Skiing in Champoluc: my kind of three valleys What's on this season Champoluc is hosting the Ski the World Challenge (14-17 March) in which teams try to ski the combined height of the largest peaks of each continent, organised by the Make A Wish Foundation and Ski Solutions. From March 24 until the lifts close on April 14 - which covers Easter week - Monterosa Ski offers all guests who stay for a minimum of three nights half-board in a hotel or residence a free lift pass. The obvious arrival airport is Turin (65 miles away); easyJet flies there from Gatwick at weekends only, but daily into Milan Malpensa (100 miles) and almost daily from Edinburgh. Ryanair flies to Milan Bergamo from several UK airports.You can also use Geneva (countless flight options) and drive via the Mont Blanc Tunnel (125 miles). It isn't hard to find taxi operators offering transfers from Turin and Milan airports (try monterosaskyshuttle.it) but the cost can mount up to the point where it's as economical to hire a car. Bus services are limited and involve changes. Tour operators provide transfers. The mainstream tour operators Crystal and Inghams offer the resort, the smaller outfit Ski 2 specialises entirely in Champoluc. Ski schools Scuola Sci Champoluc (0125 307294; scuolascichampoluc.com) has an excellent reputation. Classes generally consist of four half-days and one full day to permit a full tour of the ski area; cost typically €170 (£140). In addition to standard classes there are special off-piste courses with smaller group sizes. Ski 2 (01962 713330; ski-2.com) runs its own school geared to people travelling with the firm, and it is well liked. It is staffed by a mix of native English-speaking instructors and fluent locals, and managed by Ski 2 co-owner Simon Brown, himself an instructor. Five half-day lessons are £135 or £145. A new development is three-day performance courses. Compagnie des Guides de Champoluc - Ayas (346 244 1219; guidechampoluc.com) is the local mountain-guiding outfit, but offers three-day freeride courses as well as conventional guiding for €210 (£175). They also organise heli-skiing (see below); a descent costs €250 (£210). Ski hire There are hire shops around the Champoluc gondola base station. Telemark (0125 307000; telemarkskihire.com) is part of the SkiSet operation, so you can make online bookings at a discount via skiset.co.uk. Skis and boots from €86 (£71) to €115 (£96). La Glisse (0125 308156; laglissechampoluc.com) is good for freeride and performance skis; to book online go to snowbrainer.com rather than the clunky rentandgo.it. From €80 (£65) to €150 (£125). Ski 2 (01962 713330; ski-2.com) offers rentals to its clients; skis and boots from £108 to £180. The best runs Champoluc is at one extreme of the three-valley Monterosa Ski area, and the excursion via the Gressoney valley to remote, rustic Alagna at the opposite extreme makes a great day, within the capabilities of most confident intermediates. The highlight is the descent on the lovely Olen run - an easy, groomed black that in the past was rightly classified red - and the red to Alagna below it. All in all a descent of 1,760m vertical, over nearly five miles - but don't miss the last lifts back over, as it's a long way round by road. Closer to home, delle Colle is a fabulous cruising red above Frachey - just up the valley from Champoluc - while the reds above Champoluc are also excellent, culminating in the testing del Bosco, to the village. It's not an ideal area for timid skiers, who should be particularly wary of the Sarezza-Contenery red above Champoluc, which is the obvious route to the slopes above Frachey. Take a bus up the valley to the Frachey funicular instead. Monterosa enjoys cult status as an off-piste area. There are worthwhile routes from the main top lifts in all three valleys, and at the point where the slopes of Gressoney and Alagna meet, a cable car climbs a further 300m to Indren, point of departure for descents in several directions, including a marked itinerary dropping almost 1,000m to Gabiet, mid-station of the Gressoney lifts. Countless other options open up if you fork out for heli-lifts to glacial drop-offs at more than 4,000m on the Monte Rosa massif, including runs to Zermatt in Switzerland (you use its lifts to get back) as well as into each valley in Monterosa Ski. Other activities Activities off the slopes limited. There are cross-country trails along the valley, an outdoor ice rink and a pool open to the public in the hotel Punta Zerbion, down the road towards Brusson. Champoluc is a simple little place, with virtually no shops unrelated to skiing. Accommodation Hotels Breithorn (0125 308734; breithornhotel.com) Lovely woody four-star, between the centre and lift base, that I always enjoy, although some rooms are on the small side. Half board from €100 (£80). Relais des Glaciers (0125 308182; hotelrelaisdesglaciers.com) Central, comfortable and friendly four-star with a tempting in-house pasticceria, plus a wellness centre in the basement and a new outdoor hot tub. Half board from €85 (£70). La Rouja (0125 308767; hotellarouja.com) A recently renovated chalet-style building in the centre, now a warmly woody four-star. Half board from €75 (£60). All these hotels will take short-break bookings. Chalets As far as I know, no British tour operators offer conventional catered chalets in Champoluc. However, there are some delightful chalet-style places up on the mountain, most reached by snowmobile or on skis, many in ancient buildings, which offer a similar home-from-home ambience - but are operated by locals, and offer genuine Italian cooking. You can book most of them through operators such as Ski 2. An upmarket example is detailed below; see also "The best mountain restaurants." Hotellerie de Mascognaz (0125 308734; hotelleriedemascognaz.com), a satellite of the hotel Breithorn, is a lovingly restored and deeply comfortable group of stone chalets in a very isolated spot. The best mountain restaurants In the Champoluc valley there are three standout places - beautifully renovated wood-and-stone farm buildings in elevated hamlets, housing excellent traditional restaurants, detailed below. All three have beautiful bedrooms available, too. In the other valleys there are plenty of options, though none as memorable as these. Sadly, the iconic Rifugio Guglielmina above Alagna burned down last season, and seems unlikely to be rebuilt. Rascard Frantze (0125 941065; frantze.it) is my particular favourite, slightly off the home run to Champoluc - traditional dishes such as gnocchi with chestnuts. Stadel Soussun (348 652 7222; stadelsoussun.com) above Frachey is a close rival (try beef with wild berry sauce). L'Aroula (347 018 8095) on the upper Champoluc slopes, is less polished (or was last season), but still worth tracking down (lovely venison with juniper and wine sauce). The best resort restaurants Hotels provide most of the best restaurants; the Breithorn has both an elegant main restaurant and a more relaxed brasserie. The restaurants offer local dishes - baked lamb, stewed venison - as well as more modern alternatives. Osteria Il Balivo (0125 308036) is the best of the stand-alone places, both for food and atmosphere. La Grange (0125 307835) is worth the short trip up the valley to Frachey. Le Sapin (0125 307598), near the gondola, is famous for its excellent steaks. The best bars and clubs This is not Val d'Isère, or even Courmayeur: the après scene is generally rather muted, though things liven up on busy weekends. Hotel California (0125 307977), slightly out of the centre, is something of a nightlife hub, with karaoke in its West Road pub. Atelier Gourmand (0125 307888) is a cosy, comfortable, rustic bar at the gondola base. Golosone is a small, atmospheric, distinctly Italian wine bar Sunny weekends, if you have a choice. The slopes here are blissfully quiet on weekdays, but the area is close to Turin and like many Val d'Aosta resorts gets a weekend invasion as a result. The beginning of the season, if you are planning to head off-piste; the high runs are rocky and need time to build up a good snow base. Chris Gill is the co-author of Where to Ski and Snowboard.