Hugely disappointed with Cervinia. Having skied a significant number of resorts across France, Switzerland, Austria etc. never have I been quite so frustrated.

Given the location and access to Zermatt, this should be a gem. However, even when conditions at the highest lifts in Cervinia were fantastic (blue sky and absent wind), the Zermatt links were still not opened. On the one day when the Zermatt link was opened, there was clearly no rush and it took until 10:30am to open it all. This reflects the general attitude of the resort staff. Lifts advertised as opening at 8:20 or 8:30 were often not open until well after 9am. Some days upper lifts were closed until gone 10am. Lifts were even closed earlier than advertised with staff clearly just wanting to leave as soon as possible. Even the piste bashing seemed half-hearted; for whatever reason they just were not of a quality found in other resorts. Staff in the ticket office all seemed unable to give the same figures for what the unnecessarily confusing pricing system was and misled us to our financial detriment. When confronted they were extremely rude.

Advertising the resort as a truly linked ski area with Zermatt is almost misleading. The odds of getting across the border are low.

The lift pass for just the Cervinia side is massively overpriced. Having spent the previous week in Ischgl, the lift passes are basically the same cost for 6 days. However, at Ischgl you get a hugely extensive well kept resort, extremely modern and efficient lift system, polite and hardworking staff, beautiful surroundings and town. Indeed the pass was comparatively expensive compared with many resorts I have visited recently including St Anton, Val d'Isere, L2A.

The pistes themselves are fabulous for total beginners but even intermediate skiers will become bored quickly. Black slopes are very straight forward, the reds that proliferate the resort would, in many cases, be blue elsewhere. The terrain is such that runs are mainly long flat sections interspersed with the odd downhill. This combined with the slow, exposed lifts makes for sheer tedium.

The lift system is by far the worst I have experienced anywhere in a major European resort. As other reviews have noted, the lift buildings in some cases look like something from war torn Aleppo. The lifts are excruciatingly slow, often without covers despite being exposed. Gondolas are slow and outdated, sometimes without proper seats. To get to the top of the resort/to Zermatt requires either 3 separate gondolas or a gondola and three separate chairs. In any modern resort the top would be reached by one or, at the most, two lifts.