Day 1.
Getting back on skis
Aosta is the only province in Italy totally surrounded by high mountains and is our meeting point for this years trip. It shares some of the highest peaks of Europe on its border with France (Mont
Blanc) and Switzerland (Matterhorn, Mont Rosa).
The city of Aosta is easily accessed from Milan airport and is the
starting point for this years Aspiring Guides Euro Ski Tour.
Today was our first day on snow and a chance to find our ski legs at the
local Pila Ski Area. Spring is in full
bloom and sitting at only 500m above sea level, the snow is long gone from
Aosta. We felt a little out of place walking
out of the hotel dressed in ski gear and wearing ski boots. There were no other skiers in sight but it
was reassuring that the locals did not stare at us like someone dressed for
skiing on Queen Street.
A 10 minute walk
took us to the bottom of the gondola and suddenly we were winging along over
ancient stone buildings and vineyards.
Arriving at snowline at 1700m it was a different world. Forget about scrapping along with rocks and
tussock in usual spring conditions, this place was absolutely buried in
snow. With over a thousand meters of vertical above us there were chairlifts
going all different directions and we immediately forgot out primary mission of
testing out our touring gear and preceded to ride every lift we could
find.
The ski area is obviously survives
on English school children who dominated the lower slopes but up high we just
about had the place to ourselves. We did
manage a quick check to make sure ski skins and crampons were all in working
order and test out the avalanche transceivers to make sure everyone was familiar
with the basics but the day turned into chasing the still cold powder on the
shady aspects. We assured ourselves
that the most important thing was to get back on our skis and that hunting down
every last bit of powder in the trees was the best course of action.
Roman ruins near the hotel in Aosta
The team "training" at Pila Ski Area. Aosta is in the valley a long long way below.
Whitney looking for a drive-in coffee
At the summit of Pila we could see our destination for the first leg of our ski tour. The Grand Paradiso massif is on the right and our route will end up coming out the valley in the far left. The plan is to spend 5 days completing the tour. It looks beautiful!
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