Why not stay in an authentic alpine village this year, rather than a purpose built resort? Casa dell’Ava is part of a medieval Italian village, where you can ski in St Moritz and Madesimo, enjoy great Italian food, and spectacular walks.
The area has some of the most dramatic granite mountains in the Alps. From nearby Soglio you can see the north face of Pizzo Cengalo (a sheer granite wall over a kilometer high), the famous Piz Badile (where mountaineering legend Cassin pioneered routes) and the spires of the Sciora peaks.
Good eating – there are an abundance of fine restaurants, mountain refuges and ‘crotti’ (the famous cave restaurants of the area).
The chalet has been completely restored this year, but reflects the original style of the 300 year old house. You’ll find three foot thick stone walls and a granite staircase, cupboards tucked into niches in the wall with old doors and giant iron keys…
We meet standards in responsible tourism with heating and electricity provided by wood and hydroelectricity!
Skiing
You have the choice of skiing in two resorts from the house Madesimo in Italy and St Moritz in Switzerland. You can also ski in Davos, or Bormio but we’d recommend that you stay overnight there if you went for the weekend.
Madesimo
Madesimo (1500-3000m) is a good resort for family skiing – it has 60Km of cruisey wide pistes, and a nice mixture of about 50% higher mountain runs and 50% tree-lined runs. They replaced nearly all the lifts in 2004 and fitted the latest four-and six-man covered ‘fast’ chairs, and we’ve found we’ve never had to queue much. In true Italian style eating is taken seriously, and there are plenty of places to take a break on the mountain as well as in Madesimo itself (which has a pretty centre near the church). For a challenge try the off-piste bowl at the top of the mountain – the ‘canalone’ or drop off the back of Pizzo Groppera into the Val di Lei and try the itinerary over to Fraciscio (1341m) for lunch at Ristorante La Genzianella (tel +39 0343 50154). Take a taxi or the free ski bus back.
Getting to Madesimo takes about 20 mins from Chiavenna. Catch the funicular railway “the sky express” from Campoldolcino.
Madesimo also has all the usual facilities you would expect – there are ski schools (+39 0343 53049) a childrens ski area to the north of the resort centre, plenty of ski rental shops, and a sports centre with a jacuzzi and sauna. A local Mountain Guide (+39 339 658 7167) will take you off-piste skiing, telemark skiing, ski-mountaineering, on snow-shoe excursions or ice climbing.
There are some beautiful winter walks on the snow near Madesimo. Our favourite ones are:
- Val Febbraro from Isola. This is a stunning but cold walk up a sweet little valley surrounded by some spectacular ice falls. Park at Isola and follow the snow-covered road past some wooden cabins and along the bottom of the valley. The track isn’t prepared and you may want snow shoes.
- Up the valley from Campodolcino. From the car park at the bottom of the ‘Sky Express’, follow the cross country track up the valley to Isola.
- Wanders from Fracisco. From this pretty alpine village you have a choice of two nice walks – one up the valley towards Passo Angeloga and another following the cross country track at Mottala. The cross country track doesn’t need any special footware, but you may want boots or snow shoes if you head up to Passo Angeloga. Afterwards have lunch at Ristorante La Genzianella (tel +39 0343 50154)
St Moritz
St Moritz is one of the most famous ski resorts in the world, and 45mins from Chiavenna by car. We go there for the day.
The “first home of winter sports in the Alps” has been an important spa town since the Middle Ages. As long ago as 1519, Pope Leo X was offering full absolution for every Christian who visited the healing mineral springs. Now, the brand name, synonymous with wealth and high-living, is protected by trademark in 50 countries around the world.
The reliable weather in Engadina brought summer visitors, but it wasn’t until 1864 that hotelier Johannes Badrutt hit upon the idea of a creating a winter season. That September he overheard four Englishmen lamenting the fact that they must soon return to London for the winter and would be back again the following July. He suggested they returned in January and wagered that if they experienced fewer sunny days in winter than in summer he would pay for their accommodation. Johannes was on a winner – and the rest is history.
There is plenty of info on St Moritz on the internet and we recommend you look at The SkiClub for more info, webcams etc. The skiing is fantastic – there are 350km of pistes.
Ski Mountaineering
The area from Madesimo to Passo Maloja in Engardina is a major centre for ski-mountaineering. If this is your thing then you can spend years here exploring the mountains and skiing off-piste in remote valleys. The Eagle ski Club (the largest ski-mountaineering club in the UK) was founded at Passo Maloja in 1925.
The best guidebooks to the area are Itinerari di scialpinismo in Valchiavenna e Valtellina, A. Boscacci and the Alpine Ski Mountaineering Cicerone guide (Vol 2) by Bill O’Connor
Ice Climbing
There are a lot of ice falls in the area, and Casa dell’Ava makes an excellent base for a climbing holiday. There are hundreds of ice falls in the region: in particular three main areas
- San Giacomo (15mins drive) There are 40 falls in this valley, on the way to Madesimo. Val Febbraro is particularly lovely, with 11 ice falls close to the road
- Albigna / Val Bondasca (30mins drive)
- Val Masino (1 hours drive). The dramatic granite walls of Val di Mello have some of the hardest routes in the area