Alef Arendsen

Last December I went skiing for the first time in the Monte Rosa Ski area. I figured I would do a little write-up about the area. The Monte Rosa Ski resort is spread over three major valleys: the Valle di Gressoney (the central valley), the Valle d’Ayas (the West-most valley) and Valsesia (the East-most valley). In total there is about 180km of piste, but (especially on the Valsesia side) with a lot more off-piste areas to explore.

Major villages

The major villages from which you can enter the resort are Gressoney La Trinité and Staffal in the Valle di Gressoney, Champoluc in the Valle d’Ayas and Alagna in Valsesia.

Pistes and lifts, snow and weather

There is about 180km of pistes here and all of them are well-prepared. The lifts are modern (as modern as it can get IMO) and some of them have recently been renovated. There is some blue here and there, although not abundant, a lot of red and few black pistes. Especially the ride down from Passo Salati to the village of Alagna is a challenging one. Plenty of pistes will take you through bits of forests and have plenty of breathtaking views. Generally speaking, the weather in this part of Europe is great with a great amount of sun. Snow conditions are generally good, although Austria and Switzerland will give you better conditions generally speaking (this was definitely not the case this season, as the conditions are great at the moment).

The off-piste areas in especially the Alagna area are very good. It’s not without reason Alagna is called the free-ride paradise. There’s also some very good possibilities to do some off-the-beaten path skiing in the region. The picture above for example shows the Bec di Nona pass (on the right you can see skiing tracks coming down). This interestingly enough passes right by my house in the area. On Hotel Jolanda Sport“>Gulliver.it you can find some reports from people that have been doing off-piste ‘expeditions’ in the region. Let me know if you’re planning anything in that region for off-piste alpinismo skiing. I’m always interested to hear your experiences and if I’m in the neighborhood, I might even join .

Below you can find a snippet of the map of the region, linked to the map provided by the official Monte Rosa website.

Skipass

Up-to-date information on the prices for a skipass can be found on the official site for the Monte Rosa Ski resort. At the time of writing (season 2008/9) a one-day skipass will set you back €36,=. Three days will cost €102,= and 7 days €211,= (all in the peak of the season). This will give you access to all the lifts in the main areas, as well as in the smaller areas such as Gressoney St. Jean and Antagnod.

Schools and baby-parks

There are ski schools in each of the three main villages (Staffal, Alagna and Champoluc). As far as I know, all have English speaking instructors, although you have to ask for them. There are baby-pistes and also enough blue to get you going. There are also some baby-parks in the region (Staffal, Gressoney La Trinite) to keep the kids occupied.

Accommodation

I don’t have a lot to say about accommodation in the region, as I’m staying in my own house in the region (half an hour driving from Staffal). I’ve heard good stories about Hotel Jolanda Sport; they definitely have good food! Another interesting option would be to stay at the Rifugio Guglielmina, (one of) the highest permanently occupied hotels in Europe. I don’t have a clue about prices, the website also doesn’t give a lot of information. I might try to found out more later on when I go there in a week again. Another hotel I heard good stories about is Ellex in Staffal, right next to the lifts that go up to both the Champoluc and Alagna area.

Food, entertainment and night life

Food on the pistes generally is very good, as you can expect from an Italian ski resort. Lunch times can get a bit busy at some of the rifugios, but generally very much worth the wait. Not a lot of places as you will find in Austria, with music pounding all the time, but relaxing places instead.

I don’t have a lot of recommendations on the restaurants in Valsesia as I’ve never eaten there. Below you can find a short but good list of restaurants that you might find attractive in both Valle d’Ayas, Valle di Gressoney and the main valley (Valle d’Aosta). The restaurants in the Valle d’Aosta are all a bit of a far drive (the Valle di Gressoney is about 40-something km long, so expect to drive down in about 30 to 45 minutes, depending on traffic).

Restaurants in Valle d’Ayas

• Breithorn Hotel and Restaurant in Champoluc

Restaurants in Valle di Gressoney

• Lo Stambecco in Gressoney St. Jean, highly recommended
• Hotel Jolanda Sport in Gressoney
• Nordkapp in Gressoney St. Jean, also highly recommended

Restaurants in the main valley (Valle d’Aosta)

• Ramo Verde in Carema
• Da Marino in Quincinetto

As some reviewers on Snow-Forecast.com also comment, there is not a lot of entertainment going on in Gressoney La Trinité during the night. Apparently, Champoluc and Alagna have a bit more to offer, but if you’re going to for some big apres-ski, obviously Austria (Anton, Ischl) are your better bets.

Traffic and getting there

By car from West or North-West Europe, getting the to Valle d’Ayas or Valle di Gressoney is a matter of taking the Swiss route, through the Great St. Bernard tunnel, linking Switzerland with Italy or the Mont Blanc tunnel linking France with Italy. Valsesia can best be reached I think via the St. Gottard tunnel, linking Italy with Switzerland, but then a bit further East.

For Gressoney and Champoluc, flying in is best done through Torino airport (TRN), which is about an hour drive from Gressoney La Trinité for example. Milano Malpensa (MXP) is a good alternative for those two places and probably the best option for Valsesia. Cars are generally not very expensive to hire. A small car for a week will set you back about €200,= to €250,= (snowchains are about €50,=).

Important links

• Official website for Monte Rosa Ski
• Snow Forecast.com on Alagna
• Snow Forecast.com on Gressoney
• Snow Forecast.com on Champoluc
• Gressoney Online