Fly to ski

Next time Im in the area will fly in to do a recon to check out:

Do they remove snow?
Is there an electric outlet nearby to Preheat the plane?

If I remember correctly its only a VFR Airport. If so, that is a big negative especially when one has to stay overnight cause its a 2hr trip to get there from Budapest. If you’re dependent on VFR weather, how can you get a hotel room the last minute?

Peter wrote:

Refering Bosco’s post here I looked at Biella LILE. I am travelling right now and don’t have my sign-in to the Italian AIP site. An old AIP suggests it has customs/immigration on a PNR. It is VFR only.

I notice the airport’s website makes the following claim: "no congestion due to an air traffic free slot procedure " which is interesting. The website doesn’t otherwise seem to discourage use of the airport.

There is a small airfield in Torin, LIMA that can make it as alternate. Otherwise Aosta is the closest to Cervinia, but pretty demanding in terms of weather, as inside a valley you may only enter from South East if overcast.

I did fly gliders at Aosta, on non flying days we used to go skiing at Pila. The gondola leaves from the town of Aosta straight to the slopes.

Peter wrote:

I did Annecy / Grand Bornand a few years ago and enjoyed it.

If you fly into Annecy you could ski on the Semnoz. A bus goes up every day from town, easy enough for the type of skiing you’d like to do. Snow conditions are all right at the moment. (Was up there to pick something up on Sunday)
https://www.semnoz.fr/station-ski-haute-savoie/ete/lignes-bus.html
Or you try to see if anything is free in any of the hotels there. That would be dead easy and for beginner skiing for a weekend entirely doable…
And here’s the webcam https://www.onthesnow.co.uk/northern-alps/le-semnoz/webcams.html

Peter wrote:

There is Aosta LIMW – massive runway and again VFR only. Has anyone done that one?

I’ve been there last year. Scenic airport, with a big runway, very friendly and guest-free people, but don’t expect them to speak good English. Even the AFIS-guy on the Tower had problems with his English. Refuel was very fast, but calculate some time for paying the landing fees. The “Guarda di Finanza” did an immigration check on me upon arrival, even though I came from Germany. After the administrative hassles, somebody from the aeroclub invited me spontaneously for a drink and some food. Back to the airplane without security check.

The approach into LIMW is not so difficult, but be prepared for strong mountain winds and heavy up- and downdrafts. I had to deal with them pretty badly upon departure to the southwest (Petit-St-Bernard), including some strong turbulence.

Cervinia is one of my all-time favorite destinations to ski. Well, actually not Cervinia itself, but more Zermatt. Amazing scenery. Don’t forget a passport on the slopes, since I’ve been checked by Swiss customs on the skis once. And before I forget: La Thuile in Espace San Bernardo is also a very nice place to ski, which is connected with La Rosière in France.

Yes, the slopes in Cervinia are indeed (a lot) easier to ski, including Valtournenche. There are more “carving highways” as in Zermatt.