Not easy getting out of London to go skiing during the Omicron pandemic. France was in lockdown, and Germany and Austria. All that left was Italy - lovely Italy. So a trip to a new resort - Cervinia – high up on the Swiss-Italian border.
The forecast looked good. But Cervinia is a few hours drive from any airport, so the question was, could you get there, and get a few days skiing in, on a minibreak from London, and still make it affordable?
In brief
Flight - I travelled out on Saturday, December 11, early flight, back on a late flight on Monday 13th. I normally like to fly a scheduled airline, which usually means I can take my own skis to keep the costs down. But it worked out cheaper (I think) to fly out with easyJet from Luton (£91 return). All ok, but going through security at Luton was a nightmare - total superspreader event, and no reason for that.
Transfer, car hire - I hired a hertz car online before going. In recent years I have been always paying the extra to book a 4x4 to avoid being unable to get to the resort or back to the airport. I also try to use a good car hire company, like Avis or Hertz, which saves a lot of time when collecting and dropping off, and generally means you don't get billed for scratched that weren’t your fault. I paid £44 online, but when I got to Milan, I found I had paid for snow chains, not snow tyres (which is a massive difference), so upgraded. They also said I would have to "wait" while the brought the car from somewhere, and as I was on a tight schedule, I decided to again upgrade. So for these changes, I paid another £70, which brought the total car hire cost to £114, which for three days for a 4x4 is still good. .
Hotel - I booked the cheapest hotel on Booking.com that looked ok, which was the Punta Maquignaz. It was lovely. Right in the centre of the village, near the lifts, free parking, great looking bar and restaurant, big room (I booked a single, but basically had a suite), friendly staff. The food was ok, but I felt I was shuffled away from the main restaurant, and then when I asked for pizza and salad I needed up paying about €30, which seemed excessive, and the food was rather plain. Still, £152 for two nights, and a late checkout on the last day was good.
Ski hire - as I flex easyJet, I didn't bring my own skis (as they charge £45 for large sports equipment for each leg of the flight! So £90 return - as much as the flight itself)
I hired at a local ski shop and it was £44. I brought my own boots.
Lift pass - I was a bit torn between getting a "national" ski pass for the Italian side, but then thought, am only here a couple of days, so paid a bit more for the Swiss side as well. Total cost, £104 for three days skiing.
Tests - the biggest burden was Covid test. I paid £20 for a supervised lateral flow test in London, allowing me to travel to Italy. I then took with me a lateral flow that cost another £20, and it was stressful doing this just before leaving the hotel and uploading the pick to get the official result (what if I dropped it or something). Then when I got home, I did a day 2 PCR, which was about £65. Wow, total of £113 on Covid tests for a three-day break.
In detail…
Cervinia, the resort
Cervinia is a high resort right up on the Italian-Swiss border. The village is already at 2,000m, and most of the peaks at the top of chairlifts are at least 3,000m, and in some cases 4,000m. This means good snow in most seasons.
Cervinia claims 160km of slopes, but the beauty is that it is linked to Zermatt on the other side of the border, so you can stay in Cervinia, and ski Switzerland which increases the ski area to a reported 260km. and you get to ski Switzerland even on a budget - great! Together, the two resorts claim to be the highest pisted ski area in Europe.
The whole area is dominated by Monte Cervino, or the Matterhorn, as most of us know it.
The pistes are said to be good for beginners and intermediate.
Just before Christmas, it was a pretty place to be, and there was lots of snow!
The runs
The ski area is mostly comprised of mid-range blue and reds, and piste grooming here is of a consistently high standard, making this a great playground for keen intermediates who enjoy big-mileage cruising and big-mountain landscapes. For more advanced skiing, head over to the steeper descents of Zermatt. But there is always the risk, given the vagaries of weather, and particular wind, that the link closes and you get stuck in Switzerland for the night. Getting back is said to be a six-hour taxi ride - at Swiss prices!
The ski area is split into two main sectors: one that extends to the Theodulpass ridge that marks the Italian-Swiss border, the lower of two high-altitude links with Zermatt. The other is a narrower sector that extends to the glacial Plateau Rosa, shared with Zermatt as the [winter and summer ski] Matterhorn Glacier Paradise ski area. These are the highest ski slopes anywhere in the Alps.
This latter area also links into the neighbouring Valtournenche ski area on the Italian side, and the 21km run to Valtournenche village from the Plateau Rosa is one of the world's longest on-piste descents. Cervinia is a fabulous place to be when the skies are blue and the sun shines, as the high mountain views are magnificent. But you wouldn't want to be here in a whiteout, as you get zero reference points to guide you. The exposed nature of the highest slopes mean that the links to Valtournenche are also prone to closure in high winds and poor weather. The most reliably settled period to visit is mid- to late-Spring.
Both sectors at Cervinia offer home runs to the village. The ones on the Theodulpass side are the easiest options overall, and are generally manageable by most capable novices by the end of their first week. Beginners start out on the gentlest slopes by the river next to the village, where a fast chairlift links to the mid-altitude Plan Torrette services area for onward and upward links into both sectors of the main ski area. It's an ideal setup for easy and logical progression on to the main pistes. The no 7 Ventina run from Plateau Rosa to Cervinia base is worth a special shout out - it's 11km of sheer delight.
Snowfall records for this leeward southern side of the Pennine Alps are not as impressive as those for the windward side, but at these high altitudes the drier air means that snow conditions on the ground are more consistent and the snow is often better here than those on the wetter northern slopes. The generally more sheltered and sunnier aspect here also makes it a great place to come when the weather's good.
When I was there, it was so utterly emplty, just a few of us with the mountain to ourselves!
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