As an experienced snowboarder, but someone who had never boarded outside of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, I thoroughly enjoyed this experience.

On Sunday morning, we departed from Milan around 8:30 A.M. and arrived at the very underrated La Thiule ski resort, located directly on the border of Italy and France around 11:30 A.M. This three hour bus ride offered some spectacular views of the Alps. After arriving, those who were skiing or snowboarding went directly to the ticket office and purchased lift tickets (81 euro in total for Sunday afternoon and all day Monday and Tuesday). After renting my equipment and getting dressed, I hit the slopes around 1:00 P.M.

With the resort located at the base of the mountain, the summit can not be seen from the bottom as the sizable forest on its side and the cloud cover above block the view. So, when I first got on the lift (which was 50 yards from my hotel!), I had no idea of what what the view from the top would look like. With the first lift reaching over 2,000 meters above sea level, the ride up takes you through the clouds and offers ridiculous views of the surrounding mountains. On the ride up, I was struck with the sheer enormity and size of the Alps, as well as the beauty of the alternating snow-covered and jagged peaks. Even though this initial lift offers wonderful views of the Italian Alps, it was the lowest lift at the resort and paled in comparison to the top-most summit. Here is a view from the top of the highest lift on Sunday:

For the three days I snowboarded mostly with a group of three other guys who were all experienced snowboarders or skiers. So, within the afternoon, we were able to cover the majority of the front side of the mountain. With crystal clear views and virtually no clouds in sight, we were able to truly enjoy the majesty of the spectacular scenery. Overall, the conditions were pretty good, although it was a bit icy in spots.

One of the unique things about La Thiule is its location on the border of Italy and France. At the top-most summit, you have the choice to ski on either Italian or French side and also have a view of Switzerland and the distant peak of the Matterhorn. Our hotel was located on the Italian side, but after having covered the majority of the slopes on this side on Sunday, we decided to test out the French slopes on Monday. Featuring longer, more gradual runs, this side of the mountain offered a bit of a change from the steeper, narrower trails on the Italian side. However, I have to say that the view was just as good, and probably better. The conditions on Monday were the best overall of the three days. With slightly more cloud cover, the peaks were not as visible, but it only improved the unique scenery around us:

The last day was a struggle from the very beginning, offering the most difficult conditions. When we walked outside the hotel and noticed that there was very little visibility even at this relatively low elevation, we knew we were in for an interesting day. That morning, a storm rolled in, and due to our high elevation, cloud cover completely encompassed the mountain. Taking the lift to very top, unable to even see the chair in front of us or the lifts to the side of us, we not only couldn’t see any of the amazing peaks, but couldn’t see each other from more than 15 feet away (It is usually not a good sign when the chair lift operator has to lower the seat for you to board the lift since no one else had gone that high before us). This picture was taken from 15 feet away with the same backdrop as the one from the 1st day!:

Combined with a constant heavy snowfall throughout the day, this thick cloud cover made the entire top of the mountain un-skiable. It took us around 50 minutes to get down from the top since we had to inch out way down following the orange guide poles lining the slope! Good thing we knew the run from the previous day! Even though the conditions were far from ideal, I still had a very fun day. How could i complain, I was snowboarding in the Alps after I was just on a beach in Monte Carlo two days before.

Overall this trip was awesome and definitely my favorite so far among my travels throughout Europe.
 
Disclaimer about the Snow Conditions:

Although skiing in the Alps is almost always portrayed as white, powder covered runs within huge jagged rocks, the conditions at La Thiule were far more reminiscent of the typical East Coast mix of powder, ice, and manufactured snow than the deep, powder-covered runs of Colorado (particularly the French side). I have no complaints about the resort, but don’t go there expecting to be skiing in conditions typical of Aspen, Vaile, or Deer Valley.

Here is view of the famous Mount Blanc from the summit: