In reply to MG:
> Aostan rain (as with all things) is considered by Aostans to be vastly superior to French
Personally I always find bad weather and conditions in Italy to be much more friendly and laid back than French bad weather and conditions. The dangerous separate layer of snow above old ice is still menacing, but in an easy-going, rough and ready sort of menacing. Similarly heavy snow, strong winds and zero visibility is much more supportive high on Italian mountains than on those nasty French spikes.