The other three valleys by Tom Robbins, The Guardian 2008

It has been a quick and easy journey, but the village square of Champoluc seems a world away from home. We arrive as the last rays of the afternoon sun are warming the cream and pink stucco of the church tower, and the locals are coming out for the evening passagiata. There's a smell of wood smoke and pine trees.

Children play on the steps of the shop beside the church, peering through the windows at the elaborate displays of biscuits and cakes. Though we've barely unpacked, it's already clear that if you want to get away from it all, this is the perfect resort.

Champoluc sits at the end of the Val d'Ayas, one of three adjacent valleys that make up the Monterosa ski area. Over the hill from Champoluc is tiny Gressoney-la-Trinité, and beyond that is beautiful Alagna, a resort revered for its extreme off-piste terrain. The contrast with the more famous three valleys, the Trois Vallées in France, couldn't be greater. Those Trois Vallées, comprising Courchevel, Méribel and Val Thorens, are Britain's favourite place to ski, attracting 300,000 of us every year. In Méribel, which alone gets 150,000 Brits annually (and was founded by a British colonel) it feels as if you can go days without hearing a local voice.

But though Turin airport is only a 90-minute drive from Champoluc, few Brits have even heard of Monterosa, let alone visited it, and its villages still feel like authentic Italian farming communities...

...Though all of Monterosa's villages are tiny, the ski area they collectively muster is not to be sniffed at - there are a total of 37 lifts and 180km of pistes. It's high and snowsure too - Champoluc sits at 1,580m and the lifts extend to just under 3,000m. Plus Monterosa is one of the best places in Europe to get a taste of heliskiiing. Single day trips are easily booked, cost around €250, and let you ski high on the Monte Rosa glacier and, if you like, down to Zermatt, off-piste all the way.