Interski Celebrate 40 Years As The Italian Aosta Valley Specialists
It’s a particularly special season coming up for Interski, the long-established specialists in ski trips to the fabulous Aosta Valley, as they celebrate four decades of delivering wonderful holidays to the famous Italian ski region, home to famous resorts like Cervina and Courmayeur, among others..
In the ever changing cut and thrust of the travel industry, not many companies make it to 40 years in business and fewer still maintain their focus on one destination. So what have Interski got right, and what’s so special about the Aosta Valley?
40 Years of Getting It Right
Since the company was established back in 1983, Interski estimate to have brought in excess of an incredible 300,000 skiers and boarders to the slopes of the Aosta Valley.
From the start, the company has worked to ensure they offered ski holidays where everything was covered and all aspects worked seamlessly together.
That didn’t just mean travel, transfers and accommodation but also those add-ons that are usually a frustrating time waster and added cost burden with other holiday companies – your meals and lift pass with easy access to equipment rental and ski school.
With Interski things are simpler and more affordable and that’s a big part of their longevity, popularity and why they have such a loyal customer base, who return season after season.
In terms of the skiing, your lift pass is always included in your holiday package price, equipment rental is can be easily provided (often in house) and Interski also run their own ski school. Not just any ski school either, we’re talking the largest British-run ski school in the Alps, over 200 instructors strong and BASI (British Association of Snowsport Instructors) accredited.
With native English speaking staff and an incredibly high standard of tuition offered, Interski’s ski school is the perfect choice for British skiers and riders not wishing to lose out due to any language barrier. And whilst great for complete beginners of course, they also offer tuition for all standards including private lessons.
In terms of rentals, Interski have teamed up with Atomic, the skis that the world’s greatest skier of all time, Mikaela Shiffrin, and many other ski racers as well as millions of us mere mortals, ski on. They have their own in-house rentals at some locations or long-established, trusted relationships with the best ski hire companies in town at others.
The Aosta Valley
Interski holidays are based in four great Aosta Valley resorts, Courmayeur, Cervinia, La Thuile and Pila where they offer a wide selection of 3, 4 and 5 star hotels.
Courmayeur is a fabulous resort with its enticing pedestrianized ancient centre of narrow cobbled streets, lined with great bars, shops, restaurants and café. The skiing, on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, is among the best in the world, making this a very sought after destination.
Cervinia is located right next to another famous mountain, the Matterhorn, and shares one of the world’s biggest and best ski areas with its Swiss neighbour, Zermatt. The two are seamlessly connected, and while you’ll want to stay in Cervinia to save a fortune on mountain restaurant prices and get friendlier service too than the Swiss side, it is worth a ski over to see the old pedestrianized resort. Cervinia itself was purpose built for minimum skiing conveniences and is one of the highest and most snow-sure resorts in Italy and all of Europe.
La Thuile also offers cross-border skiing, this time to France, as its ski lifts and runs connect with those of La Rosière, across the valley from Les Arcs. This is another great ski area with over 100 miles of slopes and a great mix of runs, including a famous World Cup black racing piste where the world’s best compete each winter. The old resort has bags of atmosphere and this is a great choice for an affordable ski holiday base and to experience la Dolce Vita (“the sweet life”) on Italian slopes.
Situated high above the ancient Roman town of Aosta itself, Pila offers some of the best views in the valley, taking in everything from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn. There’s a great range of skiing for all abilities and tastes here and you can also jump on the gondola down from the resort to Aosta itself and explore the historic streets filled with great shopping as well as bars, restaurants and cafes. There are also excellent Roman ruins to visit if you’d like to add a little archaeology to your apres ski. Here you can stay in Aosta and ski Pila, making it feel like a city break combined with skiing!
Of course when it comes to affordability, the Aosta Valley and Italy as a whole offers the best value of the big ski nations, so even when you’re not dining in your accommodation with Interski, you’ll find high-value prices by Alpine standards in the region’s restaurants and bars when it comes to the few things left that aren’t included in your holiday package anyway.
In addition Interski’s long presence in the region means it has built the relationships and reputation that enable it to source the best accommodation at the most reasonable prices in the region.
The Aosta Valley is one of the easiest ski areas to reach by land or air too. If you opt to self-drive or take Interski’s coach, it’s only 10-11 hours from Calais.
Interski‘s Holidays
As already mentioned, unlike most ski holiday companies, Interski always includes your lift pass everything in your package as well as travel, accommodation and meals (depending on board basis) – so you know your whole holiday cost up front. Equipment rentals and ski school can easily be added. You can of course opt in/out of different aspects of your ski holiday, if you want to bring your own gear for example or don’t want ski school lessons it’s fully flexible and up to you.
The Interski team is ready to help you online and on the phone with any advice you may need and in the Aosta Valley have a team of around 40 staff in place for on-the-ground assistance as required on your holiday.
Finally, it’s important to note that along with its long-standing reputation for reliability, Interski is a member of ABTA and their holidays are ATOL protected, meaning your money and holiday is protected right from the point of booking. It’s always worth checking any other holiday company you look at offers the same protections, travelling independently definitely does not.
If you are looking for the perfect destination for your next trip, our Resort Guide has everything you need to know. You can check out our regular podcast here Apple | Spotify | Podcasts or search The White Out on your chosen podcast directory.
