Gourmet getaway in Northern Italian Alps

A quaint Alpine village on the edge of Northern Italy with bones of stone and timber, Courmayeur rises from the white, Rocky Mountains at the foot of Mont Blanc.

- BY KAITLIN WRAIGHT

It is breathtaking from every angle. A perfect picture, threaded with a medieval undercurrent: solid, stoic architecture that softens into the landscape and emits a low, effortless hum of luxury.

The air is so crisp it scrubs your thoughts raw. Daylight feels quieter here, folding carefully over the sloped slate roofs and hand-carved wooden balconies. Time in Courmayeur settles like snow, it seems to move with a soft, slow certainty.

I visited the town in late March for the annual Mountain Gourmet Ski Experience, a shameless two day bacchanal organised by the Momentum events organisation where appetite and altitude converge under the direction of Michelin star chefs - a sequence of Alpine feasts for those who prefer their après-ski with cooking that revels in its own indulgence.