GREAT FOR AVERAGE INTERMEDIATES, ADVENTUROUS OFF-PISTE SKIERS AND THOSE WHO RATE LUNCH AND THE APRES SKI AS AN EQUAL TO THE SKIING

This is an ideal resort for skiers who detest walking in ski boots with skis on their shoulders: equipment can be left overnight at slope-side deposits like the Ski-In at Plan Checrouit, at the top of the main access cable car.

Plan Checrouit is effectively the main base of Courmayeur’s ski area and is reached by a large brown-and-cream cable car from a station on the outskirts of the resort. In 2006 the new is eight-seater Dolonne Gondola was completeted, linking the hamlet of Dolonne (where the children's Fun Park is based) with Plan Checrouit. Located at 1,706m, Plan Checrouit is a collection of ski shops, bars and restaurants. It is also the starting point for two chairlifts and a gondola (cabins designed by coachworkers Pinninfarina, more famous for their work with Alfa Romeo), which take you up into the main ski area. This comprises 15 or so lifts, including three high-speed quad chair lifts that serve mainly intermediate cruising terrain. All of the 24 pistes are rated either red or blue, except for one, which is the black-rated, but not very difficult, Competizione down to Zerotta.

The front of the ski area benefits from the sunshine in the mornings, but in the afternoons skiers can move over into the Val Veny side and ski many of the runs through the trees to be found here. This is also the sector to exploit in the case of bad visibility. Snow conditions permitting there is a wonderfully scenic - if not especially challenging - run with tremendous views of Mont Blanc, along Val Veny to Entreves on the valley floor. From here a cable car brings you back up into the main ski area again or, alternatively, you can take a bus back to Courmayeur itself.

The main piste skiing in Courmayeur only goes up as high as 2,624m and most of it is below 2,256m, so this is not an area for those obsessessed with getting a long vertical drop, or for those who want to ski very early or late in the season. On the other hand, Courmayeur does benefit from an extensive, modern snow-making system. Recently a new (blue) piste opened down to the valley settlement of Dolonne from where buses run back to Courmayeur, giving people an alternative route back to the resort instead of taking the cable back across the valley from Plan Checrouit.

The principal off-piste routes in the main ski area all begin up at Cresta d'Arp (2,755m). From here you can either go round via Arp Vielle down into Val Veny, taking in fantastic views of the Miage glacier; or you can ski down the Alpe d'Arpette route to Dolonne or Pre St Didier; or you can ski though the Youla gorge to the resort of La Thuile and take a bus or taxi back home.

Other off-piste possibilities include the 17km Vallee Blanche run down towards Chamonix, which has a less intimidating start if begun on the Italian rather than the French side and which can be attempted with advanced intermediates in the company of a local guide. More experienced skiers will enjoy taking the Mont Blanc cable cars from La Palud, just a few kilometres outside Courmayeur, up to the Punta Helbronner (3,470m) and then skiing down the Italian side on the spectacular Toula glacier. This is a 2,000m vertical off-piste descent, yet it is served by lifts. For the even more adventurous the Courmayeur region offers a variety of heli-ski descents.

For a bit of variety the resorts of Pila and La Thuile (which links with La Rosiere in France) are a short drive away, while Cervinia (linked to Zermatt in Switzerland) is some 90 minutes drive away.