Cervinia - 35 years on!

Been back a little while from my first trip to Cervinia since 1983. It was very interesting to see what had changed in 35 years - not a great deal off the hill but a fair bit on the mountain. It remains a cruiser's paradise (although the last little pitch into Cretaz can be a bit steep and daunting for beginners and progressing skiers). The Ventina run remains a delight and the reds down into Valtournenche provide a sterner test than the easy stuff in the Plan Maison bowl.

On the hill, the extremely long drag lift from above Plan Maison to the Swiss border has, thankfully, been replaced by three modern chairlifts and the old Rocce Nere chairlift has disappeared, although the bottom lift station remains and still houses the 'transport cafe' complete with the dreaded squatter toilets! Also long gone, it would appear, was the old and rarely used Furggen cable car. In four visits, I never saw this working and it looked like a relic in the early 1980s. They've still done nothing about the long, uphill trek to and from the Plan Maison gondola.

The town has expanded with some modern, swanky 'mountain resorts' and apartments and some of the old hotels have been given a facelift. The standard of accommodation is now very good. We stayed in the upgraded Hotel Europa - not perfect and a little bit soulless, but not bad. Nightlife remains fairly subdued although live music in the Hotel Grivola basement was good fun. Prices remain on the better value side of Alpine standards!

As you might expect this year, snow conditions were excellent. The weather was a bit mixed - heavy snow on arrival and a couple of white-out days where the resort's lack of tree skiing proved a bit of a pain.

We travelled with Crystal - the first time for many years that I've been with a tour operator. They were ok, but waiting around at the airport for other flights and the ridiculously early departure time from resort were the usual bugbears. Wouldn't be in a mad rush to TO again, we much prefer the freedom of independent travel and arrangements.

All in all, very pleased to have returned - won't leave it quite so long next time!

Last time I was in Cervinia was in 1975..stopped at the hotel Pelissier ..it always had the Watneys Red Barrel sign outside ...The Furggen lift was there then ..I think I used it once ..the slightest breeze and it shut ...I seem to remember many T bars ..

During a humid and cold night in March 1993 the haul rope on the Furggen cable care iced up so much that it snapped. The cabin at the top station slid down the carrying rope until the self-acting emergency brake managed to bring it to a stop.



As it was already 40 years old and didn't meet the safety standards of day the authorities wouldn't allow it to be repaired, rather than bring it up to date the lift company simply abandoned it.

The restaurant in the top station was furnished with furniture designed by the famous Italian architect Carlo Mollino. The furniture remained in place until 2006 when it was removed. Mollino's furniture is highly collectable a dining table and 6 chairs recently sold for £668,750.
https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/carlo-mollino-1905-1973-a-rare-and-important-6101615-details.aspx