Skiing

Combloux Early days Ski Tickets Across the USA
 A Ski Tour of Europe, page 2.
Map
Snowy scene at Lake garda.
 A wintery looking scene across Lake Garda.

Perched on a hillside with a magnificent views over Lake Garda stands Il Vitoriale, the strange and extravagant home of Gabriele d'Annunzio who was one of Italy's most celebrated 19th century poets. Amidst the terraces of laurel and cypress stand the fascist style mausoleum (where he is buried) as well as a Greek- style theatre and the reconstructed prow of his wartime ship, the Puglia.

Continuing westwards across norther Italy you come to the Aosta Valley which gives access to the ski resort of Cervinia. This spectacular skiing area adjoins Switzerland so that, with an international ticket (and carrying your passport) it is possible to ski across the border and down into the Swiss town of Zermatt.The whole area is dominated by the masive presence of the Matterhorn which rises to 4478 metres. Also to be found here is the highest cable car in Europe which rises to the summit of the Kleine Matterhorne at 3883 metres although it is possible to ski from a height of just under 4000 metres by means of a further small lift.
Il Vitoriale.
Cervinia, picnic above Zermatt.
Entrance to Il Vittoriale, the home of Gabriele d'Annunzio. A picnic at the top with a view into Switzerland and Zermatt down below.
The long run back.
Skiing below the Matterhorn.
The long run back to Cervinia from the Kleine Matterhorne. The piste drops just under one and a half thousand metres in a distance of 7.8 kilometres.
A view of the Matterhorne on the run down.
After Cervinia we made a short detour into Switzerland, primarily to see the collection of Paul Klee paintings in the Kunstmuseum in Berne but also to visit the little known village of Chateau d'Oex. Set in a secluded and once isolated valley it gave us the last skiing of the season and, in its little museum, provided a collection of works that made a satisfactory ending to the tour. Here we found a little known collection of paper cuts depicting rural scenes, made towards the end of the nintenth century by two men, one a postman, the other a poor farm labourer and charcoal burner who cut the delicate patterns of the example shown below.
Paper cut.
Return to 'Skiing, Combloux'. Return to A Ski Tour of Euope, page 1