Skiing In Valle d'Aosta

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February is usually the best month for skiing in the Alps, and this year promises to be the best in a long time. There are lifts, cross-country trails and runs covering virtually every inch of this region, and your hotelier and the waiter at your lunchtime trattoria will be glad to tell you their favorites. You can also stop at the Tourist Office in any of the major towns for maps and advice.

Most travelers will head to one of the following world-class resorts:

• Courmayeur boasts skiing year-round, thanks to the Gigante glacier. But the main attraction here is the southern face of Mont Blanc, which is merely the keystone of a dazzling chain of twelve peaks more than 13,000 feet high. There are over sixty miles of trails for every level of skiing, as well as four lengthy cross-country circuits. If you're a true adventurer, you can hire a guide and ski across Mont Blanc to Chamonix in France. Or you can put on a glamorous après-ski outfit and shop, eat, drink and party till you drop in the charming little town, which is often overrun with the crème de la crème of the world's jet set. Azienda Autonoma di Soggiorno e Turismo, Piazzale Monte Bianco, 11013 Courmayeur, tel. 165-842060, fax 842072.

  

• Cervinia sits beneath the Matterhorn and it's very popular with everyone in Italy, from millionaires to backpackers. There's a vast range of trails, snow is almost guaranteed well into the spring, you'll have access to every kind of winter sports facility imaginable, and the town abounds with boutiques, night clubs and discos. If you want to experience the quintessential “ski resort” experience, this is probably it. Azienda Autonoma di Soggiorno e Turismo, Via J. A. Carrel 29, 11021 Cervinia, tel. 166-949136, fax 949731.

  

• Champoluc is for those who want to ski all day, have a delicious dinner and hit the sack. There are over 120 miles of trails, plus an 18-mile cross-country run, but there's very little glamour in the sweet mountain town. Monte Rosa overlooks the scene from above. Azienda Autonoma di Soggiorno, Via Varasc 16, 11020 Champoluc, tel. 125-307113, fax 307785.

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