The Monterosa Ski is an Italian

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

, at the foot of

Monte Rosa Monte Rosa (; ; ; or ; ) is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over , is the D ...

the second tallest mountain in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, which links three valleys, located largely in the

Aosta Valley The Aosta Valley ( ; ; ; or ), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Fr ...

and the remainder in

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

. Much of the area consists of easy and intermediate skiing, but the area around the Passo dei Salati and especially the steep slopes in

Alagna Valsesia Alagna Valsesia ( Walser German: ''Im Land'', Piedmontese: ''Alagna'', Valsesiano: ''Lagna'') is a ''comune'' and small village high in the Valsesia alpine valley in the province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy, a UNESCO World heritage si ...

are a major and very famous destination for freeride skiers and snow-boarders.

Description

The area takes its name from the huge and spectacular

massif as the heads of its three constituent valleys are located within this group. These valleys are the Val d'Ayas and the Lys Valley, located within the

, and

in the Valsesia Valley, in Piedmont. The connections between the valleys are at the Bettaforca Pass (Ayas and Lys), and the Passo dei Salati (Lys and Valsesia). These connections are susceptible to closure in the case of high winds. Since 2010, most of the lift system is open in summer for mountain bikers and hikers. One can reach Frachey (

Ayas Ayas may refer to: Ayas * Ayas(आयस), Sanskrit for metal, see history of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent * Ayas, Armenian metal band * Aya, Adana, the ancient city of Aegeae and medieval Ajazzo or Laiazzo, now Yumurtalık, Adana Pro ...

), then

and back within the same day using only the lifts.

Ski Pistes and Lifts

There are approximately 180 km of ski slopes (almost all equipped with snow-making), from the most simple to the more technical (19 blue runs, 41 red runs and 6 black runs, including, in Gressoney-Saint-Jean, the most difficult of the whole Aosta Valley), and 38 lifts that start at a minimum altitude of 1212 m above sea level

and reach up to 3275 m s.l.m. at Indren Peak. The overall uplift capacity of the lift system is about 50,000 people per hour. The

part of the district is world-famous for its many off-piste skiing and ski mountaineering like Balma and Malfatta. The ski area is operated jointly by two companies: Monterosa S.p.A. and MONTEROSA 2000 S.p.A. (of Alagna). They operatate a diverse range of ski lifts:

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

, funifor ( Funifor Pianalunga - Passo dei Salati), cable car, ski lift, treadmill and chairlift (two-seater, three-seater, fixed-grip quad chairlift or automatic) are the different types of plants lifts that make up the district.

Constituent Resorts

The individual villages and hamlets that are resorts within the ski area are : *

- Antagnod * Ayas - Champoluc * Brusson *

Gressoney-La-Trinité Gressoney-La-Trinité (; Gressoney or ''Greschòney Oberteil''; ) is a town or ''comune, commune'' and renowned alpine resort at the foot of Monte Rosa in the Lys (Dora Baltea), Lys Valley, which is part of the Aosta Valley region of Northwest It ...

* Gressoney-Saint-Jean *

Of these only Champoluc, Gressoney-La-Trinité and Alagna are directly connected by ski lifts and routes. This interconnected area forms the largest part of the available skiing. The Alpe di Mera was part of the Monterosa Ski for the seasons 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.

References

External links

Official website

Description

Ski Pistes and Lifts

Constituent Resorts

References

External links

Further reading