Some words about Aosta Valley
Located in the heart of the Alps in the North West corner of Italy, Aosta Valley is home to the highest and most beautiful mountains in Europe (Mont Blanc, Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and the Gran Paradiso). Aosta Valley borders France to the West, Switzerland to the North and Piedmont (and the Gran Paradiso National Park) to the South-East. This alpine region is characterized by the presence of a large central valley where the main city of Aosta is located and by several smaller lateral valleys. Nestled in these pristine lateral valleys are charming alpine villages and numerous opportunities for summer and winter activities.
Due to shared alpine landscape and way of life and to the strong commercial, political and linguistic ties throughout history, Aosta Valley continues to maintain its close relationship with its neighbors, French Haute Savoie and Swiss Valais. Nowadays both French and Italian are spoken and are the official languages of Aosta Valley. As a result of this historical particularity, in 1948 the Italian Government granted Aosta Valley the status as an autonomous and bilingual region.
The Pila ski basin
Pila is situated at 1800 meters above sea level in a natural alpine basin overlooking the city of Aosta and the central valley. The particular geographic conformation makes Pila one of the sunniest and least windy ski resorts in the whole region. In addition, the spectacular 360° degree panorama overlooking the splendid alpine summits extends from the Mont Blanc to the Grand Combin, from the Matterhorn to the Monte Rosa, and finally to the Gran Paradiso and the Alps of the Piedmont region, all visible from the top of the Couis ski lift. Pila completely deserves it's description as the "natural balcony overlooking Aosta Valley".
In the past, Pila was a place of mountain pastures and grazing. At the beginning of the 20'th century, Pila was transformed into a summer holiday resort and later, between the two wars, began to develop as a holiday resort for winter sports. Development of the ski area continued with the construction of ski lifts and the inauguration of the cable car linking the city of Aosta to Pila. The cable car was completely renovated in 2008 and now carries skiers from the main train station of Aosta to the center of the ski slopes in Pila in only 18 minutes.
Pila today
Today, the ski area has grown to 12 km2 and 70 km of ski runs that cover an altitude between 1540 and 2750 meters. Rarely, in all the alpine region can one find in a single ski domain the variety of slopes adapted to skiers of all levels. The modern and efficient ski lifts, the programmed snowfalls and the perfect maintenance of the ski domain guarantees optimal ski conditions throughout the whole winter ski season. Finally, a well equipped snow park, located in the center of the resort, is available to snow-boarders. Alpine skiing and snow-shoeing enthusiasts will find beautiful trails for excursions in the valleys of Pila. Lastly, for those who would like to go cross country skiing, there is a trail through the woods on the northern side of the Pila basin.