Day trip skiing in Courmayeur

I’ve heard plenty of chat this week from friends who have had fun days out to surrounding resorts such as Verbier, Les Contamines and Courmayeur. The fact that Italy has superior pizza and cheaper wine than France swung our decision and we headed off through the Mont Blanc tunnel into the Aosta valley.

Some of our group were not skiing or snowboarding, so we took the Dolonne lift up to the Courmayeur ski area, as it is the nearest to the hub of bars and restaurants at Plan Checrouit. The weather forecast wasn’t massively optimistic; high winds and only 20% sun but we were greeted by clear blue skies and bright sunshine.

We arrived quite late due to an exploding tyre drama on the way, so we headed straight for lunch at our favourite spot before the hungry hoards arrived. Bagging a table on the small sun-trap terrace at Christiania isn’t easy but we were there early enough to stake our claim to the best one. Five yummy pizzas later (one each, not all for me) and we were ready to hit the slopes.

The Dolonne side of the mountain was crowded and full of people doing silly things in a fast and unpredictable manner; it felt a bit like dodgems at the fairground. Figuring that it would probably be a lot quieter, we took the Checrouit gondola up (the one that looks like golden eggs) and went over to the Val Veny side of the mountain.

Yes, it was a lot quieter but that was probably because most other people had been blown off the mountain… we found the high winds! Not only that, but the 20% sunshine had run out, the light was pretty flat and there were some mighty big icy patches to look out for. However, we weighed up our options of whacky races and slightly icy pistes on the Dolonne side or empty but very icy pistes on the Val Veny side and decided that we preferred our own company.

My snowboarding buddy lead the way most of the time, like a canary going down a mine shaft. It’s always easier to scope out the icy patches if a snowboarder goes first as you hear the scrape and watch them frantically put all their weight on one edge while, in my friend’s case, doing jazz hands. A few runs of skidding down sheet ice whilst bracing ourselves for a wipe-out convinced us that maybe we should head back to the Dolonne side and join the careering masses.

Courmayeur's wide pistes and gentle terrain mean that it is quite a "family" resort; once the school holidays are over it will get a lot quieter and the pistes will be noticeably less crowded. They're usually pretty good at keeping the pistes well groomed as well, so with less traffic on them they should be less icy in the coming weeks - especially if Italy gets more snow! Despite being so close, Chamonix and Courmayeur often experience completely different weather. If it is dumping over here it can be clear blue skies over there, and vice-versa, so it is worth keeping an eye on conditions on both sides of the tunnel.

Even if conditions aren’t optimal the Italians always know how to enjoy themselves, by mid-afternoon the bars and restaurants at Plan Checrouit were blasting out the music and getting stuck into a lively apres-ski session. Courmayeur is always worth a day trip as, even if you’re not skiing, there is a great atmosphere with some lovely terraces where you can relax with a drink and watch the action all around you. If you’ve got the Mont Blanc Unlimited pass then Courmayeur is included, you just have to validate your ticket at the cash desk. If not, a day pass will set you back 38€ for three hours or 46€ for a full day.