Tree skiing in Italy

Early last week I decided to take what you might regard as a 'busman's holiday'. Yes, I went on a two day ski holiday - to the small Italian resort of Bardonecchia!

Purely by chance we experienced (what the locals considered) some of the best ski conditions in 10 years. Half a metre of snow had fallen the previous week, and the skies cleared for us as we arrived into town on Sunday evening.

On Monday morning we awoke to minus double-figure temperatures, crystal clear skies and empty pistes..... but it was more the off-piste skiing we had come for.

Bardonecchia town lies at about 1300m with the top lift at 2800m, providing some 1.5km of vertical drop in any full run! Many of the pistes are lined with larch trees, making the off-piste skiing really exciting. Due to larch trees distinct lack of winter foliage, you can ski narrower gaps than between the normal fir trees common in Les Gets. Just imagine a giant natural slalom courses, placed randomly in endless powder fields, and you're starting to get the picture! After a morning of 'tree slalom' we headed for the more open powder fields of Jafferau. And it didn't disappoint!

During the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, Bardonecchia hosted some of the snowboard events including the half-pipe. They are proud to own one of the finest half-pipes in the world. The foundations of the half-pipe have been created by earth but at the start of each winter season the 'mould' is completely filled and over-filled with man-made snow. Once the depth is right, the cutters go in to create the half-pipe shape - one is shown in the photo here. Spot the special adaption made to the Fiat Panda - yes, four caterpillar tracks instead of wheels!

Pasta fueled from the night before, on Tuesday morning we decided to ski some of the beautifully prepared pistes. A handful of snowboarders being coached to race alpine kit were about the only others using 'our' slopes.........awesome! Needless to say though, we couldn't leave the fresh snow for too long and in the afternoon we put the fat skis back on and hit the powder of Jafferau.

It's a long time since I've been on a ski holiday.......but I think I'm addicted!