Cervinia

To be honest, it wasn't originally our intention to ski in Europe this year. Our experiences of unreliable snow and weather conditions had convinced us that our best bet was to head across the Atlantic, probably to Canada. However, when the time came to book we were getting reports of the best start to the European Ski season in 10 years and so decided to give it one more try. Primary amongst our decisions was the cost compared with North America. It was for this reason that we selected Italy rather than our more usual France, as our destination. But where in Italy? Some years ago we skied in La Thuile, right up against the French border and ...

I'm just back from Cervinia/Zermatt, and writing this review for those who are going there soon! Cervinia/Zermatt is quite a huge international resort, it's half Italian and half Swiss. Be sure you always have your passport with you, because sometimes they check it when you go to Switzerland from Italy or vice versa. First of all, I have to say that we always go to mountains for New Year, which means snow conditions are not always great. But this year we were lucky: in the beginning we had a couple of clear sunny days to get into the business, and then the snowfall started. You should always remember that you have either great snow ...

Cervinia has just about all you need for the office skiing/boarding weekend. There are plenty of slopes, ranging from dead easy to reasonably hard all within close range of the town and its cable-car. For the more adventurous there are harder slopes if you cross the mountains to Switzerland and descend down towards Zermatt ? something that is perfectly achievable in a day if you watch the clock a little. There?s no point in describing the individual runs, just suffice it to say there is ample choice. Serious black-run skiers may get bored here, but for the intermediate and indeed novice, there is plenty to keep you amused. The snow record I?m told is good, even ...