I’ve had the pleasure of skiing in Italy a couple of times now. It is sometimes considered the lesser of the main Alpine nations, and perhaps it might not be as serious about its skiing as France, Austria and Switzerland.
But there is a uniqueness about skiing in Italy that needs to be seen to be understood. Sometimes rustic, always amazing, a combination of history, food, culture and snow sets the Italian Alps apart from their Alpine cousins.
Where do you ski in Italy? What should you expect, on the mountain, in the restaurants, and in the villages? How is the snow?
Here is the Skiing Unlocked guide to unlocking Italian skiing.
Where to go?
The Italian Alps are huge, running from the French border close to Nice and Monaco in the south west, through Mont Blanc and the Toblerone-inspiring Matterhorn, passing over the Italian lakes and finally coming to an end as part of the Dolomites, a dramatic collection of granite cliffs that truly take the breath away.
Like Canada, each region has its own feel. In the very southwest corner you have a collection of locals’ resorts – like Prato Nevoso – small but ideally located for short breaks of weekends away from nearby Turin. Close by is Via Lattea (lit. Milky Way), a linked collection of six or so resorts offering a 400km of pistes unparalleled across Italy.
The core resorts of the Milky Way are Sauze d’Oulx and Sestriere, although both have a very different feel. Whilst it is the World’s first purpose-built ski resort having been founded in the 1930s, Sestriere remains a child of the 1960s, never really escaping its purpose built nature and remaining dominated by apartment blocks, concrete hotels and long arcades of shops. Not much of a looker, it makes up for it on the mountain with excellent restaurants, great pistes, and some of the best off piste in the area.
Sauze has its origins in the 1500s, and pockets of beauty and history can be found and explored at every turn in the old part of town. Further up the street, it is a town to keep you entertained, with plenty of bars to keep the party going late into the night.
Further norther, tucked into the corner of France and Switzerland, is the Aosta Valley. Its own region distinct from surrounding Piemonte, including its own language, it has retained that distinct feel and identity. Most of the resorts of Aosta are small; Alagna, Gressoney, Champoluc (together the Monterosa Ski Area), Courmayeur and Pila; pocket size villages, sometimes a little small on the piste map, but this is where you come to score some serious off-piste skiing.
Courmayeur is the best example of this, sitting in the shadow of Mont Blanc and living up to this reputation. Elsewhere Gressoney is fast becoming something of a icon of freeride skiing, but its small village has keeps it out of the spotlight for the time being.
Cervinia is the exception to this. The next valley over from Champoluc and the Monterosa area, it sits on the Italian side of the Matterhorn and is connected to Zermatt by piste and cable car. A large resort base, endless miles of pistes, high elevation giving excellent snow surety, and of course the Swiss connection, all count in Cervinia’s favour to make it Italy’s best ski resort.
Finally, the Dolomites. A huge collection of resorts, big and small, sit covering the very eastern end of the Italian Alps. The bigger resorts of Madonna di Campiglio and Cortina d’Ampezzo offer plenty of skiing by themselves, sometimes very well heeled villages that host the rich and famous, and stunning scenery. The smaller resorts may not offer the same bang for your buck, but often these are connected to each other and larger resorts, the best example of this being the Sella Ronda – linking six or seven resorts in a skiable circuit that lasso’s the Sella Ronda Massif.
Why choose the east? This is where you can step back and chill. If the west and northwest is for partying and powder, the east is for scenery, sun terraces and gentle, cruisey skiing.
The Snow
Snow in Italy can be a really tricky affair. The few times I’ve skied in Italy it has either been snowing too much, or not enough. Italy’s yo-yo affair with snow is thanks to its geographical location, sitting to the east and south of the Main Alpine Ridge – the long chain of mountains that form the core of the Alps from the Mediterranean sea to the Slovenian border.
This does two things; firstly, as most of the weather that causes snow comes from the west and the north, the ridge can block this weather reaching the Italian side, and secondly, warm air from the mediterranean and North Africa can flow north unimpeded until it hits this ridge.
But on the flip side, this unique geography allows for a very special weather phenomenan to hit the Italian Alps a few times every season: a Retour d’Est. An area of low atmospheric pressure – the traditional carrier of rain and snow – moves west to east, but misses the Alps and heads out over the Mediterranean. It then gets turned north over the western Med, then as it makes landfall over northern Italy it turns west, slamming into the Italian side of the Alps. The Italian Alps have no foothills, so this atmospheric low is forced to rise over the mountains very quickly, cooling – quickly – as it does. The result? Snow. Lots of snow. Heaps and mounds and piles of snow. A Retour d’Est system is the most bountiful powder machine that can hit the Alps, bringing good times for all!
Otherwise, Italy can struggle with snow. The solution is to aim high, bringing Cervinia into the mix as the most snow-reliable resort in Italy. Other resorts in the Aosta Valley are reliable, including Pila and Courmayeur, as are the higher resorts of the Milky Way – Sauze and Sestriere.
The Food
So why ski Italy, and why ski Italy over somewhere else like France or Switzerland?
Three reasons. The first reason is the food. Italians make good food, that much is a fact widely known and hardly needs restating. However, Italian food is excellent for skiing, and the quality of the restaurants you will find in resort and on the mountain will be the best mountain restaurants you will find anywhere in the world.
Small family-run eateries dot the mountain side, providing Italian classics and regional specialities. Pizza and pasta are endless, simple, and the perfect fuel to keep you going for the next day or the next afternoon. And regional staples are magnificent, too; Piemontese polenta can be found in lashings and lashings, as can rabbit salads, veal, and tuna. And all of it is exceptional; delicious, light, energising.
Secondly, the value. The skiing you get for your buck in Italy is second-to-none. Sure, the quality of the resorts may not be top tier in the same way as in France or North America, but you still get good quality skiing for excellent value. And all that amazing food? Pennies, infinitely cheaper than what you’ll find in elsewhere.
And there are even more discounts to be found as well. If you arrive in the Milky Way by train – either direct from Paris or via Turin and Turin Airport, you can get a whopping 25% off your lift pass. Italy may not be the cheapest of the cheapest – that still belongs to Bulgaria and Andorra – but it certainly represents the best value skiing nation to be found anywhere in the world.
Finally, the history and the culture. Italy is jam packed with history and culture, oozing out of every pore. No matter what the snow or the skiing does, you can always visit a Roman this, or a medieval that. You can stay in renaissance palazzos or Olympic villages, and enjoy a wine bar made from a converted 15th century hayloft. Putting it all together, and you have a
perfect recipe for an excellent holiday.
Final Thoughts
I’ve adored my ski trips to Italy. I’ve been blown away time after time by the sheer quality of the food and the value that can be found in the place. The snow reliability may leave a little bit to be desired, but when it hits, it hits big, and can lead to some seriously good times. The higher, larger resorts remain as reliable as anywhere else, and are waiting for you to unlock your Italian skiing adventure!
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