worth going to Italy this week?

hi have a return flight out Thur eve to Bergam Orio airport and back sunday night and hoping to get 2 1/2 / 3 days skiiing in. got the flight for cheap but the snow in Italy seems pretty rubbish at the moment. Some snow due Wed to Sun but not sure that it will be enough.
Any recommendations as to where to go?

Was thinking bardonecchia as it goes up to 2800m and is on a trainline (only 2 of us) but even there not great at the moment.

Would 4 or 5 inches of snow make all that much difference?

Any recommendations as to where to go? Cervinia is up pretty high but a long trek there. Livignio too far probably.

man_no_plan

glasso wrote: »

hi have a return flight out Thur eve to Bergam Orio airport and back sunday night and hoping to get 2 1/2 / 3 days skiiing in. got the flight for cheap but the snow in Italy seems pretty rubbish at the moment. Some snow due Wed to Sun but not sure that it will be enough.
Any recommendations as to where to go?

Was thinking bardonecchia as it goes up to 2800m and is on a trainline (only 2 of us) but even there not great at the moment.

Would 4 or 5 inches of snow make all that much difference?

Any recommendations as to where to go? Cervinia is up pretty high but a long trek there. Livignio too far probably.

Another thread here about resorts close yo bergamo might be worth a look.

There seems to be plenty of snow on the slopes of lost of resorts, Madonna di campiglio is fully open above 1400m. Powder on top at the weekend should make for fun.

Fattes

Cervinia is about the best of the Italian resorts right now

thinking of this place

Madesimo

https://www.j2ski.com/snow_forecast/Italy/Madesimo_snow_report.html

only just over 2 hours away from the airport

snow seems decent enough there at the moment

a foot of snow due Friday and Friday night.

deal for 190 euro half board with ski pass in a nice town nearby. will have to have a car to get there anyway. anybody know anything about this place? not big with 60km of downhill but most of it is open and should be ok for 2/3 days?

a148pro

Back from Cervinia last night, ex Bergamo, 2 and a half hours if you put the boot down. Turin is closer. Milan Malpensa also an option, even Geneva I think. Resort is very high, has access to the highest ski lift in Europe. Conditions on piste prob as good as anywhere in Europe.

Pistes on Thursday were good considering it hadn't snowed for over a week at that point, reasonably soft until the bottom

Yesterday it snowed about five cm of powder, was beautiful but in the four days we were there the lifts were closed three of them due to wind and we had to ski in Pila which was an hour away. Managed to get up for about two hours yesterday before they shut everything down, the winds were unbelievable, I've never seen the like of it. I'll try and post a video if I can. Pila was fun but a bit scrapey as it was lower down. If there was fresh snow there it would be great for off piste, albeit the top two lifts are painfully slow.

There is more snow forecast for later this week

I'd say it would be well worth it

If you're going I'd seriously consider buying your lift pass by the day. No refund if lifts close just a voucher that you can use before the end of the next season (i.e. you have to come back).

We bought international passes so we could ski Zermatt (snow wasn't as good there and a lot of faffing about on lifts for your run) for almost 200 euro for the four days. Resort in effect completely closed for three of those days. We ended up skiing Pila, one hours drive each way, but because we bought the international pass which was more expensive than the local pass, we had to buy more passes for Pila, whereas if we had just bought the local pass (for 17 euro less per day) our skiing in Pila would have been free. Frankly unacceptable. I blame the Swiss.

Anyway, to recap, conditions there are as good as anywhere and more snow forecast - I'd go back in a flash

a148pro

Also spoke to a guy who had skied Foppolo (I think) where snow was crap and only six runs open. I think if you go you should go to Cervinia, height is key, any run below about 2300 is scrape fest.

From googling seems that winds closing the lifts can be a problem in Cervinia, especially early in the season.
Not sure what to do really - might just give Madessimo a shot - the deal there is good and it has high ski areas and fair bit of snow due on Friday.

Fattes

Cervinia is a glacial resort, high lifts close to winds regularly in fact any lift especially a gondola above 2,500 is very prone to closures due to wind, Entire top of our resort is closed today as wind is at 50KMPH

yeah and strong winds here to stay this week apparently...

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/another-wind-storm-to-blast-eu/40470070

Went to Madesimo in the end. Huge dump of snow last night and today and more tomorrow so powder conditions. Some issues with visibility but that will clear when the snow stops just after lunch tomorrow. Even got some off piste in today.

bovril

a148pro wrote: »

If you're going I'd seriously consider buying your lift pass by the day. No refund if lifts close just a voucher that you can use before the end of the next season (i.e. you have to come back).

I was in Cervinia the last two years. Two years ago we lost 3 days skiing due to wind. We purchased the insurance with the ski pass for an extra couple of euro per day. This entitled you to claim back costs for lifts being closed due to wind amongst other things (medical etc). When we got home we put in a claim but it took months and about a hundred e-mails to get our money back from the Italian insurance company. We had to harass them to pay up. Then last year we bought the pass on a day to day basis. It worked out very close to the 6 day price with insurance. We lost no days last year although one day only the bottom lifts we open. Valtournenche is a 15 minute bus journey away and linked and is usually open when Cervinia is closed. It's covered on the same lift pass and I think the bus is free there. It's a lot smaller and tends to be packed when Cervinia is closed. The winds are so bad sometimes you need to wear goggles in the town when heading to the pub!!!

a148pro

Its a shame because the skiing is very good, views stunning and the snow at that height will be as good as conditions allow. Plus the Italians are sound and the food on the mountain is great and very reasonable. I bought a sparkling water in a bar on the mountain in Pila. One euro. I could not believe it. Cheaper than at home in your average Spar!

bovril

a148pro wrote: »

the food on the mountain is great

Totally agree. Chalet Etoile is by far the best mountain lunch I've ever had anywhere. We ate there 5 times I think last year!!!

Fattes

Any resort above 2,500 will be suffer from high winds! That's Mother Nature for you, Zermatt tends to be a little better than Cervinia as the prevailing winds are blocked by the Matterhorn but not much better

a148pro

Didn't manage to get to etoile which pissed me off, even the lasagna in the refuge des guides was brilliant though

Have three day pass so will be back for those lovely swedish girls in etoile

man_no_plan

a148pro wrote: »

Have three day pass so will be back for those lovely swedish girls in etoile

Is that a starter or a main?

Fattes

man_no_plan wrote: »

Is that a starter or a main?

If you want Swedish girls I know a village full of them! Sadly, you probably won't be able to catch any of them on skis

Madesimo Sunday 18-1

fannymagee

Wowww!!! Looks stunning :-)