PILA, ITALY

This is a pleasant resort, with the great advantage of the hotels being directly adjacent to the slopes for ski in, ski out. It is quiet during the week with few queues, but very busy at weekends when Italian skiers flood the slopes by lunchtime Saturday. As Aosta is in the valley below it is worth a visit and the telecabine is covered by lift passes, it is worth going down there for the last afternoon, the slopes become very crowded. Food on the mountain is available in a variety of bars/restaurants, which are both friendly and reasonably priced. For anyone above intermediate standard, the skiing is a little limited however excellent for beginners and intermediates. There is off piste skiing which extends the range available to the more advanced skier. Nightlife is limited - if you want to party late into the night, this is perhaps not the resort for you. There is a lively Irish bar in the parade of shops, which cover the basics, and a disco in Hotel Pila 2000. As a large party, we arranged both snowmobile runs and torchlight skiing. Hotel Etoile de Neige recommended - Alessandro is an excellent host and the food is plentiful and varied in the buffet-style restaurant. Hotel Lion Noir is also worth considering, although the year we were there, the food was not as good. Overall this is a family friendly resort with some wide sweeping runs but limited black run opportunities.

Tony Brown