Alps Trip Late January

Thanks Tony. As we have been to Zermatt already we want to try something else. It seems like if off piste is not great given the lack of snowfall than this could be an ideal time for the Dolomites. From what I can gather, even with three weeks of no snowfall we can still probably get close to a quintessential experience there due to the snowmaking whereas other destinations we probably would have a less than ideal time. Is there a base area you can recommend? I would say our priorities are whichever resort has best long stronger intermediate/advanced pistes and are least crowded. Obviously a charming village and easy access to the slopes and good lift infrastructure would be great. We are less concerned with completing the sella ronda than we are with just having a good quality ski trip.
 
We liked Arabba (SE corner of Sella Ronda) as a base. It's on both the Sella Ronda and World War I circuits. It's also relatively close to the Marmolada Glacier and we thought the piste above Arabba were of good quality with better snow than the busier slopes at Selva (NW corner). Fraser says Selva is more expensive than Arabba. Corvara at the NE corner is much mellower terrain but both Arabba and Selva are easily skied form there.
 
thanks. our plans have changed slightly. we now plan on leaving this sunday and it looks like our best option is a air Italy flight to milan that lands at around 630 am. we will need to leave on Friday. it seems like there are a few options closer to milan which make more sense given the tight timeline in working with. it seems like both the aosta or monte rosa resorts might work. given the lack of snow in the last two weeks and seemingly lower elevations than the geneva resorts, am curious how you think the conditions might be holding up there. I've read the trip reports and they seem like potentially fine destinations.

there is still a chance we fly through geneva but the award availability is slim pickings. unfortunate as I preferred the geneva resorts. but with sunshine predicted I think we will have a pleasant experience regardless
 
I should add that we are down to just two of us. My cousin who is in to off piste dropped out so it is just me and my father. Which really means a lot of piste skiing or gentle easy access off piste. Given the lack of snow I would imagine most easily accesible off piste is long tracked out so chalky northern facing is probably the best we can hope for. A limited piste network is probably not best.
 
now that some of my parameters are locked in I think the dolomites are too far. for 3.5 days of skiing I'd love to keep it under 2 hours driving from milan. based on my last few hours of research, champoluc/alagna or aosta/courmayeur seem like good options. I just cant get a sense for how they may be holding up in this dry weather spell.
 
And if worth it, could widen the drive radius to 3 hours which would add in St Moritz and Verbier as options as well. I will have the option of returning through Zurich but as of now am committed to arriving in Milan.
 
The Dolomites are not too far from Milan IMHO. In 2018 we landed in Geneva Thursday afternoon and were skiing in the Dolomites Saturday after skiing 4 hours at Pila on Friday! The Autostrada east from Milan is fast as is the one going north toward Brenner Pass. Once you get off the Autostrada it was about an hours' drive to the western edge of the Dolomites and another hour from there to Arabba.

We skied the Monterosa on that trip too. The eastern half (Alagna, east half Grosseney) is off piste oriented and not much of it is north facing. The west side Champoluc has more pistes but is far from the scale of the Dolomites or even Cervinia which could be another option.
 
For those reasons I think the Monta Rosa areas are out.

I land in Milan at 6 am Monday.

The two options I am weighing most heavily are:

1. St. Moritz
2. Stay in Courmeyeur--do our first day on piste, hire a guide for the 2nd day, ski grand montets the 3rd day, and play the 4th day by ear. Maybe ski the vallee blanche from the italian side which sounds mellow and maybe something my dad can handle.

Both options are a 1 to 2 hour drive savings over the Dolomites.

Flights are booked and it looks like sunshine!

If this plan seems poor I am all ears but I think 4+ hours driving on a 4 day triop is just too much for us to handle.
 
I’m wrapping up my third day in the Dolomites right now; was based in Arabba which I think is ideal for skiing, although some other towns may be more exciting (especially if you don’t do a hotel with half board). All pistes are perfectly covered and have great snow quality in the morning. By 1pm, they get a bit more scraped, but I’ve had no issue holding an edge on any piste at any point during the day, no matter the aspect.

Crowds are generally low right now, it’s rare to wait in a lift line. Marmolada did get about a 10 minute wait by noon, but it was walk-on before then.

Overall, this is the best place I’ve ever been for on-piste skiing. Long runs with good pitch, incredible views, excellent food. Top to bottom laps on the Marmolada were the best groomers I’ve skied ever, without a doubt. There’s just no off piste skiing to speak of at present.

I recommend full-on race skis if you come here at the moment, and every shop rents them, so you could easily leave skis at home and have easier travel.
 
I would strongly vote for St. Moritz over Courmayeur for you and your dad. Piste skiing is far better in St. Moritz and I would not expect off piste in Courmyeur to be good, again due to questionable exposure, other than the Vallee Blanche. And you will have to commute through the Mont Blanc tunnel at least one way if not both.

But really you should listen to what Staley and I have told you and suck it up to drive to the Dolomites. Staley is a dedicated steep, off-piste skier, so it speaks volumes that he's that impressed with the Dolomites. While we preferred Arabba as a base, Selva/Val Gardena is a bigger town and at least 45 minutes closer to Milan so maybe that would make you more comfortable.

Links to my 3 St. Moritz TR's from 2019 are on the first page of this Euro section and my 4 Dolomite and 2 Monterosa reports are on the second page.

Links to most of my Euro reports are now grouped here as well: http://bestsnow.net/vft_euro.htm

Google Maps drive times from Milan:
St. Moritz 2:34
Val Gardena 3:42
Arabba 4:30
 
Say no more, St. Moritz over Courmeyer, I agree with you. Thank you.

I am not going to reserve anything today so maybe I will change my mind. Perhaps even reserve nothing and if our flight lands earlier than expected make a last minute decision to take on the extra driving to Dolimites. The roads should be in good shape due to no snow. His review is definitely compelling though your and James trip reports to St. Moritz were as well.

Tony, the Nira Alpina is available. Curious, did you find staying slopeside in Corvastch to take away from any of the charm/village ambiance of perhaps staying more in town? The reviews are excellent...We would also consider the Waldhaus which is priced well given what seems to be the level of luxury but that seems even more isolated in addition to being a short drive from the furtschellas tram at corvatsch.
 
The Nira Alpina has a strong convenience factor being ski-on for Corvatsch. You can also ski to Corviglia from there though you will need to take a bus back to the hotel at the end of the ski day.

The Nira Alpina also has an excellent dining room and nice apres ski amenities. The isolation from town might be an issue if you don't have a car, but we did and you will. Most of the hotels will sell you steeply discounted lift tickets for each night you stay there, as both James and I found out.

Diavolezza/Lagalb is a 20 minute drive. It is served by train and bus but very quiet so easiest to drive as you can park very close.
 
We arrived in Milan yesterday morning at 6 am and were on the lifts at Corviglia by 10:15. No travel hiccups and an easy transfer.

We decided to stay at hotel monopol at the base of the corviglia funicular. The draw of staying in town ultimately swayed the decision. We are very happy. Affordable rate, great location, great rooms and great spa. It is easy to get to the funicular and though not as easy as ski on ski off it is as convenient as it is going to get in this town.

Day 1 at Corviglia went great considering the tired legs and the fact that is has not snowed in 3+ weeks. Off piste is not an option but we found the lift system to be modern and well spread out and the pistes to be long, varied and relatively empty. We racked up a lot of mileage. Though parts were a bit bare, for the most part we still were able to have a great day cruising. We thought we were happy...until we got to Corvatsch.

Day 2 at Corvatsch was as incredible as the previous trip reports on this site have conveyed. Blue skies, perfect grooming, cold grippy snow, long wide runs, spectacular views and most importantly, not a soul there. It was probably the best cruising day of our lives. It was tough to see what looks to be an incredible and easily accessible off piste be unskiable but so it goes. Even with the northern exposure, there has been a lot of northern winds recently per our guide which made most of the off piste unenjoyable. I can only imagine being here in the right conditions. Competition for powder Id imagine based on the demographics is relatively low compared to the Arlberg and all of it is dead smack in front of you and easily accessed. The runs off the top tram as well as the run back to Corviglia were standouts but really every piste we did was fantastic. Coupled with a glorious sun terrace italian lunch and we were ecstatic.

As for the town of St. Moritz, we are not as impressed as we have been with Zermatt or St. Anton (or Stuben where we stayed). We do not care to shop at Bogner and Cartier or stay at hotels that require blazers for dinner. We find the vibe to be a bit too stuffy and lacking much life (though that can probably be attributed to the time of our visit). The skiing and food more than make up for it though. The value of our lift pass and room and board are as great as previously discussed on here.

This is now my 4th trip to the alps. 2 have had great off piste conditions 2 have not. Regardless, my love for skiing here continues to grow and I find being out here to be exhilerating in a way that the Western US cannot compete with. New Yorkers are missing out continuing to trek to vail and park city...

We are happy with our decision. Thank you all for the help.
 
Glad to hear that you enjoyed Corvatsch as much as Tony and I did in our separate visits. It seems like most people come away from a day there with a similar impression. Are you going to Diavolezza or Zuoz, also on the St. Moritz pass? If you really want to mix it up, drive the 20 minutes over Julier Pass to Bivio/see my report.

skiandgolfnut":2tj3gcz5 said:
As for the town of St. Moritz, we are not as impressed as we have been with Zermatt or St. Anton (or Stuben where we stayed). We do not care to shop at Bogner and Cartier or stay at hotels that require blazers for dinner. We find the vibe to be a bit too stuffy and lacking much life (though that can probably be attributed to the time of our visit). The skiing and food more than make up for it though.
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During my four days there, I found a number restaurants that were pitched at people with "mere mortal" social status and budget.

skiandgolfnut":2tj3gcz5 said:
I find being out here to be exhilarating in a way that the Western US cannot compete with. New Yorkers are missing out continuing to trek to vail and park city.
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That's basically my rap to people here as well.
 
I have a constructive restaurant suggestion in St. Moritz: Veltlinerkeller https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_ ... _Alps.html

It's local cuisine with strong Italian influence, notably the regional pizzocheri pasta (3rd and 8th pics in Trip Advisor review above).

Corvatsch powder was tricky because most of it is in boulder fields with many terrain traps. But it was dry and very high quality a year ago. It's astonishing how lazy some visitors are (including my friend Richard many years ago), never taking the bus from St. Moritz to ski Corvatsch: impeccable soft north facing groomers, wide open, scenic and empty on a blue ski Saturday last year.

You should check out Diavolezza/Lagalb, although it will be diminished somewhat if the off piste is wind hammered. Lagalb's off piste is very visible and accessible.

Both of you are right about the East Coasters overlooking the Alps. From out here it's best done on longer trips so in my case those have been since retirement.
 
What a coincidence we ate there last night! Some tripadvisor research led us there even though it was about a 15 minute walk over to St Moritz Bad. It was fantastic. Authentic food and great wine. Definitely a good recommendation. We splurged at Chez Veglia tonight which is an outpost of the Palace Hotel and it was fantastic too. The mountain restaurants have all been fantastic as well.

The guide we took for our first day at Corvatsch based on seeing my dad ski and the current conditions told us we should pass on Diavolezza until next time we are back. He does not hold up so well taking his skis off and on so the lift network is probably better for him than tram laps.

We spent another day at Corvatsch today before another at Corviglia tomorrow. Again, it was brilliant. Did not want to use the app on my phone to track our distances as to not drain battery but it was definitely one for the record books for us. I found some easily accessed wind smoothed off piste that was nice. The views are substantially nicer than at Corviglia and the quality of the pistes lasted well into the afternoon. The day was unfortunately marred by seeing someone go off one of the massive terrain park jumps and quite possible paralyze or kill themselves. A humbling experience and reminder to be safe. We commented that perhaps if the lift passes were more than 35 francs a patrolmen might have been able to get down to help sooner, so far as we could tell it took about 6/7 minutes. The relative lack of lift/safety staff relative to the US is very apparent.
 
Did you do the valley run that ends at the Hotel Kempinski?

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skiandgolfnut":1hckl7em said:
The runs off the top tram as well as the run back to Corviglia were standouts....
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I interpret this as a YES to James' question.

skiandgolfnut":1hckl7em said:
...as far as we could tell it took about 6/7 minutes. The relative lack of lift/safety staff relative to the US is very apparent.
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I think it was about 6-7 minutes before anyone attended to Liz at Mountain High West a week ago. That hill (a close analogy to Hunter for you East Coasters) gives ski patrol a workout. I've never skied a day there and not seen an active meat wagon.
 
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