Ski Pila Italy
Pila is a wonderful medium-size Italian Alps ski resort in the beautiful Aosta valley, not far from Mont Blanc, Cervinia, Courmayeur, Monterosa, and La Thuile.
Set above the Roman town of Aosta, with beautiful views of Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) and the Matterhorn, Pila is a modern, purpose-built resort, with an excellent snow record.
70 kilometers of perfect pistes, with impressive snowmaking await skiers at Pila. Pila’s slopes are served by modern ski lifts including the Aosta Gondola from the historic village which takes 20-minutes, and connects to another gondola with two mid-stations eventually reaching the top – Platta de Grevon (summit 2752-meters, 9,028-feet). At Pila’s spectacular summit is a cool star-shaped lodge… Stella de Pila. Its well-designed that pedestrians can travel base to summit entirely by gondolas, along with skiers.
Pila’s ski terrain is a mix of high alpine open bowls and some trees, which provide good visibility on snow days, and interesting variety. From the 360 summit Platta de Grevon, and Stella di Pila – the stunning lodge, you have two groomed black diamond pistes, aside from the steep off-piste terrain. But like everywhere in The Alps, be cautious, hire a guide, as this is slide-prone avalanche territory, some steep, and mostly above tree-line.
Pila’s other upper mountain Couis chair to 2662-meters offers more steep terrain, two Red (intermediate) runs, and two Blacks – appropriately-named Bellevue (its a beautiful view) and Resselin that are typically groomed.
In the center of Pila’s ski resort, La Nouva six-pack chair and and Leisse quad offer a half-dozen wider intermediate runs. This part of Pila is not so steep, ideal for families and popular with ski school lessons. Pila’s skiers’ left has more playful tree-lined terrain, served by the chair Grimondet.
Pila 1800 mid-mountain has lots of lodging, like the massive condo building PlanBois. We stayed up on the mountain here near the gondola, at 1800-meters, at the Hotel Lion Noir a three-star basic hotel with a friendly staff, affordable half board – breakfast and dinner buffets, and panoramic views from a lovely living room with a bar, an indoor pool and spa with sauna for a small surcharge. Where to stay in Pila for skiing.
Pila on mountain chalets for ski in ski out lunch, we loved Societe Anonym in the Grimond area, reserve table service upstairs by the fire – its very romantic, a bit expensive but lovely if you are no in a hurry to get back out skiing.
Alpenwood is a chic modern lodge atop Chamole, with floor to ceiling panoramic windows, bbq, pizza, also a bit avant guard.
Yeti is a fun bar and restaurant mid-mountain by the gondola, at Plan Praz, with delicious pastas and polenta smothered in local cheese– so popular in this region. Yeti is also host to après ski in their bar area or out on the patio!
Panoramic Bistro at the tippy top at Stella di Pila has sensational views from this cool mod star-shaped lodge, same architecture and design as the spectacular Mont Blanc SkyWay in Courmayeur – very chic and marvelous engineering. A buffet of Chef’s dishes served in clever mason jars is featured here, similar to Sky Way Monte Bianco, its pricey but so chic and scenic here.
Several other huts and chalets dot Pila’s slopes, Hermitage, La Baoutson and La Chatelaine.
Aosta at the very base base of the gondola is a delight, Roman and medieval architecture meet within a pedestrian zone, ideal for strolling and browsing Italian boutiques and cafes. Less-expensive apartments and BnBs are available for rent in Aosta village. Its a tapestry of Italian alpine culture – past and present, and a 20-minute modern gondola from here to the skiing summit of Pila – pretty cool!
All Pila’s winter wonderland, see Pila’s official site, is just 90-minutes from Milan, and near other Aosta Valley ski resorts, San Bernardo’s La Thuile and Courmayeur.
Ski Pila Ski Resort Ski Stats:
Elevation: 1540 – 2740 M – 8,990′
Vertical Drop: 1800 M – 5,905′
Lifts: 12
Trails: 70 km
On the IKON Pass with 7 days in the Aosta Valley
