Champoluc as a ski holiday destination has a small but ardent fan base amongst British skiers and boarders. Located at 1,580 metres altitude it offers a practical and charming place to stay, with easy access to the huge Monterosa ski area, the Italian answer to the Three Valleys in France.

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Hotels in Champoluc, Italy

Champoluc is somewhat spread out along the valley floor, and the River Evancon which flows heavily with glacial melt water for most of the year. The distinctly charming centre of the resort (which as a result of the bypass is largely pedestrianised) starts at the church and stretches 400 metres towards the bottom of the main Crest chairlift which is about 800 metres from the church. In the centre of Champoluc are the 3 star Hotel Castor and the 4 star Hotel Breithorn (which until recently was run as a popular chalet hotel by Ski Total). Although these are both a 6 - 8 minute walk from the bottom of the Crest chairlift we would recommend staying at either to benefit from the greater resort atmosphere which surrounds them compared to staying closer to the lift station.

However, if proximity to the lifts and bottom of the slopes are a priority (and for families we understand why this may be the case) then the Chalet Hotel de Champoluc offered by Inghams is a great choice. This is almost ski in ski out, right by the ski hire shops and also the ski school meeting point. For a practical, great value family ski holiday it is hard to argue against staying here.

Ski holidays in Champoluc - just how big is the Monterosa ski area?

British skiers attach (often unjustifiable) importance as to the amount of pistes a ski area offers as measured in kilometres. We can argue for hours over how the Espace Killy region with 360km of pistes actually offers a larger area than the Three Valleys with over 600km of pistes. Indeed much has been written about ski resort marketing departments claiming that as skiers do not ski in a straight line the kilometres of piste on offer should reflect the zig-zagging distances covered when tackling a piste. Needless to say this leads a lot to interpretation and vastly inflated figures for ski area size arise. Factoring in popular off-piste routes only adds another complicated layer to the size of ski area equation when measured in pisted kilometres.

Some sources argue the whole of the Monterosa ski area only offers 73km of piste, whereas other sources claim over 180km. Even taking a median value of 126km of piste the Monterosa ski area seems hopelessly small when compared to the Three Valleys or the Espace Killy in France. So why all the fuss about the 'Freeride Paradise' of the Monterosa ski area? To understand how large it actually is one should really look at the overall distances on offer. The Monterosa area, from Alagna in the east to Gressoney in the west, offers a ski area spanning 16km from point to point. The Three Valleys, from Courchevel 1650 in the N.E. to the top of Val Thorens' Cime de Caron in the S.W. only offers four more kilometres on a point to point basis. The reason for the vastly different values of pisted kilometres (600km vs 73km) is that the Monterosa area only offers one piste descending each mountain face, whereas the Three Valleys offers many routes down, often with two or more pistes simply running next door to each other. Including the huge areas of easily accessible off-piste terrain within the Monterosa domain the ski area is arguably pretty much the same size as that offered by the mighty Three Valleys in France. Even if just sticking to the marked and pisted trails there is no doubt you feel like you are covering huge distances in the Monterosa - principally because one is. Add to this the uncrowded nature of the Monterosa ski area one soon starts to feel incredibly small when surrounded by the towering 4,000+ metre mountain peaks.

In short do not be put off by the 73km of pistes statistic. The Monterosa is a very large ski area by anyone's standards, and for a week's family ski holiday is as snow sure and big as you could possibly need.

Getting to Champoluc

The most practical gateway into Champoluc from the UK is via Turin Airport. The transfer time is just 1.5 hours (68 miles) and a private taxi transfer works out at approximately £50 per person return (based on a party of 8 people). When combined with a cheap easyJet flight this makes very affordable travel costs to and from Champoluc. At the time of writing (August 2021) a return flight from London Gatwick to Turin including generous luggage allowance and sensible flight times can be booked for under £100 return. The combined return flight and taxi transfer costs therefore come to less than £150 per person. What a bargain!

Flying to Milan Malpensa Airport is also very do-able. The transfer time is 2 hours and covers a distance just over 100 miles. The taxi transfer costs as a result of the greater distance is more like £100 per person return (based on a party size of 8), and therefore double the price of a taxi from Turin to Champoluc.

Ski holidays in Champoluc - who are they good for?

Family ski holidays in Champoluc

Even if staying the centre of resort close to the church in either the Hotel Breithorn or the Hotel Castor families can leave their skis and boots overnight at the ski hire shop at the foot of the Crest chairlift. This makes accessing and returning from the main lift pretty easy. Alternatively families will stay at the Chalet Hotel de Champoluc which, as previously mentioned, is at the foot of the slopes and next to the Crest chairlift. There is a good beginner area at the mid station level which debutantes will enjoy. However, it should be mentioned that for wobbly intermediates there are some relatively steep connecting slopes that need to be tackled in order to connect to the wider ski area which includes the neighbouring resorts of Gressoney and Alagna. That said families will enjoy the quiet slopes, great value and high quality on-mountain restaurants and the authentic Italian ambience.

Expert skiers looking to explore the 'Freeride Paradise'

With huge areas of un-pisted high alpine terrain it is no surprise that the Monterosa area appeals to those seeking off-piste thrills. From untracked and wide open powder bowls to impossibly steep couloirs the Monterosa offers it all. The skiable terrain ranges in altitude from 2,500m to 3,500m which makes for an excellent snow record. However, the most appealing nature of the Monterosa ski area, dubbed the 'Freeride Paradise' is that hardly anyone else is there. Hike for 15 minutes to drop into another valley and suddenly you and your party are the only people to be seen. Needless to say taking a mountain guide when exploring away from the pistes is essential.