AOSTA VALLEY ROAD TRIP

AOSTA VALLEY ROAD TRIP
Alf Alderson
Around 90-minutes’ drive north of Turin’s humming autostrada you can find some of the best skiing in the Alps. The Aosta Valley has a range of ski resorts that face different directions and are high enough to ensure that you’ll always find good snow conditions somewhere.
You’ll also get spectacular views – the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc (known hereabouts as Monte Cervino and Monte Bianco) are just two of the better known mountains that you may have in your sights.
And if you like variety the Aosta Valley is ideal, since not only can you experience Italian ski culture you can also head into Switzerland and France on your skis.
All you need to do is hire a car at Turin airport, drive north on the E621/A5 for a couple of hours and you’ll find yourself in…
CERVINIA
If you want ‘spectacular’ you’re in the right place. Hopping off the Bontadini chair at 3,301-metre Theodulpass, the ‘Premier League’ of 4000-metre European peaks parade themselves before you, including Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, Liskamm, Breithorn, Dent d’Herens and of course the Matterhorn itself.
You don’t get the classic view of Matterhorn from Cervinia, that honour is held by Zermatt over on the Swiss side of the mountain, but you can easily ski down to Zermatt for that famous sight (don’t forget to take your credit card – not only is Switzerland more expensive than Italy but you may not be able to use Euros in the bars and restaurants).
Cervinia is high and wide, it’s snow sure and it’s often sunny so you can zoom along to your heart’s content on the wide, open pistes practising your technique or just enjoying the simple pleasure of skiing in a magnificent setting.
Follow the sun around the slopes on a selection of blue and red runs (including the resort’s classic run the 12km ‘Ventina’); this will keep anyone smiling, even experts, since the views are so special. And you’ll be needing a coffee break obviously so why not pop into Chalet Etoile right beneath the Matterhorn?
When all the snowy action is over, head down to the Apres Ski Bar at Hotel Principe delle Nevi for pool-side cocktails and live music.
Continuing along the Aosta Valley from Cervinia, another couple of hours or so of driving will bring you to…
LA THUILE
You often get two climates for the price of one when you ski in La Thuile. It’s linked to La Rosiere over the border in France, which is an easy morning’s skiing away, and if the snow is sketchy in La Thuile the chances are it’ll be good in La Rosiere – and vice versa.
La Thuile has wide open slopes above the tree line and more sheltered terrain lower down amongst the trees, and tends to be steeper than La Rosiere (Black Number 3 is a good example; there are few if any groomed runs in La Rosiere that will match this vertiginous steep little number, which at 35 degrees in places is one of the steepest pistes in the Aosta Valley).
A few blasts down this will soon whet your appetite, and a great place to satisfy the inner man or woman is Maison Carrell, a friendly and unpretentious mountain restaurant on the lower slopes of 2379-metre Gran Testa.
Check out the ‘tagliere misto di salumi valdastani’, an excellent selection of dried beef, venison, pork, ham, blood sausage, black bread and – especially mouth-watering – honey chestnuts, and maybe accompany it with a bottle of the local plonk L’Atouéyo Torrette Superieur, a lovely red wine from the nearby Aymavilles Valley.
Maison Carrell also has a fascinating connection with your previous stop of Cervinia – the establishment proprietor Giorgio Carrell is a direct descendant of Jean-Antoine Carrell, the first man to climb the Matterhorn from the Italian side in 1865.
Our final stop on our Aosta Valley road trip is just thirty minutes’ drive away in the form of…
COURMAYEUR
Courmayeur has an appealing mix of groomed slopes that you can hammer down, seriously challenging off-piste (hence the fact that it’s a regular venue for the Freeride World Tour) and some of the most spectacular mountain panoramas in the Alps – after all, you’re literally right underneath Mont Blanc. Add to that an attractive little town centre and some fine restaurants and what’s not to like?
A morning spent blasting around the red and black pistes below 2624-metre Cresta Youla and 2256-metre Col Checrouit has much to recommend it, or you could head for the trees above Val Veny where you’ll have a good chance of finding powder in most circumstances.
A great option is the descent from Cresta Youla to Zerotta, over 1100-metres of often quiet terrain with a mix of respectably steep reds and blacks winding down and around the mountain. This is appetite building stuff so consider heading for the rustic and friendly Chateau Branlant above Plan Checrout for lunch.
The last time I was there I enjoyed an absolutely scrumptious polenta with grilled Fontina cheese, a mouth -watering regional speciality. It was big enough to feed an army and set me back just €9.50 – fantastic food in a lovely little restaurant at a price that doesn’t break the bank.
If you’re fortunate enough to ski Courmayeur in sunny conditions you’ve just got to ensure you have a camera with you since the alpine panoramas as absolutely gobsmacking; the entire Mont Blanc (sorry, Monte Bianco) massif towers over you, huge glaciers snaking their way down from the heights, gigantic crags towering above and somewhere way up there the top of Western Europe.
And if you fancy a break from the skiing, the icy cascades that cling to the various rock walls around Courmayeur offer great ice climbing for everyone from beginner to expert.
Few ski resorts in the world can offer alpine scenery as spectacular as Courmayeur and when you add fun pistes, serious off-piste, good dining and maybe a spot of ice climbing – well, it’s not a bad way to wind up your road trip.