This winter's best new Alpine ski experiences
Hot hotels
You wait ages for a fabulous new Italian mountain hotel, and then two come along at once. Happily, the much -anticipated pair – Le Massif in Courmayeur and Camp Zero in Champoluc – are markedly different. The former is a major slopeside development comprising a stylish 80-room hotel, two on-site restaurants, boutiques, a spa and a separate mountain restaurant, ski school and bar.
Camp Zero is a 30-suite ‘Active Luxury Resort’ in the expansive if little-known Monterosa region, Italy’s very own ‘Three Valleys’. There’ s a helipad for roll-out-of-bed heliskiing, and an indoor climbing wall by the bar.
Doubles at Le Massif from £305, including breakfast; suites at Camp Zero from £280
Skiing through history
Thanks to an unusual customised holiday from Scott Dunn, skiers can finally pay more than lip service to local culture with a guided, two-day First World War skiing tour in the South Tyrol. This mountainous border territory, where Italy meets with Austria beneath the Dolomites, bore witness to some of the Great War’s most treacherous battles.
Following a 50-mile-long trail along the Dolomites Front around Col di Lana – known as Blood Mountain for the countless lives it claimed – your guide will help you discover ruined forts and abandoned tunnels, as well as scenic pistes and charming mountain rifugios. You’ll also gain a unique insight into the South Tyrol’s unique Ladin language and culture. This holiday combines a hotel stay with accommodation in a mountain hut.
From £2,185pp for three nights half-board, including two days of guiding and lift passes via Scott Dunn
Haute cuisine
France-bound gourmets are already salivating over a new Three Valleys restaurant opening this December, courtesy of celebrated father-and-son team René and Maxime Meilleur.
Having gained a third Michelin star at their La Bouitte restaurant in Saint Marcel, the duo are launching Simple & Meilleur in nearby St Martin-de-Belleville. Set in a rustic-chic chalet, the Maison promises tapas-style bites in the bar-cum-lounge and intimate upstairs dining room – think vast platters of local meats and cheeses, Gillardeau oysters, steaming pot-au-feu and whole cooked trout.
The restaurant is set within the new Caseblanche development, a complex of 34 plush chalets and apartments at the base of the Jerusalem red run, which feeds into St Martin from Méribel, bringing Meilleur magic to the heart of the Three Valleys.
Best new chalets
The team behind the 10-suite Aurelio hotel and adjoining Aurelio Club Chalet introduced ultra-luxury to the Austrian Alps when they arrived a decade ago. Now, they’re celebrating that anniversary by opening a trio of new slopeside chalets: two interconnecting Arula Chalets and Chalet Mimi.
Both with their own butler, spa and cinema, the four- and nine-bedroom Arula Chalets can be taken individually or together (sleeping up to 29 guests), with the larger property adding a games room with DJ space, bar and dedicated red and white wine cellars.
Less hipster, more hygge, the five-bedroom Chalet Mimi features traditional alpine interiors, an indoor pool, bio sauna and steam room. Should guests seek further diversion, they can enjoy the Aurelio’s slick bar, award-winning restaurant and spa, and take the hotel’s alpacas for a stroll.
Chalets Arula from £7,010 and £11,210 half-board, based on eight and 21 guests sharing respectively; Chalet Mimi, from £6,830 half board, based on 13 guests sharing.
Cutting-edge culture
Really, it’s no surprise that the lauded Hauser & Wirth gallery will launch in St. Moritz next month. The Swiss resort attracts socialites and headlines with showy events such as the White Turf horse racing on snow, but the region’s galleries have also long drawn a more discreet clientele. They’ll find the new three-storey gallery in the Palace Galerie, a building owned by Badrutt’s Palace Hotel.
Opening with an exhibition of works by Louise Bourgeois, the gallery will partner with the grand landmark hotel on creative projects. The ambitious inaugural show should serve as a reminder of St. Moritz’s rich cultural pedigree: the surrounding area was home to the Giacometti family, and previous guests have included Gerhard Richter and Joseph Beuys.
More relevant still, Hauser & Wirth co-founder Iwan Wirth, then 17, held his first show here in 1987. So for the Swiss art dealer, this is a homecoming of sorts.
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