Italy
5) Pila
Pila is a must visit, small, resort above the town of Aosta. Although a busy ski resort during winter, it is very quiet during the summer.
The area has a mixed history having formerly being part of France, with the locals speaking a dialect more similar to French than Italian. If you do not speak Italian, French is widely spoken and understood. The town is situated on the main through road up to the Mont Blanc and Petit Saint Bernard tunnels, which makes it ideal if you are planning to ride in other places, such as, Les Arcs, Verbier and Chamonix.
Nearest airport: Turin & Geneva.
What does Pila have to offer?
| Cross Country |
Beginner & Intermediate |
| Downhill | Beginner & Advanced |
| Freeride | Beginner & Intermediate |
| Cable Car |
YES |
| Gondola | - |
| Chairlift | YES |
| Connected to | - |
Pila
is a great example of a successful, interesting and challenging BikePark. The trails have mostly been built or cleared by hand and are
natural technical singletracks. They are labelled as freeride runs,
but really are more in a way of donwhill runs. The World Cup DH sees a
little more built berms and jumps, but a healthy proportion of it
remains technical wooded and a natural trail. Although it has been
inexpensive to create, it has potential for further building and when
combined with the long Pila to Aosta descent it makes a great riding
destination.
DOWNHILL
With Pila hosting Sam Hill's return from injury at the 2005 World Cup - you can expect a quality track. It was designed and built by Italian
Corrado Hern and is a good example of a fast technical track with fast lines through rocks and tight berms - an awesome track in all weather.
Beginners to downhill riding will enjoy the track as most of the hard
sections have easy lines around them and sections that are marked
as black have red alternatives. Downhill riders are not restricted to the marked track as
the Freeride trails are all really great Downhill runs.
FREERIDE
Freeride
in Pila consists mainly of steady Downhill singletrack that has the odd
drop thrown in along with some small jumps in the woods. All the
trails are good fun and riders of all abilities can spend a few days
riding here, mixing the Downhill and the Freeride trails.
One of the highlights is the Pila - Aosta Freeride. There is an 11 km downhill singletrack which takes you back down to the bottom of the valley to the lift station in Aosta. Connecting the Downhill or one of the Freeride trails from the top lift with this trail can give you a Downhill run with a verticle descent of around 2300m!
CROSS-COUNTRY
Twelve Cross Country routes are waymarked,
aimed more towards the beginner and all use the ski lift for the
uphill part. More experienced cross country riders would be perfectly
happy on the freeride marked trails.
| Summer Lifts Open |
End of June until 2nd week in September |
| Lift Opening Times | 08:45 - 17:00 (always check) |
| Lift Prices | Day pass 15.50 € // Week pass 62 € // Season pass 140 € |
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Directory:
Tourist Office: T+39 0165 236627
Website: pila.it