Italy is the tops for your peak practice

As an injury it rated pretty low on the scale of skiing accidents - falling all of three inches from a kerb after a rather too- liquid lunch.

Yet it was still enough to ground the rookie in our party until he grew intoxicated by our heady talk of the views from the Italian Alps.

So with his dodgy knee strapped in a borrowed brace he braved the skilift to see what he was missing.

Awe-struck, he drank in the view of the Matterhorn glinting in the distance, before hobbling off to drink in something stronger.

After all, the perfect winter holiday is as much about good food, good drink and stunning scenery as good skiing.

And Gressoney La Trinite, in northern Italy, is a little piece of heaven...although it does have its drawbacks. Beginners tend to be trapped on the uninspiring nursery slopes for too long and only five of the 30 instructors speak English.

Snowboarders were also stung with hire charges, almost four times higher than those for skis.

Stafal, a free 4km bus ride away, was a better bet for beginners, both on skis and boards. Both resorts are fully linked to Champoluc to give a wide range of runs. Our family-owned hotel, the Jolanda Sport, couldn't have been closer to all the action. The lift pass office was in the same building, the ski school was 20 paces away and ski hire shop across the road. A double chair lift then whisked you from the pretty village, through the fir trees to the slopes of the Monte Rosa.

At the end of the day you could take off your skis right outside the hotel and then thaw out in a sauna or a steam bath before dinner.

Our non-skier picked the most unusual main course on the menu - bacon and chestnuts.

The bacon turned out to be Jack Spratt's worst nightmare, all fat without a streak of lean - but just perfect for lubricating a rather wobbly knee.

HOW TO GET THERE

SKI CRYSTAL (0181 399 5144) has 1wk half-board in March at the three-star Jolanda Sport Hotel for pounds 425 p.p, including flight to Turin and a 90-minute transfer. Ski hire costs pounds 24 and boots pounds 18 for six days. Lift passes from pounds 72 p.p.

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