The Best Things About Skiing in Champoluc With Inghams (Italy)

If you want to ski, as in really ski, Champoluc is brilliant. I went for a few days mid January and the slopes were as good as empty, there were so many to explore too. In four days we’d skied for hours and probably done less than 25% of the resort.

Skiing in Champoluc

The thing with Champoluc, is that there aren’t many blues and even when there are, you kind of need to go balls out on the reds to get to them. On the plus side, this meant my ski game improved dramatically as first day on the slopes it was either red or bed.

Best thing about skiing in Champoluc

Skiing in Champoluc

One of my favourite things about skiing, I’ve come to realise, is the sense of improvement. First day my heart was racing on the death red that got us straight back to our Chalet hotel (ski in ski out, woot!). I was questioning my every move and it took me so long, and two falls, to get to the end, just outside my balcony at Hotel de Champoluc. On the fourth day, after two more daily attempts, I’d say I did it in less than a minute, with confidence and style.

Let’s get piste! (In Frachey, Italia)

Posted by VickyFlipFlopTravels on Tuesday, 19 January 2016

 

Champoluc is the ideal skiing destination if you’re looking for somewhere where you can really improve on your skills. There were huge slopes perfectly groomed ready and waiting, and thanks to the fact it’s well connected to some of the other resorts in the Monterosa ski area (one of the world’s largest), there were plenty of them too. Frachey quickly became my favourite area – just a few minutes bus ride away, and you can ski back.

Skiing with the fastest skiier IN THE WORLD

Simone Origone

– I’d woken up about 10 mins previously, chubs face

Simone Origone is the world’s fastest skier. I’m not up on sport, and thought he was joking in the gondola on the way up. It soon became apparent he was serious, which was further confirmed by the fact that every bar we went in, his face was on the signed posters adorning the walls. Everybody knew him as we strolled around the mountains and one kid was even following us to get in the same gondola as Simone every time.

Champoluc with Inghams Skiing

He’s SO fast. His last world record in speed skiing, set in 2015 and beating his own previous one, is 157mph. Even half that feels fast in a car.

Can you imagine the adrenaline buzz?

Me skiing in Champoluc

Anyway, not that I’m showing off or anything, but I overtook him on the slope at one point. Anyone who tells you it was because he was helping someone else is lying.

Totally made me feel like I wanted to take on a ski instructor course one day. 

Champoluc mountain food

Veal brisket. Never heard of it but I decided to give it a go. Absolutely sensational – meat like this is why I could never be vegetarian. Served up with potatoes and chutney I halved it with my friend along with noodles. Sadly no pic I devoured it too quickly.

Food on the mountains in champoluc

Obviously one of the best things about skiing is the high energy output, meaning it’s perfectly legitimate behaviour to eat veal and potatoes for lunch after the traditional Italian meats and cheese starters. And those Liguria olives. Yes.

Obviously had to try some of those special Italian alcoholic drinks too.

READ MORE: Where to Spend a Weekend in Italy


Champoluc mountain village

Simione took us round a little mountain village – about five houses – to show us the crazy conditions they have to live with up there. There’s a cute little family restauarant that welcomed us in with open arms and gave Simione the biggest portion of homemade special pasta I’ve ever, ever seen. I was feeling tubs that day so just went for a meat capaccio starter, oh my gawd it was perfecto.

Hotel de Champoluc

Hotel Champoluc

– Photo from Inghams.co.uk, I can confirm it looked like that though!

I stayed at the Inghams Chalet hotel, the ski in ski out Hotel de Champoluc. It was a nice place, basic, Italian, all you need. I was well impressed with the food. Each morning you’d choose what you wanted for your dinner – at first I wasn’t sure about this but when it was explained that it was to save on waste I was all for it. I hate seeing so much extra on buffets.

Everything I ate there was delicious, everything. Breakfast was full on – full English, yogurts, freshly cooked eggs, porridge – all the good stuff. There was an afternoon tea at 4ish which was basically a few sandwiches and cakes with tea and coffee to choose from. And then dinner was the 3-course banquet, with canapes in the lounge to start and a cheese board at the end if you could possibly fit it in.

Apres ski 

Apres ski in champoluc

The only downfall of Champoluc was that there was no apres ski, especially after having come from Tignes where it’s well known for the late afternoon hijinks. Obviously for some this is a postitive –  no need to over indulge on the apres or spend even more money. But for me, I like a drink after the ski.

Skiing in Champoluc

I was convinced I could find some somewhere, but after a late night freezing cold exploration of Champoluc, all we managed to do was gatecrash some dude’s 40th birthday. It was only when I spotted the chicken wings on the side, then glanced to the decorations, that I realised we shouldn’t order that drink we’d walked so far for.

Good job that in our hotel we had free wine every night with the meal, and barman kept us busy with Aperol Spritz’s and Proseccos!

The amazing drinks in Italy are what Italy is known for after all!

Skiing in Champoluc with Inghams

Skiing in Champoluc with Inghams

I’d definitely go back to Champoluc. The early morning flight times from Gatwick – and the fact it’s only 90 minutes from Turin airport – mean you can get there for lunch and ski all afternoon. Dreamy.

Yes, there’s no apres but get a good crowd of you and your mates and you have your own. Going with Inghams made the whole thing easier, from ski hire to eating, to advice on where to go on the slopes and getting back to the airport again. I particularly enjoyed their night time pub quiz, where we came a proud second and won oodles of chocolate. Yum.

 

6 Comments

  1. great article, I sky there since I eas a child.. if you go to Champoluc don’t forget to visit Antagnod (a near little town) lovely place to look at the Monte Rosa in all her majesty.

    1. Ah thanks Emily! I’m trying to get better at photography this year, to put a bit more effort into it so I’m glad you think it’s good 🙂 Yeah, they’re a cool company, meant you could just chill out knowing it was sorted.

    1. Thanks Leonie! They’re all just iPhone 6 with a bit of help from Camera+. I want to get better with my Olympus PEN EPL-7 this year but obviously didn’t want to take that up on the slopes. It’s been great this year – had quite a few ski holidays! Nice to get some sun now though. 🙂

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