Category: Ski Italy

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My experience of buying a home in the Italian Alps.

My experience of buying a home in the Italian Alps.

My experience of buying a home in the Italian Alps.

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

In August this year, I had the great surprise of my mum telling me she wanted to give me an advanced inheritance. She knew I always wanted to have a home in the mountains, but there was no way that I could afford it with my salary and that of with my husbands’. We were vacationing in Normandie when she told me so. I could not hold my excitement and started looking in all real estate websites.

Going in our ride from GVA to Courmayeur. My experience of buying a home in the Italian Alps.
Going in our ride from GVA to Courmayeur. My experience of buying a home in the Italian Alps.

I’ve started with some of the British ones, but sooner came to check the Italian websites. The Guide to Buying a Home in Italy gave me lots of ideas of how to start and the contact of my property lawyer: Alessandro Clemente, who was great! I’ve talked to him before starting and he told me all the things I needed to take into account when going to scout properties. That was very important as I could have done all things wrong if I was not in the know.

Chez Croux Pausa Pranzo con Monte Bianco, a soft pastels painting by Martina Diez-Routh. On sale on The-Ski-Guru HOME Shop.

We’ve planned to have a short trip end of August to visit some places. Idealista website was the one I’ve finished using to seeing the different offers and sorting what I want to do and an agenda on how we were going to go around. At first, I was thinking in two areas: Courmayeur and Cervinia. I’ve seen some flats in Cervinia – (Valtourneche really) with views of the Monte Cervino that seemed fabulous. Digging a bit more into what they were offering, this was part of a programme where you need to use your flat only some weeks and the rest the administration of the building takes care of it and rents it out. That kind of discouraged me because I wanted to have the option that if in the future I want to move to Italy, I have a place! Then talking to my mum, she told me that if I like so much Courmayeur and the Valdigne (the Valley of the Mont Blanc), why don’t I focus on that area only. Which really made my job easier in focusing how to use our three days better.

The balcony at the Gran Baita Hotel with a view of the Dente del Gigante - even though a cloud is covering it at the time. My experience of buying a home in the Italian Alps.
The balcony at the Gran Baita Hotel with a view of the Dente del Gigante – even though a cloud is covering it at the time. My experience of buying a home in the Italian Alps.

Got the flights to Geneva and transfers to Courmayeur. Got the hotel (Gran Baita) in Courmayeur and started looking each day at the Idealista website and sorting which flats I would want to visit. I had two weeks to talk to everyone and sort a pretty busy agenda. I’ve started to get excited!

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A Foodie Guide to on-Mountain Dining in Courmayeur.

Maison Vielle with the Mont Blanc in the backdrop - the place to eat in the mountain- Photo credit: The-Ski-Guru. A Foodie Guide to on-Mountain Dining in Courmayeur.

A Foodie Guide to on-Mountain Dining in Courmayeur.

Courmayeur Mont Blanc is a well renown ski resort for its vistas and also for its food! Stopping while skiing or boarding for coffee, hot chocolate or an aperitivo, plus having lunch, is part of what makes Courmayeur so special. However, with so much offer, you have to think where you want to go, and if not lining up for a sandwich, then you need to make a reservation early on if you want to eat in a specific restaurant! This is more so if you are visiting when it is high season. You can attempt to ski into the restaurant early morning and reserve a table there or do so over the phone. I’ve seen that also some restaurants are accepting reservations online.  In very high season, it would not be a bad idea to book your table even a day or more in advance.

Restaurant Christiana in the base of Plan Chécrouit. A Foodie Guide to on-Mountain Dining in Courmayeur.
Restaurant Christiana in the base of Plan Chécrouit. A Foodie Guide to on-Mountain Dining in Courmayeur.

As you know, the mountain of Courmayeur is divided in two sides: The Plan Chécrouit side – accessed from the centre of Courmayeur with the Armani funicular or from Dolonne with the cable car, and the Val Veny side, reached by the Courmayeur funicular from the parking lot of Val Veny, located just before the start of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, and across from the Skyway rotating gondola parking lot. I am only focusing on the restaurants in the mountain in this post, not on Skyway (maybe on another post in the future I’ll do that!)

Plan Chécrouit Side:

Bar du Soleil – As soon as you get up the funicular or gondola, you go towards the ski schools in Plan Chécrouit and you’ll find it on the left-hand side, across from the ski schools. Mario and Luisa are your hosts. It is a place of good value for money, a typical quick place for a coffee before dropping your kids at ski school and to grab a good pizza and pasta for decent prices. It has a big terrace to eat outside. Dogs are allowed.

Cafe Bar du Soleil in Plan Chécrouit.A Foodie Guide to on-Mountain Dining in Courmayeur.
Cafe Bar du Soleil in Plan Chécrouit.A Foodie Guide to on-Mountain Dining in Courmayeur.

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Our Christmas holidays in the mountains with the kids and our dog! Courmayeur, Aosta.

The boys waiting for the funicular of Val Veny to take us back to Courmayeur. Photo: The-Ski-Guru.

Our Christmas holidays in the mountains with the kids and our dog! Courmayeur, Aosta.

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

So now that we are happy homeowners of a lovely flat in the mountains, we’ll be there on every possible occasion. To do it cheap and more environmentally friendly, we drive with a full car going through the Eurotunnel and sleeping over in Chaumont on our way up, staying at the Ibis Chaumont Centre Gare, and in Reims coming back.

And as leaving your dog in care in the UK is super expensive, more in Christmas, we decided to take him with us and try our ski holiday with a dog! We have already travelled with him when we went to equip the flat in October, and I’ve realised, that if Ozzy had his sleeping crate, he is fine. That is his safe place. So, I’ve ordered one in Amazon to be delivered in Italy. That made the trick.

We arrived in Morgex with some foul weather. Still so pretty that we went out every day! Our Christmas holidays in the mountains with the kids and our dog! Courmayeur, Aosta.
We arrived in Morgex with some foul weather. Still so pretty that we went out every day! Our Christmas holidays in the mountains with the kids and our dog! Courmayeur, Aosta.

When we go and stay over in a hotel, there is no way that Ozzy will stay happy at a hotel room, even with his best filled bone. He starts crying first and the noise turns into a bark- therefore that is not an option! We have learnt to go to eat in two halves. Usually my husband and my eldest take Ozzy for a walk and I have a quick dinner with my youngest, and then we go to the room and stay with Ozzy while they have dinner. Same in the morning for breakfast. It is not ideal, but that seems to work fine for us.

The trip to the mountains is always amazing. I was expecting it to be much busier, as we’ve left the day after school broke up, on 21st December. I was glad to see that the route was pretty empty, even if France was having transport strikes at the time.

We arrived in our home in Morgex, just 10’ down the road from Courmayeur, in the Aosta Valley, with good light and with time to bring all the goodies we were bringing to the flat to finish decorating it. As the car was really full, we will need to bring more boxes in our next February trip.

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The Ski Area Campiglio Dolomiti di Brenta is opening its 2019/20 ski season. News of the resort.

Madonna di Campiglio. Photo. C. Baroni. The Ski Area Campiglio Dolomiti di Brenta is opening its 2019/20 ski season. News of the resort.

The Ski Area Campiglio Dolomiti di Brenta is opening its 2019/20 ski season. News of the resort.

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

Madonna di Campiglio will open on the weekends of November 16 and 17, and November 23-24 thanks to its abundant snowfall. There are 40 cm of snow in the village and 80 cm at altitude. The Grosté area will open these two weekends, with the entire area will be available on November 30th. Pinzolo, Folgarida and Marilleva will open on December 5th with all the connections between the areas.

Piste 5 in Madonna di Campiglio, Ski to lunch. Photo: A. Trovati. Trentino Marketing. The Ski Area Campiglio Dolomiti di Brenta is opening its 2019/20 ski season. News of the resort.
Piste 5 in Madonna di Campiglio, Ski to lunch. Photo: A. Trovati. Trentino Marketing. The Ski Area Campiglio Dolomiti di Brenta is opening its 2019/20 ski season. News of the resort.

The lift companies are working now grooming and preparing the 150 km of slopes.

The rates of the ski passes for this opening weekend are as follow:

1 day Adult Campiglio: EUR 31

1 day Junior Campiglio: EUR 22

1 day Baby Campiglio: EUR 16

 

2 days Adult Campiglio: EUR 59

2 days Junior Campiglio: EUR 41

2 days Baby Campiglio: EUR 29

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Pinzolo/Madonna di Campiglio has opened its first 5 stars luxury hotel- Lefay Resort & Spa Dolomiti

Pinzolo/Madonna di Campiglio has opened its first 5 stars luxury hotel- Lefay Resort & Spa Dolomiti

Pinzolo/Madonna di Campiglio has opened its first 5 stars luxury hotel- Lefay Resort & Spa Dolomiti

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

Interior Pool at the Lefay Resort & Spa Dolomiti.
Interior Pool at the Lefay Resort & Spa Dolomiti.

Pinzolo, the area connected to Madonna di Campiglio and all the Skirama Dolomiti (the massive carousel of resorts to the West of the Brennero Road that goes from Verona to Innsbruck in the Trentino Province), has opened its first five stars luxury hotel, the Lefay Resort & Spa Dolomiti.

This ‘jewel of luxury’ is the second of the Lefay Resorts, after the Lefay Resort & Spa at Lake Garda in Gargagno opened in 2008. The resort is centered on the theme of wellness and sustainability in a luxury setting.  Even though the largest region of Madonna di Campiglio, Pinzolo and Val Rendena, with the Adamello Presanella group and the Brenta Dolomites has already four of the six 5-star hotels in the Trentino province, this hotel is the first one to earn the five-star luxury classification.

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Stay at the Heart of the Valdigne to ski in Courmayeur, La Thuile and Pila/Aosta

The outside of the apartment in Morgex that we've finished buying. My experience of buying a home in the Italian Alps.

Stay at the Heart of the Valdigne (Il Cuore della Valdigne) to ski in Courmayeur, La Thuile and Pila/Aosta for your ski or summer holiday.

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

The Aosta Valley is magnificent from wherever you look at it. Great mountains, from the Mont Blanc, Monte Cervino (Matterhorn) and Monterosa, to glaciers, rivers, hot springs, lakes, you name it.

Living room at Il Cuore della Valdigne. Stay at the Heart of the Valdigne to ski in Courmayeur, La Thuile and Pila/Aosta.
Living room at Il Cuore della Valdigne. Stay at the Heart of the Valdigne to ski in Courmayeur, La Thuile and Pila/Aosta.

Having a holiday there is the best way to disconnect from everyday worries, the rat race and why all of us who love the mountains, want to at least, do once a year.

Il Cuore della Valdigne is a beautiful stone and wood apartment in the middle of the Valdigne, the valley of the Mont Blanc, what in my opinion, has the nicest vistas of the Aosta Valley and one of the nicest of the Alps.

Being in the middle of Morgex, just 10’ outside Courmayeur, 3 minutes from the Pré Saint Didier terme (natural hot springs) and 20’ from La Thuile, and to the other side, 25’ to Aosta and the gondola of Pila, the chalet is located in a great strategic location for going skiing, cross country skiing (in Arpy, Val Ferret or Cogne), mountain biking, snow shoeing, winter walking, white water rafting and relaxing in the hot springs.

Living room at Il Cuore della Valdigne. Stay at the Heart of the Valdigne to ski in Courmayeur, La Thuile and Pila/Aosta.
Living room at Il Cuore della Valdigne. Stay at the Heart of the Valdigne to ski in Courmayeur, La Thuile and Pila/Aosta.

The apartment has two bedrooms and two bathrooms with showers in two floors, a living room with a double-sided chimney that also opens to the dining room. The wooden kitchen with the slate kitchen top is a delight, with all you need if you fancy doing a big meal. If you don’t, no worries, you are a stone throw away from many bars and restaurants in Morgex: Mont Blanc Café, Café de l’Archet, La Locanda, Trattoria da Bepe, and if you fancy something much more deluxe, the renown Casa Quinson, all within two blocks from the apartment.

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What’s new in Cortina for the 2019-2020 Winter Season

Cortina in winter. Photo: Dino Colli. Cortina Marketing. What’s new in Cortina for the 2019-2020 Winter Season.

What’s new in Cortina for the 2019-2020 Winter Season

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

Cortina is one of the most renown and grand ski resorts in the world and certainly one of the tops in Italy. Cortina has always been the place where the elite got together to ski and practice winter sports, with amazing landscapes of the Dolomite mountains wherever you look at. As it has recently won the co-joint title to host the 2026 Winter Olympics with Milan, and is also hosting on 2021 the FIS World Ski Championships, Cortina is bustling with activity getting ready.

Last year there was already some enlargement and modification in some of their pistes, where the FIS Ladies’ World Cup are held each year- these were the runs of the Tofana and Col Druscié areas. Snowmaking facilities were improved as well, and a new black piste was created in the Faloria ski area, called Scoiattolo (squirrel in Italian).

Cortina d'Ampezzo, beautiful from all angles. Photo: Cortina 2021.com- What’s new in Cortina for the 2019-2020 Winter Season.
Cortina d’Ampezzo, beautiful from all angles. Photo: Cortina 2021.com- What’s new in Cortina for the 2019-2020 Winter Season.

For the 2019-20 ski season there will be a new gondola from Cortina to Col Druscié. The current cable car will be replaced with a smaller- 10-seat gondola. The base station will be replaced. The new Freccia del Cielo will have a middle stop, to substitute the Colfiere-Col Druscié chairlift that is taken away. As the gondola will transport three times as many skiers and boarders from its renewed base station close to the Olympic Ice Stadium, waiting times are going to be reduced substantially. The slopes and roads of the Col Druscié will also be modified due to hosting some of the competitions of 2021.

A new slope will be opening on the 19-20 ski season in the Cinque Torri area, dedicated to Cortina’s most famous climber, Lindo Lacedelli, taking his name. It will be a piste dedicated to race training, where athletes competing in the 2021 World Ski Championships will train.

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A fast-melting glacier in the Mont Blanc raised an alarm in the area of Val Ferret of Courmayeur.

Plampincieux Iconography - from Daily Mail. A fast-melting glacier in the Mont Blanc raised an alarm in the area of Val Ferret of Courmayeur.

A fast-melting glacier in the Mont Blanc raised an alarm in the area of Val Ferret of Courmayeur.

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

The Planpincieux glacier on the Grande Jorasses peak of the Mont Blanc massif, which marks the border between Italy, France and Switzerland is fast-melting and could provoke a collapse of 8.8 million cubic feet mass of the 512 square mile glacier.

A helicopter rides on top of the glacier. Photo: Antonio Calanni AP - The Guardian. A fast-melting glacier in the Mont Blanc raised an alarm in the area of Val Ferret of Courmayeur.
A helicopter rides on top of the glacier. Photo: Antonio Calanni AP – The Guardian. A fast-melting glacier in the Mont Blanc raised an alarm in the area of Val Ferret of Courmayeur.

The glacier overlooks the Val Ferret and Planpincieux, 7 km up from Courmayeur. Experts from Fondazione Montagna Sicura (Safe Mountain Foundation), a charity in charge of monitoring the glaciers of Aosta Valley, said that this glacier has been moving since they have been monitoring it closely starting in 2013, but the size of a recent fracture and the increase of the speed at which the ice is melting raised the alarm.

This area is popular with hikers, so Courmayeur’s Major Miserocchi closed as a safety measure, mountain refuges and part of a road upon which the ice could directly fall. Contrary to first reported, only one home had to be evacuated. The rest of the 10 homes in the hamlet beneath the glacier are empty summer holiday homes.

A group of 160 or so pupils marched on Friday to protest against climate change with banners and slogans from “Ban plastic, save our planet” to “You broke our glacier”.

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Ikon Pass to include Zermatt and Cervinia for the 2019/20 ski season

Matterhorn at dusk. Photo credit: Marc Weiler. Zermatt Tourism Office. Ikon Pass to include Zermatt and Cervinia for the 2019/20 ski season.

Ikon Pass to include Zermatt and Cervinia for the 2019/20 ski season

Ikon Pass expands into Europe with the addition of Zermatt in Switzerland and Cervinia Valtourneche in Italy for the 2019/20 ski season

Soak up the magic of the Matterhorn as Zermatt in Switzerland becomes the first European destination partner on the Ikon Pass. Now Ikon Pass holders have access to snow at 41 global destinations across five continents.

The iconic Matterhorn towers over more than 3,500 acres (1,416 hectares) of terrain that spans both Switzerland and Italy, offering Swiss hospitality coupled with Italian lifestyle, in the highest skiable terrain offered in the picturesque Alps. Connected lift service offers Ikon Pass holders access to Rothorn, Gornergrat and the Schwarzsee-Matterhorn glacier paradise within the Zermatt ski area, plus Cervinia-Valtournenche ski areas in Italy, collectively known as Matterhorn ski paradise.

The IKON Pass extends into Europe. Ikon Pass to include Zermatt and Cervinia for the 2019/20 ski season.
The IKON Pass extends into Europe. Ikon Pass to include Zermatt and Cervinia for the 2019/20 ski season.

Ikon Pass holders will have seven-day access to Zermatt and the Matterhorn ski paradise network on the Ikon Pass with no blackout dates, and five-day access on the Ikon Base Pass, also with no blackout dates.

“The Matterhorn is a true icon known around the world, so we are thrilled to have Zermatt join the Ikon Pass community,” said Erik Forsell, Chief Marketing Officer for Alterra Mountain Company. “Ikon Pass strives to continually offer pass holders unique experiences in the mountains. Now they can experience Zermatt’s glacier skiing, traditional Swiss fondue, plus its infamous European après ski across two countries, on one pass.”

“Zermatt and Matterhorn ski paradise are pleased to be the first European destination on the Ikon Pass, and we look forward to offering our best Swiss quality and Italian lifestyle to Ikon Pass holders everywhere. We are excited to share our passion and devotion to skiing within the Ikon Pass community and its impressive destination partners across the globe,” said Sandra Zenhäusern, Director of Marketing, Zermatt Bergbahnen AG.

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Our summer in the mountains – one week in Courmayeur.

Courmayeur in the summer. Photo: The-Ski-Guru. Our summer in the mountains – one week in Courmayeur.

Our summer in the mountains – one week in Courmayeur.

Since I first went to Courmayeur, having stopped there for breakfast, on our way home from our annual ski week in Pila, driving through the scenic SS26, I fall in love with the place. When we were coming up, just after coming out the Mont Blanc tunnel, you see the gondolas and the tram on top of the route, plus the town with all its buildings very prettily aligned around the route and I knew I wanted to check it out! Being working in the ski biz for almost all my life, before moving to the UK (in the US/Canada and Argentina/Chile), I knew about Courmayeur as a name, but I have not visited many ski areas outside America.

Summer in the mountains? Why not? The look from Plan Chécrouit in Courmayeur. Photo: The-Ski-Guru. Our summer in the mountains – one week in Courmayeur.
Summer in the mountains? Why not? The look from Plan Chécrouit in Courmayeur. Photo: The-Ski-Guru. Our summer in the mountains – one week in Courmayeur.

Of all places in our first family ski holiday in Europe, we’ve finished in Ollomont – a small ski ‘field’ – I would say, in the end of the road where mountaineers go to ice climb – but I will write more of this in another post.

But back now to Courmayeur. Since our first breakfast there, we had a second one on the following trip with my friend Claudine from the Tourist Office of Courmayeur and her baby – and then again we’ve been up the Skyway coming back from Lago di Como, and finally we’ve stayed  for some nights in winter for two years now – and managed to ski the mountain! First time only one day and the last time, for two (even though my knee was not up for skiing!).

But last summer, I’ve convinced my husband to go at least one week during our summer holidays. I would love to uproot my family there, (to the answers of my husband of what will I do, I don’t speak the language – and me telling him to just learn it!) I wanted to stay in the summer, to see how it is life in Courma in the summer. I’ve been in the fall, seeing at all the hotels – for my Must-Read Guide to Courmayeur. Even many hotels were closed, they’ve opened them to me, and I could see them while many of the maintenance and upgrades were taking place.

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