Ski With Charlie . com Winter Adventures for Skiers and Non-Skiers
Dear Ski Friends:
Happy Fourth of July – the holiday that affirms that summer is in complete bloom. So…no better time to talk about the 2011 annual ski trip!
Last year, Ski With Charlie promised you a trip to a completely new and mostly unknown destination, and we delivered with a great ski week to Ischgl, Austria and trip extension to Prague. “Now for something completely different” (as Monty Python used to say), we’ll be off for a brand new adventure as we explore a corner of Italy known as the AOSTA VALLEY. This is a region with many ski areas, and is anchored by the ancient Roman city of Aosta.
The autonomous region of the Aosta Valley lies in the extreme northwest of Italy, bounded by both Switzerland and France. Set amid magnificent mountain scenery at the foot of the Mont Blanc massif and surrounded by the highest summits of the Alps, the Aosta Valley ranks high among the regions of Italy for scenic beauty and grandeur. The city of Aosta sits at the entrance of the Great St. Bernard Pass and has been important since Roman times. The city’s Roman ruins are second only to those in Rome itself. Daily bus transportation will be available to a different major ski area each day, located just short distances from Aosta. These areas include Pila, LaThuile, Cervinia, Courmayeur, and Monte Rosa. Optional tours will include nearby historic Fenis and Issogne Castles, and day trips to Milan and Turin.
261 Carpenter Rd., Whitinsville, MA 01588 (508) 234-1230 www.SkiWithCharlie.com [email protected]
Rather than stay in any one of the ski areas, we’ll be staying in the city of Aosta and offering a different ski resort daily. The Hotel Europe is situated in the historical center of Aosta in an excellent location for sightseeing and shopping. Just a short walk away you will find Aosta’s Roman ruins, including walls, towers, and a theatre as well as medieval churches. The cable car to the Pila ski area is 800 meters from the hotel, and the train station is about 250 meters away. This is an inviting and elegant hotel with professional friendly staff, providing for a warm and spacious atmosphere. It has 63 charming rooms, featuring individual air-conditioning, telephones, TV, mini bar, electronic safe box, internet access, coffee maker, bathroom with hair dryer. Rooms can be requested as non-smoking. The hotel restaurant features delicious specialties of the Aosta region and international cuisine. Each day we will enjoy a buffet breakfast and a 3-course dinner with salad bar.
Let’s talk about the skiing. Using Aosta as our base, we will provide daily charter bus transportation to a different resort each day. Pila is the local ski area. The main cable car leaves right from the city of Aosta! Pila features about 30 pistes and 15 lifts. Pila will be the perfect “first day” ski area to conquer the “jet lag” and get our ski legs under us. The Monte Rosa region is one of Europe's skiing masterpieces: the skiing area covers over 200 kilometres of snow, with 56 runs served by 42 skilifts. You can reach by ski lifts through the Champoluc and the Gressoney Valleys. (We will devote two days exploring Monte Rosa!) Next up is Courmayer. (Participants on our 2005 trip to Chamonix will remember that we did a day trip to Courmayer through the Mont Blanc tunnel.) The skiing area has 100 kilometers of downhill runs, easy and difficult alike. Some pistes are famous for their intoxicating length, others because they host famous competitions, yet others are ideal for snowboard or telemark. Below the Matterhorn's splendid silhouette, Cervinia is a world-famous skiing resort. Its skiing area, with over 150 kilometers of pistes, is one of the biggest in the Alps and you can ski all day without ever doing one run twice. For a few extra dollars, you can make your Cervinia lift ticket an international one, allowing you to ski right over the border, past the Matterhorn, and down into the famous Swiss alpine village of Zermatt. La Thuile is part of an international skiing area, linked to the runs of La Rosiére in Savoy, France by the same ski lifts and skipass. There are over 150 km of runs, some intermediate level, others idea for the more expert skiers.
For people looking for non-skiing activities, there are plenty in the region. As previously mentioned, Aosta is an important historical center and is noted for its many Roman ruins. The medieval castles of Fenis and Issogne are nearby. The Aosta Valley boasts a large, modern casino for those who wish to gamble. A luxurious day spa is located in Courmayer for those who wish to pamper themselves.
It also will be possible to schedule sightseeing excursions to the nearby Italian cities of Milan and Turin.
261 Carpenter Rd., Whitinsville, MA 01588 (508) 234-1230 www.SkiWithCharlie.com [email protected]
TRIP EXTENSION TO AMSTERDAM AMSTERDAM is the beguiling capital of the Netherlands, a compact mix of the provincial and the cosmopolitan. It has a welcoming attitude towards visitors and a uniquely youthful orientation. For many, however, its world-class museums and galleries - notably the Rijksmuseum, with its collection of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings, and the Van Gogh Museum - are reason enough to visit. Amsterdam was founded on a dam on the river Amstel in the thirteenth century. During the Reformation it rose in stature, taking trade away from Antwerp and becoming a haven for its religious refugees. The city became the center of a vast trading empire. Amsterdam accommodated its expansion with the cobweb of canals that gives the city its dis- tinctive and elegant shape today. By the 18th century, Amsterdam went into gentle decline, re- emerging as a fashionable focus for the alternative movements of the 1960s. The city still takes a uniquely progressive approach to social issues and culture, with intimate clubs and bars, and relaxed attitude to soft drugs.
Our hotel for our three-day stay is the four-star Park Plaza Victoria, centrally located as a superior vantage point to explore the city. Breakfast will be included every day, and we are scheduling a four hour guided tour of the city.
So....it's time to start signing up for this fabulous trip. Included with this mailing is the trip flyer. If you are interested in the trip, please go to my website: www.SkiWithCharlie.com and download/print the following documents: 1) Trip Registration Form 2) Information about optional travel insurance 3) "The fine print" - Information about tour conditions.
This trip is value-priced at $1,789 p.p. Double Occupancy and $2,239 p.p. Single Occupancy. (Plus airline departure tax, estimated at $499 and subject to change until time of ticketing.) Please refer to trip flyer for all pricing details and tour feature inclusions.
A $1,000 payment per person is due with your registration.
Join the fun this March as we travel to this "First Ever" SkiWithCharlie.com destination. I hope to hear from you soon.
- Charlie Thompson
P.S. Complete information can also be found on my website: www.SkiWithCharlie.com
261 Carpenter Rd., Whitinsville, MA 01588 (508) 234-1230 www.SkiWithCharlie.com [email protected]