2014 and its my second trip skiing. Not because I’m greedy or spoilt but because my wife and I were expecting our first child in Feb so for fear of not missing out on the yearly holiday with Dad, we opted to go in mid December.

At this time of year you have to aim high so we looked at Tignes, Cervinia and St Christoph, finally plumping for the Italian ski resort. Wow what a stroke of luck. When we arrived we were told by the rep that Cervinia was one of the only resorts in Europe with any snow, many of the larger well known areas being closed and some without any snow at all! Chamonix, Courchevel and St Anton all struggling to get any lifts open at all!

Cervinia is a pretty Italian town and forms part of the Aosta Valley. Its connected on the border to Zermatt which is well worth skiing down to if you get the chance.

I’d say that as a fairly competent skier its perhaps a little on the small side to keep you busy and not carving the same runs every day. That said, with an area pass (called International) you can get over to Zermatt on the left hand side (looking at the Piste Map) and to your right you have Salette and Valtournenche which are great ski areas with lots of good runs.

As a resort it offers everything you need for a great holiday. A lovely town which you can walk up and down in under 15 mins, all your basic amenities, nice bars and restaurants (although I can’t vouch personally for these as we were catered) and some nice souvenir type shops for the loved ones back home.

We stayed in the Dragon and Thistle which is an Inghams run hotel and has a bizarrely half Scottish, half Welsh theme! Being away from England with pictures of Lochs everywhere or Welsh rugby teams on the wall was a little odd but we were looked after well.

My Favourite run of the week was probably the long wide red (69) on the Zermatt side of the Matterhorn although 24 on the Cervinia side, tucked right under the fantastic mountain was good fun, shooting down the slope, rocks either side of you.

I’d definitely go back to Cervinia, maybe not for a few years but one day I’ll return.

Ratings

Runs: 7/10
Restaurants: Didn’t sample enough
Apres Ski: Didn’t sample enough
Town: 8/10

Overall: 7/10

Have you skied in Cervinia yourself? Find any hidden gems? Keen to hear from you and keep building a great resource for others to learn from.