Nestled high above the ancient town of Aosta is the ski resort of Pila. We drove down from Courmayeur for the day to experience this resort. It is easy to get to from the A5 motorway that runs through the Aosta valley with its miles of tunnels and viaducts. The alternative, more picturesque route via the A26 winds through the valley bottom, passing through rustic villages and vineyards. We went on a Friday, arriving in Aosta about 9.30 am to find the large car park at the bottom of the gondola already full and with a lot of tour buses parked up. It looked like it was going to be busy. 

Even with all the buses and cars, by the time we’d sorted ourselves out and picked up our lift tickets there wasn’t much of a queue for the gondola and before long we were heading upwards. Pila’s branding on the gondola says ‘Ski in the Sky’ and it certainly feels like you are going to as the gondola sends you skywards. We almost made the mistake of disembarking at the two intermediate stops on the way up; beware of this as it is not until the third station that you get out at Pila resort.

Stay in Aosta Town or up in Resort

Once up at Pila, we could see the various hotels and apartment blocks that make up the main Pila base area. It is not large, but if you want ski-in, ski-out, then it is a good place to stay and saves the 20-minute gondola ride from the town. On the other hand, the town of Aosta is a beautiful place to stay, steeped in history and with plenty of Roman architecture and culture to explore. Founded in 25 BC, the town is coming up to its 2050^th birthday. If you do have time for a short stroll through Aosta old town, have a look at the via Porto Praetorian and stroll towards the Piazza Chanoux which is the main square with a colonnade full of cafes to stop at and enjoy a cup of coffee. You might also find the square bustling with a craft market. 

A choice of lifts from the top of the gondola

From the top of the gondola, you need to then take one of the chairs up to get skiing. From the gondola there is a choice of lifts you can take. We took the Grimod chair to start with which takes you to the heart of the lift system. From there we got our legs moving on Blue 15, and popped into a café at the base of the Couis 2 chair: it was just about early lunchtime for the hoards of Interski kids in ski school and we ended up sharing a table with a playful bunch of 12-year old boys from Leicestershire telling us all about their escapades crashing on the Red and Black runs throughout the week. After a quick check of the piste map to plan the rest of our day, we then continued down Blue 15 and then took the Laisse lift for a few runs on Red 23 and 24 which proved very entertaining on a nice, comfortable pitch with good snow. A further bonus was that all the ski school groups were by now in for lunch so we virtually had the mountain to ourselves for the next hour. Taking advantage of the quiet time, we scooted through the village to the bottom of the Chamole chair and up that to access Red 2 and Red 3 on the far left of the piste map. These were my favourite runs of the day, quiet, well-groomed, and wide enough to get some good carving turns in on the run down. We spent quite a bit of time here, up and down, working on our technique and getting our boots flexing. 

New for 2025: the Couis 1 Gondola

Our next target was to take the new gondola, Couis 1, up to Piatta de Grevon at 2,752 metres. A curious coincidence in the lift line meant that, as luck would have it, we met another telemarker, the only one of our tribe we saw that day, and travelled up on the lift with her. 

The Couis 1 gondola is brand new for 2025: very comfortable and swish. It only takes four-and-a-half minutes to climb up to the plateau. The building project is still ongoing as there is a plan to put in a new restaurant with panoramic views of the skyline; I’m sure it will be a superb place to take a break once it is open. The ambitious vision is for this to link up with the gondola from the bottom, allowing not just skiers but pedestrians the opportunity to visit the vantage point at the top of the mountain. The views from the top of here are spectacular and if you have a good head for heights you can look down over the back towards the valley of Cogne. Suzanne does not have a good head for heights, so relied on Nick to give her a detailed description of the view as she stood well back from the edge! On a clear day, you can see a full panorama with Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and Gran Paradiso all visible. 

A choice of Red or Black

The skiing options from the top here are either of the steep black runs 27 or 28, or if you don’t fancy that you can follow the Red ‘Raccordo’ run which is a linking connection along the top of the ridge across to the top of Couis 2 where you can descend on either Red 16 or Red 19, a little less gnarly than the blacks, these take you back down to the Grimod area. Of course, if the weather is bad, or you just don’t fancy the ski options, you can descend again via the gondola.

Good value Lift Passes

Lift passes for Pila are reasonable with day passes priced at €55 for adults or €49 for seniors. If you are skiing elsewhere in the Aosta valley and have bought a full week’s pass, you may well find that you are allowed to ski one or two days in other Aosta resorts so Pila makes a good day-trip option from Courmayeur, La Thuile, or Cervinia if you want some variety. With approximately 70km of pisted trails, it is not a huge area, so a day trip or few days here allows you to make the most of your time. The resort tends to attract lots of school trips and beginner groups, as it does have some gentle blue slopes, but it is also a good intermediate area with a range of red slopes. Being north-facing, the snow tends to hold well and we found the runs were well-maintained and pisted. With the new Couis 1 lift and the plan for future improvements, Pila is definitely worth a visit. 

Getting here

We drove down and once in the Aosta valley, getting around by car is very easy. However, note that the Mont Blanc tunnel is currently closed between September and mid-December and is likely to be shut for this period for the next 15 years or so for renovations. The alternative, if you want to get out before Christmas, is to drive down via the Grand St Bernard Tunnel from the Swiss side or the Val Frejus Tunnel from the French side, taking you the long way round via Turin. The train line through the Aosta valley is also currently disrupted, so transport from Turin is a little more difficult, although FlixBus are, apparently, running a service. I’d advise checking with the relevant transport provider in advance. 

Here’s a little video of our day out

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