TOP TO BOTTOM Johan Jonsson finding a new line in a very old setting. La Thuile and Aosta valley are known for their medieval barns, castles and churches. Via Roma, the main strip of Courmayer, glowing at night as a storm moves in. WE’D FOUND OUR WAY to La Thuile via a series of rising switchbacks that ended in a hanging valley lined with avalanche tunnels that protected the road from the ferocious slides unleashed by huge, looming faces on either side. Who would have settled in such a thundering aerie? Well, herders for one. And, of course, miners. Before World War II, coal mining was the area’s jam, and old mining struc-tures can still be seen. But like other former mine-based towns, La Thuile now depends on tourism—skiing in winter, hiking and mountain biking in the summer. The village, meanwhile, has plenty to recommend itself, with the “standard” Roman ruins and an historic, almost museum-like cobblestoned upper hamlet, plus a more recent area built around a lower river; accommodation options abound in both, as well as at the base of the purpose-built ski area. But La Thuile’s most saleable feature is as antidote to the over-the-top sensibilities of neigh-bouring Courmayeur, as seen in the kind of groups it draws. While Courmayeur garners sloppy gatherings of tourism operators, clothing designers and a summer rock event where 1,500 amateur musicians play simultaneously for a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records , La Thuile hosts egg-headed conferences on nuclear and particle physics. That might make it more cerebral, but it’s no less inclined to gastronomic bacchanalia, and there are plenty of delicious options to rival the best in the valley. The first such place we encountered was Hotel Chalet Eden, where we’d met the aforementioned Stefano, whose family has run this charming boutique hotel since 1943. Its restaurant was fully organic, serving traditional local dishes using only authentic products from locally controlled farms. The food was delicious and the sustainability mission noble, though one often found themselves more immersed in a bottle of Demaria Bartolomeo Barbera D’Alba 2012, whose rich taste has nothing to do with sustainability and everything to do with Valle d’Aosta being one of Italy’s best wine regions. Like anywhere in the Aosta Valley, service at Hotel Eden was impeccable, with a staff that couldn’t seem to do enough for you—on or off the mountain. That’s because in addition to being hoteliers, there was a second family business: Stefano, his brother, father, uncles and cousins were all ski instructors and mountain guides. They’d teach your kid to ski, guide you off-piste, and take you heli-skiing—an all-in-one package. And if you didn’t need help or company, the Les Suches cable car was a 10-minute walk away. Good thing, because with it snow-ing hard again on day two, there was no shortage of lines in the trees—this time with guide Alberto. Alberto knows La Thuile inside out and lead us on tra-verses we would never have dared follow to lines we would never have found. But perhaps his biggest gift was organizing dinner at Pizzeria Dahu, between the base and Hotel Chalet Eden, where we devoured classic wood-fired pizza at a heavy wooden table under vaulted arches made of river stones, as if we were Centurions and it was still the fourth century. We staggered out from yet another meal to remember into a starry night—the first clear skies of the trip. Aosta, Italy 049
The Ski Journal Volume 13, Issue 3: Page 49
