off-piste skiers, who home in on it from all over Europe. It seems particularly popular with Swedish skiers. On the basis of the general standard of skiing you see round there, you could easily assume that Swedes were the best skiers in the world, but of course a lot of self-selection has already taken place by the choice of resort - it's not a great area for beginners or even intermediates. I was intrigued watching from the lift as a small bunch of Swedish kids tackled a steepish mogul run there in a way I'd never seen before - shooting straight up off one mogul, flying through the air and landing on the back side of another a little way down the hill, whooping with glee as they went!

It's the third year running we've been to the area and although variety is great, I can't really imagine choosing anywhere else in preference to it when the time comes to book next year's main ski holiday. I just hope next time we get the powder I so desperately crave.  Laws of probability say I should have had it long ago, but is hasn't happened yet...