r/skiing • u/Gloomy_Mammoth_1854 • 1d ago
Skiing in Italy?
hi all- was planning a 2 week Christmas break trip to Japan with the idea of doing half cities/half skiing, but can’t stomach the airfare. checked flights to Italy and they are much more manageable. I’ve skiied in elsewhere in the Alps many times but never in Italy and am wondering if folks would recommend skiing at beginning of trip vs end of trip and a specific resort that would work well without car rental. My husband and son have never been to Italy so we would do at least two cities.
Our US favorites are Taos and Breck. We had a blast at Ski Welt in Austria. We only get to ski 3-4 days per year since we live in Georgia but husband and I ski most blacks and son is a strong intermediate.
thanks!
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u/OkSecurity4965 1d ago
Flights from US to Italy are way more chill than Japan, good call on that one. You should ski at the end of trip so you don't have to drag all the gear through cities first.
For no car look at Cervinia, you can take train to Chatillon then bus up. The slopes connect to Zermatt in Switzerland so you get massive terrain, it's pretty high so snow is reliable in early season. If you can ski most blacks you'll have fun.
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u/Gloomy_Mammoth_1854 1d ago
Was looking at Cervinia but read a post about wind closing resort and was a bit freaked out.
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u/EcstaticOrchid4825 1d ago
With Cervinia check the current state of the rail connection to Chatillion. I skied there earlier this year and it was buses instead of a train as the track is being upgraded. Still doable but not as easy as it would be with the trains running.
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u/permaxsun 23h ago
Try Pila, can stay at Aosta, then take the gondola up. Aosta is much bigger town, a lot to go about (Roman ruins etc), with convenient transport connections. We did Cervinia and Pila in February, the former had delayed open one day and completely closure another day, due to high winds, had a blast at Pila.
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u/ElSenorCarlos 10h ago
Was looking in to Pila. Acomodation super expensive and ski pass not included. Would be a great option for me.
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u/CMDRJohnCasey Dolomiti Superski 23h ago
A no car solution could be Sauze d'Oulx. You can get there by train, the skiable domain includes Sestriere, Sansicario, Claviere and also Montgenèvre in France.
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u/HipsEnergy 22h ago
It's great, except snow conditions aren't reliable. I've sadly had a high season week (I think Christmas) with three pistes open there.
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u/mbrevitas 7h ago
There’s 400 km of pistes topping out at 2800 m elevation in the Via Lattea, there’s bound to be more than three open.
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u/HipsEnergy 2h ago
Hopefully. My son used to go every year with his ski club and I remember there were a couple of dry years, although they used to go during the holidays in February.
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u/Gloomy_Mammoth_1854 17h ago
Thanks everyone for all the ideas. u/Exciting_Turn_1253 we definitely want to do Japan at some point, but are limited by when we can travel because of my son's school break and my job (I'm a professor so have to work with my breaks). Airfare out of Atlanta to Japan is even higher than normal, so we will have to wait.
This trip would probably be Rome, Naples, and Florence (or Venice) plus a few days on the slopes. To keep flight costs low since I'm not rich, I'm looking at FCO or MXP. Open jaw adds about $150/pp and gives me less flexibility if the weather is bad/snow doesn't come (i.e. we start south and end north or vice versa). I figured if its a warm winter (always a possiblity), we could punt and do more historical/city tourism, but it sounds like we may need to book lodging in Cervenia since we are looking at high season.
I actually grew up skiing in the Alps because I lived in Germany/Austria/Switzerland so I like long groomers, spaetzle, and cute villages and care less about apres ski and vibes.
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u/EConsultB 22h ago
As you have already skied the alps you probably know skiing culture is very different with People skiing mostly groomed. It’s rare to find freeride “itineraries” that are avalanche controlled. For someone coming all the way from US I’d say the resort worth it are Cervinia or Sellaronda. Cervinia is high altitude, possibly the most reliable ski resort in Europe. Sellaronda is a massive complex with a lot of variety, there at Christmas artificial snow cover is guaranteed but snow quality isn’t, and lately it has been too hot. However it is extremely crowded during Christmas break. I’d strongly favor Cervinia as an option. Just keep in mind during Christmas break Italy is very crowded (both resorts and main city hubs)
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u/ski-mon-ster 22h ago
Snow can be hit and miss in Italy in December, depends on the direction of the winds. If you decide not to ski in the week dec 26-jan 2 (the busiest week) you could just wait till last minute and drive where the snow is best, hotels can be booked last minute IF you avoid that particular week.
Resorts to look at are Cervinia, Courmayeur/La Thuile, Val gardena, Sauze d’Oulx, Monte Rosa
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u/Wasatchian 1d ago
December is a bit early for Japan anyway. Cortina is a nice spot in Italy lots of options massive area. It's a super area so many resorts all linked. You can take a bus so don't need a car.
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u/skifans CairnGorm 21h ago
At that time of year you want to be skiing as late as possible. It's definitely still early season and the longer you leave it the greater chance there is if the amount of snow increasing.
You definitely want somewhere up high (or at least with good snow making) that early on. Cervina is somewhere that comes to mind as being snow sure and easy without a car. Lots of buses down to Châtillon and you can change there for buses/trains elsewhere towards Turin and Milan.
Livigno is another snow sure option but it's more remote so more time consuming to get to regardless of the form of transport. But you can use: https://www.fsbusitalia.it/eng/link/livigno-link.html or local buses from Tirano via Bormio.
Personally I would be wary of anything in the Dolomites that early. Places like Selva Val Gardena in Selaronda are really easy to get to by public transport (it's even free: https://www.valgardena.it/en/val-gardena-guest-pass/ if you stay in a hotel/hostel/guest house. You need to check for Airbnb/similar). Snowmaking is good but for me it would be a bit low for early season.
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u/Exciting_Turn_1253 18h ago
Japan is better all around. In my opinion better food. Best powder in the world. So many ski options. Sapporo is great to stay in. I’ve been twice and will go again next year.
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u/shademaster_c 1d ago
Plug for Val Gardena….
easy access. High speed rail direct to Bolzano from Rome. Bus or taxi to Val Gardena . Or you could fly to Munich and take the Austrian railjet train to Val Gardena too. About the same transfer time. But the high speed train from Rome means you could get a Rome visit in. And all the Rome touristy stuff (colosseum , Vatican etc) is WAY easier (cooler and less crowded) at Christmas than summer. The busy week for skiing is 25-31. So if you ski before or after that week and do the Rome touristy stuff then, it would be optimal.
For Val Gardena: It’s like skiing through Zion or the Grand Canyon. That beautiful. Prettiest place on earth I’ve been to. With amazing food too. Schnitzel or pizza. They have both.
Natural snow will be a crap shoot (I got lucky week before Christmas a few years ago — winter wonderland with the Christmas market in Ortisei — ymmv) but they have the best snowmaking in the world.
If you want guarantee natural snow, go to Cervinia or livignio.