More info needed. They’re generally a bit cheaper than their neighbours in France and Austria and even more so than Switzerland? What kind of skiing do you like?
Try Val Di Fassa on the south western part of the Sella Ronda circuit in the Dolomites. A good town to stay in that valley is Canazei. The scenery in the area is mind blowing. If chasing epic powder and off piste skiing pick somewhere else. It’s all about high mileage skiing taking in jaw dropping views and having tremendous value Italian lunches.
Towns in the Val di Fassa are Canazei, Campitello, even Alba would work since they built the cable car to the Belvedere ski area. Pozza di Fassa is further down valley and therefore doesn't have direct access to the Sella Ronda.
Just return from my trip in Canada and looking for the next destination. With respect to Italy, I do love groomers but also like off piste when conditions are fresh. Has anyone skied any others resorts that has some variety. Looking for areas with walking distance to main lifts and a great town.
What about Bormio, anyone skied there ? I think they might have the Downhill there at the 2026 Olympics. Might be a way for me to expand on my one and a half days total skiing in Italy, see a few events in 2026 ! Good size town. Narrow small ski area
This ..... a little less cliche'd than some of the other areas, not really near large towns, although we used to day trip out of Milan when we lived there...
I’ve only skied one resort in Italy which was Courmeyeur, and I loved it. I’m sure there are even cheaper resorts or bigger circuits (Courmayeur isn’t linked to other resorts at all) but I quite like it
We spent a day at San Martino di Castrozza, in the Passo Rolle, in late January. I'm sure the views are fantastic although we spent most of the day battling low visibility, and occasionally wondering which way was up. Just based on rubber necking from the lifts there are a lot of off piste runs from the top of a chair directing you onto a piste lower down, making it fairly straightforward to lap those lines. Not a lot of photos that day due to the conditions. The village cascades down the mountain on several levels. Walking up would be a challenge but buses lap the village. The gondola base station has a display of the first and second gondolas in the area. Cosy. The mist lifted briefly around lunch giving us a sneak peek at the surrounding mountains. I'd love to spend a day there in clear conditions (next time perhaps). Apparently the views are stunning, extending all the way down to the Trentino valley. edit - this thread inspired me to check out what we missed in terms of views, something I was intending to do once we returned. It looks amazing and I want to go back. This is the gondola from the village. https://www.touring-italy.net/tours/tour-details.php?recordid=135 This was our rifugio for lunch. Some of the guys skated across the carpark before we worked out it was asphalt with a half inch of white fluff. https://www.skiresort.info/ski-resort/san-martino-di-castrozza/ Even with zero visibility there were times you could sense you were really a bit 'up there' in the mountains. This one confirms that was the case. I spent a lot of time wondering what was coming and working on my fore-aft balance.
Just posted a similar answer to another participant: try La Via Lattea, huge resort with many options available for accommodations. Cheers
Totally second the Dolomites. We stayed at Pozza di Fassa and yeah that extra 'commute' to hit Sella does mean it gets hard to spend a lot of time on the opposite ends of Sella. But IIRC it also means less crowds on the first lift because its not a major hub. Another suggestion is Cervinia. It's the poor man's Zermatt - we still hopped over to the Swiss side for most of the days , and the food back at the Italian side is amazing!
I see that Sauze d’Oulx has made a 2020 top 10 European list on powder hounds.com Was there in Feb and hope to get back one day.
On a joint ticket with La Rosiere. I'd certainly go back. If there isn't sunshine on one side, there often is on the other.
http://www.skilife.ski/en/skipass/# The Aosta Ski pass covers those two resorts and many more. If staying longer than a week a base in Aosta town itself could work well. I've stayed there and loved the town. I don't mind a drive to the ski hill in the morning but there's also the option of catching the gondola to Pila from the town centre.
I need to check that out. Even Sestriere has a few nice powder spots; I fondly remember that the "Orsiera" ride was always untouched given that the ski-lift there had not been used for years.
Time permitting, from Courmayeur there is the possibility to catch a bus and go to Chamonix. However, in the past it was also possible to reach Chamonix on ski through la mer de glace but I ma not sure if it is still an option and if it were, whether it is doable only with local guides.
I have a relative who lives in Dolonne and who is a guide over there. She has been telling me that the hot topic of these last few years is how to re-interpret the approach to the mountains, as they believe that snow will be rarer and rarer, with all the consequences that this implies for those resorts and not just those. However, the first year I went to Courmayeur was 1980. I was quite little so I remember this through my mum's memories. Anyway, according to her tales, we parked our car into a dusty and dry car park with not a single flake of snow on sight. On the other hand, the mountain gods were extremely generous and when we woke up the morning after, we could not even see our car because of the mind-blowing amount of snow that had fallen during the night. After that year, good and bad years have followed. All summed up, I still have some hope that there still be some very snowy winters. Hopefully.
https://www.lastampa.it/topnews/pri...-covid-club-med-non-apre-il-resort-1.39380965 it seems that the Club Med at Pragelato won't open for the coming winter season.
Is that real thing?/Plan or just you dreaming? an 8km lift up to the Cime Bianche would get it done though
Oh I loved Zermatt and would go back in a heartbeat. But it is eye wateringly expensive. Mind you, Cran Montana was only cheaper as we didn't have to pay for accomodation. And Cran has all of the wanky shops selling expensive bling, offices for private bankers and finishing schools for scions of the wealthy (our friend's daughter teaches in one).
Hi. Just a suggestion; you could get your accommodation in Cervinia and buy an international ski-pass that would allow you to ski the Zermatt area to your heart's content without having to fork out some serious Swiss francs for a hotel in Zermatt.
A friend we met there did this. It did mean he was heading back to Cervinia early enough to avoid a very expensive taxi ride. That said, Zermatt is that good, I would be more than happy to burn a hole in the wallet to go there again (Switzerland on the whole is an expensive place to travel).
good idea, but ... I was in Zermatt for a week 4 years ago, and the link to Cervinia was open on only one or two days
With regard to the thread title. The OP may be able to actually purchase a nice cheap ski resort in Italy if this season is called off due to Covid.
