Champoluc

Anyone been here and got any views on the place? It looks a decent ski area but a little off the regular circuit, which is appealling.

We were there in January 06 for a week and would definitely go back.

Good variety of skiing. Although perhaps a little limited for absolute beginners anyone happy on Blues and easy Reds can get around easily enough; although we did find the piste grading a bit variable. There are many accessible off-piste pitches between and beside the pistes which make it a good venue for a mixed group to ski together (be wary of routes over cliffs and carry avy kit though - some of the off-piste runs get very serious very quickly and might catch out the unwary).

Town is small and quiet so apres tends to be cosy rather than rowdy (Herman gets his Organ out in the Hotel Castor every Thursday night - I think - which is often fairly lively). Prices on and off the mountain were good, though that was before the fall of the pound against the Euro, and all the food we ate was excellent.

The connections to Gressoney / Alagna are straightforward but a bit exposed to the wind - so can be cold and not unusual for them to be shut for that reason.

Heavy snow shut the upper runs several times while we were there (was dumping down all week 8) ), but we made our way to the (much) smaller resort of Antagnod and had a blast. Car might be useful, especially if you want to try the other resorts in the Aosta (Courmayeur and La Thuile are easy for day trips), but the bus around the local valley is frequent.

Would it be better to consider stopping in Gressoney for this ski area?

Went in March and booked through SKI2 on a short break and stayed in the Hotel Relais des Glaciers, very nice and a 5 minute walk to the bottom lift.

Skiing a little limited but challenging at my standard and the icy conditions. It was difficult to explore the whole area because of low cloud and snow and worried about missing lifts etc. when there, but would go back but deffinately not a resort for me for a weeks stay just short breaks.

May try San Cassiano through the same comany next year which has excellent access to the Dolomiti Superski area.

stayed in gressoney 8 years ago ,wasn,t that impressed,village too quiet.poor track like piste back to the village,cafeteria type mountain restaurants,not that much mileage. long queues to get out of the village in the mornings (it was new year week millenium)

on the plus side it had great scenery all around,the glacier nearly runs into the town.it was cheap compared to the more famous resorts,has great off piste potential (with a guide)

often described as a hidden gem,not quite convinced myself.

My Orthopaedic consultant was very fond of Gressoney. Said it would suit me if I wanted to thrash down Red runs all day ) I've not been to see if he was correct, but he kept on going back, year after year.

Looks like a lot has been done in the last 8 years to make it a larger ski area, and with new lifts etc too. Going at new year means you expect big queues, to be fair.
I dont see it is a limited ski area to be honest, with the links to the 2 other areas now. I just need to find the right deal to get there!

the lift map and piste kms looks the same now as it did then.the link to champoluc was definately there (sometimes closed though)
didn,t ski over to alagna which is more reknown for its offpiste potential.

perhaps my memory is a bit blurred but i can only remember a few pistes where you could have a good blast.

150 kms isnt a lot when consider that 2 of the areas st jean and antagnod are separate but proberly counted in that figure.

just my own opinion,thers loads of resorts ive been to and would go back to,but not gressoney