La Thuile – one of the world’s best ski resorts
Smaller Italian town of La Thuile is situated in a sunny valley at an altitude of 1441 meters above sea level, in the small region of Aosta Valley.
The town still maintains a peaceful atmosphere and is one of the first ski resorts in the area. However being the first doesn’t mean the outdated. Its facilities and quality of ski trails are among the world’s best ski resorts.
Mont Blanc as seen from La Thuile, Italy by BeardyRob
It is here where you can ski on the southern slopes of the highest mountain in Europe, Mont Blanc. The local slopes satisfy both beginners or skilled and experienced skiers, snowboarders and lovers of skiing in open terrain (freeride).
Italian resort of La Thuile is adjacent to the French resort of La Rosiere and so the visitors can enjoy about 150 kilometers of groomed ski trails, of which about 20 % is artificially snowed.
View of the valley from La Rosière, France by Llfabll
These areas even have a common ski-pass with another ski resort of Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo, which allows skiers to move easily between them.
There are 73 slopes, of which 7 are simple green colored, 26 of them are blue for beginners, 29 red for intermediate skiers and 11 black suitable for savvy skiers. 20 lifts, 1 cable car and 17 chair lifts with total capacity of 44,000 people per hour are prepared here to serve the skiers.
La Thuile, Aosta Valley, Italy by Martin Pauer
Fans of cross-country skiing are pleased with about 35 kilometers of trails in the area and on the basin of Petosan, which offers spectacular views of Mont Blanc. For snowboarders there is 500 meters long snowpark with a number of obstacles, jumps, rails and halfpipe, which is serviced by its own lift.
La Thuile offers lots of other sporting and après-ski activities. Among the most popular are helicopter and airplane flights over the valley of the Petit Saint Bernard, on the border between Italy and France and over the Mont Blanc massif.
A panoramic view of Mont Blanc by Zoharby
La Thuile is also a popular destination for heli-skiers. Heliskiing is an extreme sport, when the skier is transferred to the top of the mountain by the helicopter and then slide down off-trail. However this is considerably restricted in France.
The resort offers a range of bars, restaurants, ski rental services, ski schools and ski equipment shops. There is a fitness center, bowling, gym, sauna, solarium, massage services, whirlpool and others.
Cable lift in La Thuile, Aosta by Leo-setä