Brenta Dolomites, Trentino: 55 miles north of Verona (as the crow flies)
Adult skipass: one day c.€44, six days c.€210 Offers: 24 lifts; slopes to suit all levels
Best for: Intermediates
Transfer time: 2hr10 from Verona, 2hr15 from Brescia
THIS CHIC AND LOVELY RESORT in the dramatic Brenta Dolomites has certainly racked up many ‘bests’ and ‘one-of-the-bests’. Some skiers deem it the best in Italy. Others specify it offers some of the best intermediate skiing, has the best piste grooming, has one of the best lift systems, the best snowboarding facilities… Clearly this is a resort worth anyone’s attention.
The town itself is delightful, with dark wooden chalets and a soaring slender church spire. The visitors it attracts are interesting to look at too – well-heeled, fashion-conscious types who parade round town in gorgeous coats, sip pretty cocktails in Madonna’s sophisticated bars, and later let their hair down in some of its excellent clubs.
The resort’s wonderful ski area extends over 150km, with integrated lifts linking to the Folgarida and Marivella areas. Intermediates will relish the long cruising trails which take you in and out of wooded areas and give a real sense of ‘journeying’. Beginners will find a good, sizeable ski school in Madonna, while expert skiers can request off-piste guiding or try the Canal Miramonti run down Monte Spinale and the famous 3Tre run. Snowboarders will feel very welcome in Madonna, which was one of the first winter resorts to see a future in the sport and invest in facilities. Note that Madonna di Campiglio is part of the Skirama Dolomiti Adamello-Brenta ski area, and that the right ski pass will give you access to a handful of nearby resorts offering a total 380km of downhill skiing served by 150 ski lifts.
Cervinia
Alps, Valle d’Aosta: 60 miles north of Turin
(as the crow flies)
Adult skipass: one day c.€40, six days c.€210
Offers: 24 lifts; slopes to suit all levels
Best for: Beginners and intermediates
Transfer time: 1hr35 from Turin
‘CERVINIA’ IS THE ITALIAN NAME FOR THE MATTERHORN, and this high-altitude resort sits on the opposite side of the iconic mountain from better-known Zermatt in Switzerland. As a purpose-built ski town, Cervinia is marred by dull modern architecture, but it makes up for this with some fabulous long runs and very reliable natural snow-cover. In Cervinia you get to ski the same area as people
in Zermatt, and eat in restaurants that are just as good, if not better, but all for significantly less expense.
The easy gradients of some of Cervinia’s exceptionally long runs allow beginners and intermediates to build up enormous confidence. More advanced skiers, meanwhile, have plenty of challenging terrain in the area to explore. The 8km Ventina red run, for example, is recommended for its steep, nearly 2,000m descent in altitude and the wonderful views it affords on the way of super-high Alpine peaks. Or you might opt to pursue the whopping 22km run from Klein Matterhorn in Switzerland down to Valtournenche in Italy.
Cervinia itself has 160km of piste covered on the local lift pass, but explorers further afield can pay extra for the international lift pass (take your passport!) and bump up their options to a total of 360km of piste. Skiing in and out of Italy and Switzerland always holds a particular charm.
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Madesimo
Alps, Lombardy: 70 miles north of Milan (as the crow flies) Adult skipass: One day c.€35, six days c.€200
Offers: 18 lifts, slopes to suit all levels
Best for: Intermediates
Transfer time: 2hr10 from Milan Linate
THIS CHARMING OLD VILLAGE and its slopes 20 miles north of Lake Como are greatly loved by Italian families but remain relatively unknown to British skiers. Friendly and inexpensive, Madesimo is well worth getting to know. With 32 pistes covering 55km, its ski area might not be extensive, but there’s a great deal of variety in the terrain. The runs suit intermediate-level skiers well, and there is also some challenging fare for experts – including one of the greatest European runs,
the ungroomed Catalone itinerary, which whooshes down 1,000 vertical metres. Snowboarders are fans of Madesimo, and for them there’s a terrain park and four half pipes. Cross-country skiers, meanwhile, lap up the 10km of trails here.
A high-altitude resort set above 1,500m and with pistes above 2,500m, Madesimo enjoys assured snow cover throughout the ski season. In the rare case of a dry spell, more than half the pistes have snowmaking facilities. There’s an impressive range of restaurants and bars, with prices a fraction of those in better- known ski resorts. Especially well-regarded is the Dogana Vegia restaurant on the edge of town, set in a 17th-century former Customs House with a roaring fireplace and a collection of antique curios. Madesimo fills up at the weekend with visitors from Milan and Bergamo, but come in the week and you’ll find it blissfully uncrowded.
Sestriere
Alps, Piedmont: 40 miles west of Turin (as the crow flies) Adult skipass: one day c.€30, six days c.€185
Offers: 66 lifts; slopes to suit all levels
Best for: Intermediates
Transfer time: 1hr30 from Turin
PERCHED AMIDST BEAUTIFUL ALPINE PEAKS on a plateau at an altitude of 2,035 metres, Sestriere is the main resort in the delicious ‘Milky Way’ (‘Via Lattea’) skiing area – linking Sauze d’Oulx, Pragelato, Claviere, Cesana Torinese, San Sicario and Montgenèvre. So you can explore far and wide, skiing to different villages and making use of 146 skiable pistes with a total of 400km in trails. Sestriere is particularly well-suited to intermediate skiers and snowboarders. But there are some significant runs for advanced skiers, and a quarter of all slopes are suitable for beginners or children.
Since it first came into being in the 1930s as one of the world’s first purpose- built ski resorts, Sestriere has hosted various Olympic events and other world- class skiing and boarding competitions. The 2006 Turin Winter Olympics were the most recent. So you can expect a high-quality infrastructure here. In particular, Sestriere’s artificial snow-making operations are excellent, and this combined with the resort’s high altitude make for more or less guaranteed snow cover. Sestriere also keeps a floodlit run for night skiing.
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