Marta's Monterosa Blog

I am passionate about the Alps. They are my heart's home and the place where I would like to spend the last day of my life. I have been a tourist in the village of Champoluc in the Italian Monterosa for all my life and worked as a tourist operator in this area since more than 15 years.

I believe in respect for the special environment of this place that you can find only here. We all gain by enjoying its beauty, while trying to make a minimum impact at the same time. Leave it for our children in the future!

I believe in respect for people who live here with their traditions and culture, language, and work, their genuine products and delicious wines. They open their homes for us, tourists and meet us as their guests, if we are able to open our hearts for them. I have a friend who is a hotel owner and he says that when stressed people from the city come to his place, he tells them to sit down and take a drink before they even begin to worry if they have a room. Perhaps, we can bring a little of their kindness and calmness with us on our way back to the city.

My philosophy is to give back a little of what the mountains and the people from this place have given to me and to my family through my work, to communicate my philosophy and my passion to those who follow me on the blog, and in my trips as a tour operator.

If you would like to visit Champoluc, Gressoney, Alagna or other villages in the Aosta Valley, trek or ski in the Monterosa, discover Sardinia or other places we offer, contact us.

A break from the Alps

Posted: Apr 13, 2010
Categories: Blog
Comments: 0
Author: TheAlps
This time I pass the pen to my daughter, Nastassja. I hope you all will enjoy this blog post. Until next time / Marta


I will never look at a rock the same way I used to.

A break from the Alps to go rock climbing.
Natures’ great diversity amazes me. Seasonal changes or regional variations are really fascinating.  But usually you have time to adapt while winter becomes summer. That’s one reason why my last road trip was incredible. Monday morning I left the Alps to be at the sea at noon. I went from snow covered pines to citrus trees with heavy fruit-filled branches. I took a break from the fresh but cold mountain air to enjoy a little hot sea breeze. I changed snowboarding for rock climbing

Finale Ligure is located between France and Genova on the Italian coast. There is loads of climbing spots for people with different interests and skills (http://www.climb-europe.com/italy/finale-ligure.htm). We went to three crags (climbing spots) in the valley that worked out very well for me who had never climbed outdoors before. I have only practiced on indoor walls in Stockholm for a few months. Thanks to my friend who’s becoming a mountain guide I got the help I needed and felt safe all the time. Alberto climbed first and all I needed to do was try and get to the end of the rope that he’d led trough the final bolt at the top of the route.
The light colored limestone rocks were full of holes and cracks to try and use to get up the rope. Some spots were real soft and eroded and others were more spiky and hard. All crags we saw were bolted and most of them had names on them so that you could locate them in the guide book.
I thought I was going to miss out on my last skiing of the season by going away to the sea. I could go there in the summer and I could climb at home right? But when I felt the sea water on my sore toes after the great experience of climbing up a whole rock I knew I had done the right thing. Climbing is for sure one of the best sports I’ve ever tried. And when you cannot ski because there’s no snow there’s probably some climbing to do real close by.
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