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Ski Accommodation Gressoney
Book Gressoney ski accommodation direct with owners chalet apartment.
Gressoney is at the heart of the Monterosa ski area - Italy's answer to the Trois Vallees. Not surprisingly, the skiing of this little-known area is less extensive; it is also mostly easy. But it offers the same sensation of travel on skis, amid impressive scenery and a relaxed atmosphere. For piste skiers it is actually a two-valley system; for off-piste skiers this region has more to offer.
Gressoney la Trinite is a quiet, neat little village in a rather enclosed setting at the heart of the three-valley Monterosa ski area, east of Cervinia. It sits a couple of miles from the head of the narrow central valley, which runs roughly north-south. Gressoney St Jean, a more substantial and appealing village 5km (and 250m vertical) down the valley, has its own ski area, separate from the main system. The main resort in the eastern valley is Champoluc; in the western valley it is Alagna. Expeditions by road to Cervinia, La Thuile and Courmayeur are possible.
The Monterosa ski area is relatively extensive, and very scenic. The piste skiing is almost all easy (and very well groomed). The terrain is undulating and fragmented; runs are attractively varied, but many of the lifts serve only one or two defined pistes. The lift system is impressively modern, with several high-speed chair-lifts. There are lifts out of the village, but the main linking lifts are at the head of the valley, at Stafal. La Trinite's local ski area is centred on the sunny shelf of Gabiet (2300m). Chairs and drags serve the area below it, and above it a long 12-person gondola goes up to Passo dei Salati (3000m). From here, a serious off-piste run makes the link with the pistes of the Alagna valley. You can descend to Orsia or Stafal (both in the Gressoney valley), where chair-lifts go up towards the Colle Bettaforca (2705m), the link with the Champoluc valley. The area's snow reliability is good, thanks to altitude and extensive snowmaking on west-facing runs. There is not much to interest advanced skiers, apart from one black of 700m vertical (most blacks on the badly printed piste map turn out to be blues). At Alagna there is a long black run (roughly 7km for only 850m vertical) from the top of the cable-car at Punta Indren (3260m).
