Where to go in Italy?

"Johannes" wrote in message
...
On 23 May 2005 19:10:36 -0700, "emma" wrote:

My partner and I are going to the Olympics in Feb 2006 to watch my
sister and want to spend a week either before or after snowboarding
somewhere else. We are both good snowboarders and enjoy going
off-piste and tackling the harder runs as well as playing in the park.
We are looking for somewhere that is value for money and hopefully not
too busy.

Alagna is a know freeride spot at italy

As an aside... if anyone wants information on snowboarding / skiing in
New Zealand let me know - it is fantastic!

I hear something else.

Johannes

Emma,

I don't know anything about the skiing in NZ and (unlike some of the others
?) would like to hear about it.

All the best,

Edi

Thanks for all the help. I will have to check out some of these places
- I haven't heard of them before. I will look them up and then may be
back with mroe questions!

To all those arguing against skiing in NZ... It may not be as big or as
nice powder snow as in Europe, Canada or USA, but it is still
fantastic, and great for your guys summer. I have skied and boarded in
Canada and a little in USA, so I do have some comparisons to make.

There are basically 2 areas you can ski in NZ - Mt Ruapehu and
Queenstown (although there are loads of smaller club fields in
between). Mt Ruapehu is in the North Island and has pretty
unpredictable weather, but on a good day it is wonderful. It has
Whakapapa (the biggest field) and Turoa. Queenstown is the more
touristy place with more ski areas and a pretty town around the lake
(and Wanaka is close too). In my (biased) opinion, Whakapapa is the
best on a good day. Don't go anywhere near it during school holidays
though! The queues are terrible.

The club fields are not to be missed either. Although they are small
(some only have 1 lift!) there is great skiing and boarding and no
crowds! It is really easy to get a car or van and make a trip down the
whole of the South Island stopping at each of the little areas for a
day / half day. We did this a couple of years back and it is great
fun. Drive in the morning, board all afternoon and then relax with the
locals each night.

Hi

The club fields are not to be missed either. Although they are small
(some only have 1 lift!) there is great skiing and boarding and no
crowds!
Friends of mine did that some years ago, and enjoyed it very much. It is
something different from "large resort skiing", but definitely worth to do.
Also alpine randonee is perfect in NZ. See
http://community.webshots.com/album/42018463bwsYfK/0

(not my photos)

Florian

"Florian Anwander" wrote in message
...
Hi

The club fields are not to be missed either. Although they are small
(some only have 1 lift!) there is great skiing and boarding and no
crowds!
Friends of mine did that some years ago, and enjoyed it very much. It is
something different from "large resort skiing", but definitely worth to
do.
Also alpine randonee is perfect in NZ. See
http://community.webshots.com/album/42018463bwsYfK/0

(not my photos)

Florian

New Zealand has some great mountains.. many of them rival the big mountains
of the Alps in size (Mt Cook is 3800m ASL).. the problem is, that none of
them are lifted! The highest lifted point is only a little over 2000m,
except for Ruapehu which I think goes up to about 2600m..

If you can get a chopper and go touring on your own, I'm sure it would be
world class.. the resorts on the other hand, are most certainly not..

Originally Posted by emma

My partner and I are going to the Olympics in Feb 2006 to watch my
sister and want to spend a week either before or after snowboarding
somewhere else. We are both good snowboarders and enjoy going
off-piste and tackling the harder runs as well as playing in the park.
We are looking for somewhere that is value for money and hopefully not
too busy.

Emma

A reasonable place to ski and board cheaply is La Thuile in the Aosta Valley. It has virtually no
lift queues excpet at the weekends. There are loads of gentle blue runs and an adequate
amount of Reds and Blacks. You can also ski into France using the same lift pass at la Rossiere.

Off piste is very good and there is a clasic off piste ski trip in the valley blanche if you fancy it.

There is quite a large British presence in La Thuile. However it is not a rowdy place with loads of night life.
Accommodation is cheap and cheerful with cheap food at some fairly good restaurants.

There is a shuttle bus from Milan Malpensa Airport that goes hourly I think for 45 Euros. There may
also be a shuttle bus from Torino Airport (which is closer) but I have never come from that direction.
If you book with a hotel in La Thuile they can advise on transfers. I usually use the Chalet Alpina
which is very basic but friendly. It is run by South Africans.

You can get additional information from:
http://www.lathuile.it

Champaluc, Gressoney or Alagna. From memory not very good snowboard parks
but then again I'm a skier that does not use them. I think it is school
holiday week. I'm going the week before.
Paul
"emma" wrote in message
ups.com...
My partner and I are going to the Olympics in Feb 2006 to watch my
sister and want to spend a week either before or after snowboarding
somewhere else. We are both good snowboarders and enjoy going
off-piste and tackling the harder runs as well as playing in the park.
We are looking for somewhere that is value for money and hopefully not
too busy.

My family is going to Val Gardena, so that may be a starting point, but
I have heard it may not be too good for snowboarders, and the place
they are staying in is too expensive for us anyway! Please can you let
me know of some places we could try, and maybe the reputations of the
bigger places? We are from New Zealand and have never travelled to
Europe, so don't really now much about the location at all.

As an aside... if anyone wants information on snowboarding / skiing in
New Zealand let me know - it is fantastic!

Thanks for you help!
Emma