La Thuile - Espace San Bernardo Italian Ski Resort

By Author: Boštjan Hozjan
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Essentially, La Thuile is in the Aosta Valley, with France, Switzerland and the Piedmont (one of the twenty regions of Italy), bordering to the west, north and southeast respectively. This valley is so unique—especially as it lies midway in the Alps—because it has the least population (and a lesser density of people) of all twenty Italian regions. Down near the valley lowlands, some towns speak French and even German as their first languages. The skiing, too, is just as diverse as the people who inhabit the region.

There is a lot of history to the La Thuile and the Espace San Bernardo Italian ski areas. The first recorded people here were the Celts, with some places still named after the local names of long ago. It didn't take Rome long, however, to conquer the valley. The area saw kingdoms and conquerors come and go, but after the French control in the 1560s, La Thuile and the whole of the Aosta Valley joined Italy in the 1860s. You may happen upon some ruins during your ski holiday; however, most of the area has been rebuilt time and again, forging new towns and a purpose-built look.

La Thuile in ...
... Italy and La Rosiere in the Savoy district of France make one of the truly international ski resorts—you can ski in both with one ski pass, in fact. What you have here is the Espace San Bernardo ski area that offers the most for your ski pass money. The snow zones, by example, include a snowpark, a snowcross and a boardercross section. Mont Blanc is seemingly close in the distance from Espace San Bernardo. A heliskiing tour (legal in Italy, but not in France) of the area will take you to some of the freshest, virgin powder of all the Alps. You'll have the most panoramic views that you'll never forget.

In the Espace San Bernardo (with La Thuile and La Rosiere thrown in the mix) you'll have over 150 kilometers of open skiing, with no worries of borders or checkpoints. Of course, with the EU, all those were done away with several years ago. The Espace San Bernardo linkage gives you more than just hundreds of kilometers of skiing. Here, there are 34 lifts—that's 1 cableway, 16 chair lifts and 17 surface lifts—giving easy access and entry to some of your favorite or most challenging slopes. In addition, there are 73 runs, a ski jump, snowpark and two slalom stadiums. When you're out here in either ski area surrounded by mountains and snow, life and time seem endless and constant.

La Thuile sets at 1441 meters in a little basin with two tourist information points on the east and west side of town. The two highest points accessible by a ski lift is the Chaz Dura at 2579 meters and La Belvedere at 2641 meters with Col de Fourclaz snug between them. La Rosiere, on the other hand, ranges from 1200 meters to 2650 meters, just 30 meters shy of the highest point in La Thuile. Between the two ski resorts that make up Espace San Bernardo, the lifts can transport more or less 55,000 skiers per hour and keep them cruising no matter the weather with over 300 snow making machines.

Most of you skiers will be quite pleased with the diversification of skiable routes in Espace San Bernardo ski area. You'll have plenty of greens, blues, reds and blacks dispersed throughout both La Thuile and La Rosiere. If looked at by percentage, beginners get the most pistes with 44% of the runs. Intermediate skiers get the next best runs at 36% with advanced and expert skiers sharing the remaining 20% of ski slopes. The longest run of both, however, is 11 km long, with three snowparks and a snowkite school. Moreover, you can get guided cross-country tours (35 km with 3 miles of walking) that take you away all day—a great way to leave the wife (or husband) behind for the day so you can play! Those who tire easily of skiing will find comfort in the other snow activities in the area.

Since La Thuile is located in the Alps, the snow season is long with abundant snow during both high and low seasons. The season opens on November 29th and ends in mid-April the following year. It should be quite easy to get a week or two off from work to make it here during the long ski season. La Rosiere, however, begins on Dec 13th and ends at roughly the same time as La Thuile. There are some fantastic ways to learn to ski in the Espace San Bernardo to boot. With 60 willing and ready instructors at any number of the area ski schools, who speak a number of languages, you can learn to ski the right way in now time. There are gyms, swimming pools, saunas, arcades, bars, discos, casinos, restaurants, shops and plenty of day trip opportunities.